Nola Nahulu

HOT Chorus Co-Director

Nola A. Nāhulu is one of Hawai'i's most prominent choral conductors. She is the artistic director of the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus (HYOC), as well as the Kawaiaha'o Church Choir, Kawaiolaonāpukanileo, an a cappella Hawaiian choral ensemble, and others. She is a teacher and lecturer at UH Mānoa. Additionally, she runs Bete Mu'umu'u, a well-known dress manufacturer in Hawai'i. Nola Nāhulu is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools.

Aunty Nola, as she is often called, is respected within the choral circle of Hawai'i as well as the nation. She is in high demand as a choral director and clinician. However, she is very busy at home, often unable to participate in choral events elsewhere. With HYOC, Ms. Nāhulu has directed many festivals in Hawai'i including the Na Leo Pili Mai Choral Festival and E Mele Kākou Children's Choral Festival. In Spring 2006 she conducted a small clinic as part of the MENC convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also participates in the annual Pacific Rim Children's Chorus Festival every summer as the host choir; she also frequently jumps in to help with the Hawaiian pieces which have become a staple of the festival.

Ms Nāhulu also arranges music, primarily Hawaiian songs. She arranged a version of Queen Lili'uokalani's Nani Na Pua O Ko'olau for the Pacific Rim festival. However, many of Aunty Nola's arrangements have never been written down, as they are often invented during rehearsals to account for balance issues or to add additional harmony parts to a simple Hawaiian melody. Many of the songs done by her choirs are her own personal arrangements or were done improv-style to a general melody, a typical practice in Kanikapila-style Hawaiian music.