{"id":28812,"date":"2013-09-18T15:43:58","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T01:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?p=28812"},"modified":"2013-09-18T15:44:04","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T01:44:04","slug":"hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Desi McKenzie leads Hawaii Youth Chorus singers at an annual Christmas performance. Photo by Ashley McKenzie.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Hawaii Youth Chorus is bringing its music to the West side this fall, offering classes for ages 5-17 at Waipahu United Church of Christ.<\/p>\n

One-hour classes are at 9:30 a.m. each Saturday through Dec. 17 for HYC (ages 5-12) and at 10:30 a.m. for HYCTeenGlee! (ages 12-17).<\/p>\n

HYC was launched in 1990 at Maemae Elementary School in Nuuanu when the administration wanted to preserve music programs for its students.<\/p>\n

“Music was becoming less and less a part of the school curriculum, and the principal really wanted something to happen after school to fulfill that need for music,” recalled HYC founder and director Desi McKenzie.<\/p>\n

The first classes began with just 19 students at Maemae, but the program since has grown to include about 140 students in several elementary schools throughout the state.<\/p>\n

McKenzie established HYCTeenGlee! as a continuum for middle and high school students after they “aged out” of HYC. The classes being offered in Waipahu will be a first for that area.<\/p>\n

“The other programs that we have – Nuuanu, Lanakila Elementary, Maemae – they’re all in East Honolulu. I want to be able to offer Hawaii Youth Chorus to children in Central and West Oahu,” McKenzie explained.<\/p>\n

The classes will teach teens proper vocal technique and stage presence. The group also plans its own repertoire for each performance.<\/p>\n

“I think the most important thing is that they learn the power of music,” she said.<\/p>\n

Community service also is an integral part of the two choruses.<\/p>\n

“I think part of the reason that we have had so much support from the schools is because Hawaii Youth Chorus’s mission is making a difference in our community through music.”<\/p>\n

Over the years, the group has helped raise funds and awareness for organizations such as Easter Seals, American Cancer Society and Hawaii Foodbank.<\/p>\n

The group’s giving mentality stems from McKenzie’s strong desire to help others. A longtime entertainer, McKenzie said her whole mission in life shifted when she had a child with special needs 15 years ago.<\/p>\n

During a particularly rough time for her family, they were beneficiaries of the Lokahi project, which provides holiday gifts to families in need.<\/p>\n

“My focus has shifted to philanthropic work,” she said. “(My daughter) just taught me that giving back to the community should be my No. 1 focus.”<\/p>\n

The classes at Waipahu United Church of Christ are open to anyone who is interested; no experience or auditions are necessary.<\/p>\n

“We are looking for kids who have a passion for music and community service,” McKenzie said.<\/p>\n

Fee is $45 per month. For more information, call McKenzie at 623-2411 or email her at hawaiiyouthchorus@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hawaii Youth Chorus is bringing its music to the West side this fall, offering classes for ages 5-17 at..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,16,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hawaii-community-news","category-west","category-west-oahu-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu - MidWeek<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu - MidWeek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hawaii Youth Chorus is bringing its music to the West side this fall, offering classes for ages 5-17 at..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MidWeek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-19T01:43:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-19T01:44:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-19T01:43:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-19T01:44:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":470,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community\",\"West\",\"West Oahu News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu - MidWeek\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-19T01:43:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-19T01:44:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg\",\"width\":\"650\",\"height\":\"433\",\"caption\":\"Desi McKenzie leads Hawaii Youth Chorus singers at an annual Christmas performance. Photo by Ashley McKenzie.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/\",\"name\":\"MidWeek\",\"description\":\"Hawaii's Favorite Newspaper\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu - MidWeek","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu - MidWeek","og_description":"The Hawaii Youth Chorus is bringing its music to the West side this fall, offering classes for ages 5-17 at..","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/","og_site_name":"MidWeek","article_published_time":"2013-09-19T01:43:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-09-19T01:44:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu","datePublished":"2013-09-19T01:43:58+00:00","dateModified":"2013-09-19T01:44:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/"},"wordCount":470,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg","articleSection":["Community","West","West Oahu News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/","name":"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu - MidWeek","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg","datePublished":"2013-09-19T01:43:58+00:00","dateModified":"2013-09-19T01:44:04+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/WO-091813-Glee.jpg","width":"650","height":"433","caption":"Desi McKenzie leads Hawaii Youth Chorus singers at an annual Christmas performance. Photo by Ashley McKenzie."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/hawaii-youth-chorus-launches-first-ever-program-in-waipahu\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hawaii Youth Chorus Launches First-ever Program In Waipahu"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/","name":"MidWeek","description":"Hawaii's Favorite Newspaper","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}