GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Nakamuras had a musical upbringing. From left are Joey Nakamura; Drew Nakamura, 9; Gwen Nakamura; Gwen's mother, Rose Nakamura; and Gwen's brother, Neil Nakamura.
Teacher follows
music in her heartPep band conductor Gwen
Nakamura inspires students
and UH athletics fans
Gwen Nakamura's energy could light up the Stan Sheriff Center, whether she is conducting the pep band or cheering on University of Hawaii athletic teams.
She wears a variety of balloon hats at UH games, and shakes and bangs a tambourine while swaying to the beat of the band as she conducts songs like "Soak up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow and the "Hawaii Five-O" theme song by Morton Stevens.
"If it's music and if it's band, I'm just there. I go for it. Otherwise, I'm a shy person," Nakamura said. "Music energizes you."
She has spent many years nurturing music students to perfect their sound.
"I love teaching ... working with students and seeing them get excited about something," Nakamura said.
As a child, Nakamura's parents, Rose and Paul, reared her and her two older brothers to take up music.
Her mother played piano as a child. Her father played the trombone as a teen.
"My parents always felt that children should be encouraged to have some music appreciation," Rose Nakamura said.
Nakamura, 41, and her brothers, Paul Jr. and Neil, were all involved in the school band in their intermediate and high school years.
While Nakamura was drawn to the saxophone, Paul Jr., who died last year, played the trumpet. Neil was a percussionist.
Her father, who died six years ago, taught health and physical education at Waiakea Intermediate School and Hilo Intermediate School, and her mother taught health and physical education at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Rose later became a program coordinator and administrator at the East-West Center.
Like her parents, Nakamura became an educator. Her life in music started at age 8, when she began piano lessons.
The piano would become one of many instruments she would learn to play.
"She has a tremendous discipline," her mother said. "That's something I find is kind of a virtue of Gwen."
While she was a seventh-grader at Jarrett Intermediate School, Nakamura started to play the alto saxophone and was drawn to its soothing sound. She soon started taking private lessons and spent endless hours practicing.
"It gave me a feeling of enjoyment," she said. "You kind of forget about everything else. You just want to enjoy music."
She took lessons from Kazuhiko Sunabe, who was a great influence on her as she succeeded in the instrument.
"He was very encouraging," said Nakamura, who grew up listening to classical music from artists such as saxophonist Harvey Pittel, who taught Sunabe.
She participated in school bands at Jarrett Intermediate and Kaimuki High School, where she received recognition as outstanding band player. She also won several bronze, silver and gold medals in solo and ensemble competitions.
"She is the most talented in the family," Neil said. "I've seen her featured in the concert band. ... The tone of the saxophone is unbelievable."
Nakamura obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in music education from the University of Hawaii-Manoa. During her college years, she learned how to play the bassoon, flute and clarinet.
In the mid-1980s, she was the band director at Castle and Kahuku high schools before she was hired by the University of Hawaii as an assistant band director in 1989.
UH sports fans can hear Nakamura and pep band members perform at football games, men's and women's basketball games, and women's volleyball games. She also conducts the university's concert band and the marching band during football half-time shows.
"They rehearse 'til late at night," Neil said. "She just loves music."
Along with her busy schedule at the university, Nakamura teaches weekly private saxophone lessons to 20 students and volunteers once a week at Project Dana (pronounced "donna" in Sanskrit and means "selfless giving"), an organization her parents founded in 1989 that offers social support and services to the elderly.
At times, Nakamura said, she is recognized by UH athletic fans while she runs errands.
"I could be at Longs with my mom and somebody will come and say, 'You're the band lady who wears those hats,'" she said.
