Today I went back to Iolani School for its annual Winter Concert by the Orchestra and Chorus, an event which took a hiatus during the pandemic but resumed this year. It is a time when retired teachers and staff are invited to come back to the school, listen to a concert in the gym, and then have a catered luncheon afterwards. I have been fortunate to attend all the years since I retired from Iolani in 2015.

What fun it was to see the other retired teachers and staff. I immediately found Norma Chun, former elementary school teacher. It was she, along with Cindy Scheinert, fifth-grade homeroom teacher, who put me in touch with then-fifth grader Joey Fala, who became my organ student and now is a professional organist and church musician.

[Cindy has become my daily Spanish amiga, along with three other women with whom we practice Spanish conversation every day for 45-minutes.]

This concert was the first I’ve heard under new leadership after the retirement of choral teacher, John Alexander, and orchestra teacher, Kathy Hafner, both of whom had brought their ensembles to a high level of achievement. The new orchestra teacher, Alexander Pena, continued the outstanding excellence of the ensemble, with clean, rhythmic precision in performing technically challenging repertoire. I remember hearing them perform in a previous concert and thinking, “I can’t believe these are only high school students!”

One of their opening pieces was a four-movement concerto grosso by Arcangelo Corelli, and I was absolutely stunned and amazed that the entire assembly of nearly 2000 students did not clap between movements! That’s what you call well-trained and educated!

Mary Chesnut Hicks has brought an excellent but different style of music to the choral program, more of a show choir experience. I’m afraid I didn’t recognize any of the songs except for a contemporary rendition of “O Holy Night,” at the end, but the entire ensemble sang in tune and featured many student solos, all of which were greeted with applause and cheers. I did miss the presence of the Lower School Choir which had always performed on this concert in years past.

Hearing these students perform affirmed my joy in knowing there CAN BE excellent music education nowadays!

At the retiree’s luncheon, two former Iolani students who are now themselves Iolani teachers, told about their invaluable education at this school. Both of them apologized for their bad behavior and poor study habits as students! They said that what made the difference in their education was that the teachers here had cared so much about their growth and development as human beings in addition to learning academics.

I thought back to my son’s time in this school, and yes, he struggled in this rigorous academic environment. Now, though, it’s payback time, as he has to remind his own son about doing homework and practicing the piano. Ha ha!

We were treated to a buffet with chicken piccata, baked salmon and steak as the main entreés. I only took a picture of the dessert, as you can see below.

Cindy Scheinert invited me to a Zumba dance class tonight. I was pretty clumsy, but what I was most surprised about was that there is no charge. It’s free for Iolani teachers, both current and retired, with the thought that keeping us healthy will actually save the school money. The teacher was from Peru and brought many Spanish songs to Zumba dance to. How fun! ¡Qué divertido!