COURTESY OF HULA RECORDS Frank B. Shaner opens the doors for falsetto singers.

Real isle falsetto

The Frank B. Shaner contest
has singers vying for a title

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By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.com

Barring the perfection of time travel for research purposes, much of the early history of Hawaiian falsetto will remain forever a matter of guesswork. The history of the Frank B. Shaner Hawaiian Falsetto Contest is another matter entirely, however, for it is a part of Hawaiian musical history that has been documented from, well, even before the moment of its conception.

Shaner had been singing a comic falsetto version of "Blue Darling" for laughs as part of his stand-up comedy routine when a waitress suggested that he take the music and his talent more seriously. He did eventually and, in 1993, Shaner went to the Big Island to enter the Clyde "Kindy" Sproat Falsetto and Storytelling Contest and take on the top talents in local competition. It's here that the story gets just a bit blurry. Some accounts say that he went just to see how he'd do in front of people who knew falsetto; others accounts say that he expected to win.

When it was all said and sung, Shaner hadn't won, but he returned to Oahu a serious supporter of traditional Hawaiian falsetto. He teamed up with Janet Hyrne at the Aloha Festivals to create the contest. Moses "Moke Boy" Kamealoha III made history when he won the first competition in 1995, and subsequent yearly winners have been a distinguished bunch: Kala'i Stern, Kichizo Matsutani, Sam Keli'iho'omalu, Chauncy Bermodez, Cody Pueo Pata and last year's champ, James Michael Kealaolaule'a Broelie Kukona-Pacheco.

Judging is handled by professional falsetto singers and others of demonstrated competence to judge the technical expertise of each contestant as a Hawaiian falsetto singer (and there is an important difference between Hawaiian and traditional European-American falsetto techniques). The judges' credentials helped to defuse the muted hometown discontent when Matsutani, a Hawaiian falsetto singer from Japan, took top honors in 1997.

The winners receive a recording opportunity from Hula Records, a label long-known for its support of traditional Hawaiian music. The winners of both the Shaner and Sproat contests are also featured on the "Aloha Festivals Falsetto Contest Winners" compilation albums produced and released by Hula each year as part of its involvement in preserving and perpetuating traditional Hawaiian music.

Most of the winners, and some of the other contestants, have gone on to record for other labels as well, so some of the contestants on stage tomorrow night could return as stars in the near future.

8th Annual Frank B. Shaner Hawaiian Falsetto Contest Where: Hawaii Theatre When: 7 p.m. tomorrow Tickets: $20, $25 and $30 Call: 528-0506

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