His voice, a ‘blessing’: Teen’s spectacular musical talents were on display at Song Contest

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Kamehameha Schools 13-year-old is on his way to musical greatness ― and his talent was on full display during the school’s Song Contest last week.

Kamahao Haumea-Thronas is the first eighth grader to perform at Ho’ike during the Song Contest. The theme was Na Mele Paniolo, or Songs of the Hawaiian Cowboy.

SPECIAL SECTION: Kamehameha Schools Song Contest

And kumu Kaleo Trinidad asked Kamahao to sing.

“They showed me this song, ‘Hawaiian Cowboy,’ by Uncle Sol and I was like, ‘Wow, OK, I can learn this song.’”

“He’s like, ‘I’ll give you two weeks. Can you learn the whole thing?’”

To get ready, Kamahao studied the late legend Uncle Sol Bright. His voice, facial expressions, and wild movements.

“I was channeling Uncle Sol and once I got off the stage I was like, ‘Whoa! What did I just do?’”

“The energy that night was totally different from rehearsals with the full crowd there. The cameras and the lights. You could feel the mana for sure.”

Kamahao says he’s actually not from a musical family. He learned it from school.

His teachers, though, say his voice is from up above.

“We can only say that it’s a blessing and it comes from Ke Akua,” said Alika Young, of the Kamehameha Schools Performing Arts Department.

So remember his name.

Because when Kamahao Haumea-Thronas grows up, he wants to make people happy through music.

“I do music to bring people joy and to share the mo’olelo of our people,” he said. “To see everybody so happy and reacting to this moment on stage. It brought me joy.”

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