Pākaʻa Lanakila! for orchestra

for Orchestra, Narrator, Treble Chorus, Hand Percussion and Traditional Hawaiian Instruments (English and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi versions)

• LEVEL: Professional (with beginner parts for treble chorus and hand percussion)

• DURATION: 33′

• INSTRUMENTATION: 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 bn, 4 hn, 2 tpt, 3 tbn, tuba, timp, 3 perc, hp, strings, treble chorus (S), narr, traditional Hawaiian instruments (pū, pūʻili, ʻiliʻili, kāʻekeʻeke [F#3, C#4], ʻūkēkē, etc.)

Perusal Score

Performance Resources

Score and Parts (digital)

Licensing (Dance, Film, Theater)

Click Here for Licensing

About the Work

Pāka‘a Lanakila!, the 33-minute “music-moʻolelo” (music story) is now available for full orchestra including parts to be played and sung by keiki (children)! Originally commissioned by Chamber Music Hawaii for the Spring Wind Quintet with generous support from the Honolulu Mayor’s Office on Culture and the Arts, Pākaʻa first premiered in its English version. After this first performance, an ʻolelo Hawaiʻi version was developed by B.K. Cabigon and Sam ʻOhu Gon III, with free educational resources developed with help from educator Mailelauliʻi Nakī. Supported by the Kosasa Foundation and private donors, this ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi version has been the main version performed since 2016 by the Spring Wind Quintet and master storyteller B. K. Cabigon. In both English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi versions, the narrator tells a humorous and ultimately empowering story of Pākaʻa, a boy living on Kaua‘i long ago, in the cliffs of Ke-ahi-ahi (near the present-day Kealia) with his single mother and her bird-catching brother. Pākaʻa is tired of the fishermen making fun of his uncle because he struggles to provide the family with fish—only birds. Pāka‘a is also frustrated that the fishermen never give generously of their fishing catch to him, believing that his uncle, Ma‘ilou, is too lazy to deserve it. Pāka‘a, however, figures out a clever way to beat the fishermen at their own game, and wins many ka‘au (quantities of forty) of his favorite mālolo fish. With timeless ʻōlelo noʻeau (wise, Hawaiian sayings), learning opportunities in traditional Hawaiian knowledge systems and hana noʻeau (Hawaiian arts), beautiful story-telling images by artist Caren Loebel-Fried, and masterful story-telling by B.K. Cabigon and Sam ʻOhu Gon III, the work (in its wind quintet form) has become a favorite for families and school children across Kauaʻi, Maui, Moku o Keawe (Big Island), Lānaʻi, Molokai, and Oʻahu.

Planning an upcoming performance?

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Expanded Teacher Resource Guide |
Palapala Kumu Haʻawina i hoʻomōhala hou ʻia

Created with aloha from the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu Humanities Division
for Hawaiʻi’s educators and the children and communities they serve

Pākaʻa Lanakila! was created to bring the sounds of live concert music and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to generations young and old. It has been performed for families and school children by Chamber Music Hawaiʻi’s Spring Wind Quintet, on all of the major Hawaiian islands.

Now, in this new version for symphony orchestra, when students jump into the waʻa (canoe) with their new friend Pākaʻa, they can also play or sing along, using hand percussion and/or singing a treble chorus part which they learn in the classroom, as they experience Pākaʻa’s victories over adversity.

To deepen the learning, a Pākaʻa Lanakila! Expanded Teacher Resource Guide and a related microsite have been prepared in English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Palapala Kumu Haʻawina I hoʻomōhala ʻia) to support learners in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi classrooms and English-language classrooms. (Mahalo nui to the Humanities Division, University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu and ʻUpena Moananuiākea for supporting this work!) This web resource supports teachers of learners especially in 3rd to 5th grades, providing useful downloadable materials ready for haumāna (students), and ideas on how to incorporate themes from this beautiful ‘coming of age’ moʻolelo (story) into classroom curricula.

With this web resource, along with help and encouragement from their kumu (teacher), a new generation of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi learners will:

know the names and the basic science behind orchestra and band instruments’ sound production;
learn what it takes to practice their part and perform it with the symphony;
be inspired, perhaps, to learn a musical instrument and join their school band or orchestra;
access the rich tradition of Hawaiian story-telling which continues from ancient oral traditions to today, through 19th- and 20th century ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi nupepa (newspapers)