A powerful musical tribute to Lahaina and West Maui has earned Hawaiʻi’s top recording industry recognition for students and faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.
The album Haʻina Ko Wehi: Celebrating West Maui in Mele, created by students in the college’s Institute of Hawaiian Music (IHM), was named Compilation Album of the Year at the 2025 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards in June.
Originally intended to celebrate West Maui through song, the project took on deeper meaning after the 2023 wildfires devastated Lahaina. IHM students responded by composing original mele that reflect the town’s rich history and their hopes for its future.
- Related UH News story: Celebrating Lahaina in song, UH Maui students record album, May 28, 2024
“We are very proud of our students, some of whom were directly impacted by the Lahaina fires. Our gatherings, where they learned to write songs for West Maui and record them in our campus’ studio, greatly contributed to their healing and forged bonds that will last our lifetimes,” said UH Maui College Associate Professor Keola Donaghy, who coordinates the IHM and is a multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner.
Student artists Bobbi Bridges, Herb Folsom, Grace Gomes, Aaron Grzanich, Mākena Laurion, Hualani Moore, Iraj Namiranian, Al Nip and Mehra Park met nearly every Saturday in fall 2023 to write and rehearse. Recording and mixing finished in April 2024. The album was produced by Donaghy, UH Maui College lecturers Joel Katz and Stephen Fox, and Lance D. Collins.
Donaghy said, “We are especially grateful to the North Beach West Maui Benefit Fund, the HK West Maui Community Fund, and to Lance D. Collins and Jocelyn Romero Demirbag for connecting us all and making the project possible.”
This is IHM’s fourth Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award, including three wins for compilation albums and one for Hawaiian EP of the Year. IHM is recruiting a new cohort of students to begin Fall 2025. Interested students can contact Donaghy at donaghy@hawaii.edu or (808) 984-3570.
