LIHU‘E — Celebrate the holiday season with the healing music of the angels. The Holiday Harps concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at Church of the Pacific, located at 5-4280 Kuhio Highway in Princeville. Cost is $15 per
LIHU‘E — Celebrate the holiday season with the healing music of the angels.
The Holiday Harps concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at Church of the Pacific, located at 5-4280 Kuhio Highway in Princeville.
Cost is $15 per person and children 12 and under are free.
Organizer Anela Lauren said the concert will offer a “very healing environment.”
The evening features the Kauai Harp ‘Ohana including Lauren and Renee Janton on Celtic harp; Wanda Toal, Jeannie Rumen and Nazira on autoharp; and Taj Jure and Crystal Lober on crystal bowls.
In addition, Mary MacDermott will sing and Kimie Sadoyama will recite poetry.
Toal, Janton, Rumen and Caroline Ritchie will also perform as Enchanted, which is a group of ladies who all play the autoharp.
Lauren said Enchanted is very improvisational and often plays at Wilcox Memorial Hospital for long-term care patients.
“Renee started the Festival of Harps,” Lauren said. “She is a mermaid and was swimming in the ocean when a pod of dolphins told her to take up playing the harp.”
From the first festival, Janton created the Cycle of Eight harp concerts, which wrapped up awhile back. Lauren is now coordinating the group’s gatherings, which is starting with a holiday concert.
The high ceiling of the Church of the Pacific makes for wonderful acoustics, Lauren said, adding that there are sliding glass windows to allow people to sit on the lanai. As a professional musician, she said, she feels the church has the best acoustics of any venue on Kaua‘i.
The second half of the evening features women playing crystal bowls.
Lauren encourages attendees to bring a pillow and a mat to lay down, as that part of the evening is “like a musical massage.”
She added that people often use the soothing sounds for musical meditation or visions.
“It’s a wonderful way to relax,” Lauren said. “It’s very conducive to healing.”
For more information, call 639-4356.
