Uniting a global community through the strength of the strings we share

Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings was established in 2019 with the mission of  researching, restoring, and celebrating, the pivotal role that Hawaiian and Pacific music and musicians have played in the evolution of contemporary stringed instrument designs and their related musical styles, a legacy of global influence that endures today.

Board of directors

  • N. Haʻalilio Solomon

    President

  • Ki-Lin Reece

    Executive Director

  • Aloha McGuffie

    Treasurer

  • Jan Hanley Taketa

    Director

Noah Ha‘alilio Solomon – President

Instructor, Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, Graduate student, PhD, Linguistics, 

Owner/Translator, Ho‘opulapula, LLC

Ki-lin Reece - Executive Director

Master Luthier, Musician, Curator, Owner KR Strings LLC

Aloha McGuffie – Treasurer

Executive Vice President Ulumau Foundation and Immediate Past Manager, Mānoa Heritage Center

Jan Hanley Taketa – Director

Speech Pathologist, Board member, RYSE (Residential Youth Services & Empowerment)


ADVISORY BOARD


Maestro Aaron Mahi - Director Honolulu Symphony and Royal Hawaiian Band

Raiatea Helm - Two-time Grammy®️ nominee and multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award Female Vocalist of Hawaiian music.

Ānuenue Pūnua - Executive Director of Mailikukahi Aina Momona Academy, Educator at Kamehameha Schools, Haku Mele

Dr. Andrea Eden Low - Associate Curator, Pacific, Auckland Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira

Dr. Greg Reish - Director Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University
DeSoto Brown - Historian, Bishop Museum
Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier PhD. - Composer, Director -Awaiaulu Foundation
Dr. Niklaus Schweizer- PhD. Linguistics and Literature, University of Hawai’i, Mānoa
Dr. Ricardo Trimillos - PhD. Asian Studies, University of Hawai’i Mānoa
Dr. Jay Junker - PhD. Ethnomusicology, University of Hawai’i Mānoa
Puka Asing - Musician, Haku Mele, Kumu Hula - Halau Kualiʻi
Kathryn Harada - Conservation Fellow, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Toni Lee - Director, Friends of the Royal Hawaiian Band, Hawaiʻi Music Hall of Fame

David Bonsey - Owner of New York Violin Consulting, Inc. Certified Appraiser Membership in the Appraiser's Association of America.