Faculty Coordinator of UH Maui Institute of Hawaiian Music and Studies to be speaker at Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset meeting
Keola Donaghy will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset ‘s meeting at 5:30 pm on Tuesday April 19th. The meeting will be held at the Royal Ocean Terrace Restaurant at the Royal Lahaina Resort.
Joseph “Keola” Donaghy is Assistant Professor of Music at UH Maui College and faculty coordinator of both Music Studies and the Institute of Hawaiian at UH Maui College. Prior to that he spent eight years as an Assistant Professor of Hawaiian Studies at Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo. While at UH Hilo and collaborating with Apple Computer, Inc., Microsoft and Google he created many of the technology tools that have strengthened the ability of Hawaiian speakers to use ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in the technology realm.
Outside of this academic work, Keola is very active in the Hawai‘i music industry, having served 10 years on the Board of Governors of the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts. His Hawaiian compositions have been recorded by such artists as Keali‘i Reichel, Kenneth Makuakāne, Pandanus Club, O'Brian Eselu, Amy Hānaiali‘i and Willie K., Kainani Kahaunaele, the De Lima ‘Ohana and others.
Donaghy will share information about the history of the IHM program, its establishment and what has been accomplished in the 10 years he has been at the helm. He will also share details about his involvement with the movement to revitalize ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, his earlier work in the technology realm for the benefit of Hawaiian speakers and more recent contributions, the Chrome OS keyboard and Wordle.