LIHU‘E — Elaine Guest, James Paleracio, Megan Ross and Joyce Peralta will have to wait until after Wednesday to find out the winners of the Mokihana music scholarships.
The high school seniors were vying for an opportunity to earn a scholarship, competing before an audience of Mokihana Club members and their guests at the 2010 Music Scholarship Competition Program, Wednesday, at the Lihu‘e Parish Hall.
Linda Sanders, chair of the Mokihana Music Scholarship Committee, said members voted on the four students’ performances following the competition and results of the voting will be reviewed by a committee before the Mokihana Club Board announces its decision after Wednesday.
Sanders, who coordinated the annual competition with Edie Taylor and Carolyn Knepper, said the competition was the 41st annual since the program was started when former Mokihana Club President Sally Hymann left an endowment for the purpose of providing music scholarships.
Each of the participating student had three to seven minutes to present his or her presentation to the audience who had room to write in comments on the ballot.
“Music is my life,” said Waimea High School senior James Paleracio who offered up “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” an arrangement by Jake Shimabukuro.
Paleracio, a member of the Hawai‘i All State Marching Band trumpet section and leader of the trumpet section and Drum Major for the Menehune Marching Band, is also a platoon leader for the Waimea High School Jr. R.O.T.C. program and member of the school’s bowling and tennis programs. He plans on attending Eastern Washington University.
Joyce Peralta, a Kaua‘i High School senior, has been playing the piano since she was in kindergarten and offered up “Polonaise in G Minor” by Frederic Chopin.
Peralta is a member of the Kaua‘i High School Singers, the Leo Club, a student leader and a cheerleader. She has traveled to the Outer Islands as a spokesperson for the AVID College Preparatory Program and plans to attend either Biola University in Los Angeles, Calif., or Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y.
Elaine Guest and Megan Ross, Kaua‘i High School seniors, offered vocal renditions.
Guest, a member of the Hawai‘i All-State Honor Choir and a seven-year veteran of the Kaua‘i Performing Arts Center productions and other community theater productions, starred in the leading role of Cinderella in the “Cinderella” musical.
“This is the Moment” by Frank Wildhorn and “Make Someone Happy” by Jule Styne were the offerings by the member of the Kaua‘i High School Singers who plans on attending The American Musical and Dramatic Arts Academy in Los Angeles, Calif.
Ross, the president of the Kaua‘i High School Choir and a member of the Kaua‘i High School Singers, is also a member of the Hawai‘i All State Honor Choir, playing many roles with the Kaua‘i Performing Arts Center, the Kaua‘i Community Players and the Hawai‘i Children’s Theater for the past seven years.
“Where’er You Walk” by G.F. Handel and “Caro moi ben” by Giuseppe Giordani were the offerings of the senior planning on studying nursing at Montana State University. She also plans on minoring in music.
Sanders said Nina Saraos, a local music teacher accompanying the pair of vocalists on piano, noted that she was a previous Mokihana Music Scholarship recipient and Wednesday’s performances were a way she could give back to the program.
John Lydgate, a guest at the Wednesday competition, said the Mokihana Club is enjoying its 105th anniversary after being formed by his grandparents.
Following the competition, the Mokihana Club adjourned to its traditional luncheon, this time heading to the Kaua‘i Community College Fine Dining program where Sanders said the entire dining room was reserved for the Mokihana Club.
