Giving our students the opportunity to perform live in real-world situations with a live audiences is a priority of the Institute of Hawaiian Music. Our first cohort of students performed Hawaiian music at many events in 2012 and 2013. These included performances at hotels, malls, private parties, lū‘au, fundraisers, and community events. Our second group of students have continued this practice.

Providing students with the opportunity to gain real-world experience is one of the primarly goals of IHM. However, as we are IHM staff need to examine each opportunity to weigh its benefits to the students, and to assure that outside performances to do not negatively impact their classwork.

IHM faculty and staff consider several factors when determining whether to accept or decline the opportunity for IHM students to perform:

1. Will the performance provide a valuable learning opportunity for the students? While every performance provides an opportunity to learn, each opportunity is examined, staff and students are consulted to determine how the performance aligns with the goals of their current classwork and studies.
2. Will the performance help support a charitable organization, benevolent association or other group that provides a valuable social service? IHM students learn the significant role that music plays in society, and we encourage them to share their talents and knowledge when it serves to help those that help others.
3. Will the organization requesting an IHM performance make a contribution to our IHM scholarship fund for the performance? We cannot pay students for outside performances, nor can we book students to perform at commercial gigs. However, we do request that a contribution be made to our student scholarship fund for performances at commercial events. The amount of the contribution depends on the length of the performance, its location, the number of students performing, and whether or not the sponsor of the event will provide a sound system and engineer, or if we are requested to provide our own. We do not require contributions to our scholarship fund when performing at charitable events, but do ask that a sound system be provided.

If you are interested in having our students perform at an event, please use our contact form to communicate with us and provide details about the event.