Prominent Hawaiian chanter Ka'upena Wong promoted education, culture

Oct. 20—Ka 'upena Wong—educator, Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner and the most prominent male chanter of his generation—died Sept. 24 at his home in Makaha. He was 93.

Ka 'upena Wong—educator, Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner and the most prominent male chanter of his generation—died Sept. 24 at his home in Makaha. He was 93.

"He was always my go-to for spot-checking on things when I read about Hawaiian history, " Wong's niece, Haunani Denhart, said last week, recalling her uncle's "graciousness and knowledge of Hawaiian (language ) and Hawaiiana (Hawaiian culture ), " during a call from her home in California.

"There were times I went to his lectures and (saw ) how he could relate to the students and the audience and bring in some humor that allowed them to really embrace what he was trying to communicate. When he was emceeing back in the day, I saw the humor and the grasp he had of the audience. Some of the songs he'd written, especially when he and Noelani (Mahoe ) performed (them ), were just mesmerizing."

Born James Kaupena Wong Jr.—he added the 'okina to Kaupena after his mother's death in 2004—Wong graduated from the Kamehameha School for Boys in 1947 and from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1951. His training as a chanter began the following year after he returned to Hawaii and was introduced to Mary Kawena Pukui. With Pukui's guidance he became a master chanter, learned dozens of chants and dances, and became one of the few qualified players of the ancient Hawaiian musical "implements." He was the foremost player of the 'ukeke (musical bow ) of his generation.

Wong became one of the standard-bearers of traditional Hawaiian music in the decades following statehood in 1959. He wrote his first song, "Alika Spoehr Hula, " as a parting gift for Bishop Museum director Alexander Spoehr in 1961 and recorded his first album, "Folk Songs of Hawaii, " in 1963. Wong also performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island in 1964 and chanted at the unveiling of the statue of King Kamehameha in Washington, D.C., in 1969.

Wong set an example for later generations of chanters and male hula dancers when he wore a traditional Hawaiian malo rather than post-Missionary Western attire for the dedication of the Hokule 'a voyaging canoe in 1976. Looking back at that decision years later, Wong often shared that story and said that although he had "to psych myself into wearing a malo, " it had been the right thing to do "to make the ceremony as authentic as possible."

"He brought legitimacy to any ceremony, any function he was at, " Kamehameha Schools community strategist Hailama Farden said, remembering the mentor he came to know as "Uncle Pally." Farden was a student of one of Wong's students ; "Pally " was a nickname that Wong also used when speaking to others.

"There were several times he decided to come to something (I was emceeing ) and he would say to me, 'Pally, can I go on the stage and do a song ?'" Farden said. "Absolutely ! I didn't care if (the entertainers ) had just done two hana hous. There was never a 'no' for him."

Wong made a surprise appearance at Farden's wedding reception and performed two newly written chants he had composed in the newlyweds' honor. Farden remembers it as the gift of a lifetime.

"Hawaiians understand that you have to put the leo (voice ) to the words to bring them to life. He was coming from Makaha (to Pearl Harbor ), driving at night, he's in his early 80s, but that's the protocol, and what a gift to have. Not just that he composed both chants, but he brought them to us and performed them so the voice was placed to the song."

By the end of the century, Wong rarely performed in public. One of his last public performances was the presentation of three chants honoring Eddie Kamae at Kamae's 80th birthday party at the Waikiki Elks Lodge on Aug. 7, 2007.

He came out of seclusion early this year to perform a chant at the funeral of another longtime friend, Helen Ka 'alo 'ehukaiopua 'ena "Sunbeam " Beamer.

"He was a little more frail at 92 but he had this spirit of dedication—'I need to do my work'—and so he was there and he spoke with eloquence, " Farden said. "He was there for Auntie Sunbeam."

Wong received a Na Hoku Hanohano Award in 1993 for his work annotating an anthology of recordings by kumu hula Maiki Aiu Lake. He received the Hawai 'i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, was selected for a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in 2005, and was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Denhart said that her uncle never let the accolades "go to his head."

"I said, 'Uncle, you're my Hawaiian language expert, ' and he looked at me very sternly and he said, 'Haunani, I'm never going to be an expert.' That was very profound that I realized that as much as he was thought of so highly (by others ), in his mind, he was always the student."

Wong is survived by his niece, Haunani Denhart.

Memorial services were private.