HIMELE Announces Open Stage Showcase

January 7, 2021 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

HIMELE is adding an Open Stage Showcase to its monthly livestream Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase series. The first Open Stage Showcase will be presented as the Livestream Steel Guitar Saturday presentation in March.

The open stage has been an integral part of live steel guitar festivals for many years. First offered at festivals on Kaua'i, Maui, and Hawai'i Island, the open stage program was extended to the Waikiki festival in 2019.

The open stage offers steel guitarists, especially amateur and semi-professional players, an opportunity to perform in front of a live festival audience. Bands featuring a Hawaiian steel guitar are also included.

Participation in the program helps build performance confidence and provides the steel guitarist an opportunity to share their talents with the festival audience. It also provides a performance forum that might otherwise not exist.

Haopinaka at the 2018 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week Open Stage

This concept is now being extended to the livestreamed Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase.

Showcase presentations featuring professional steel guitarists are offered monthly as an alternative to live festivals which have been canceled until further notice due to the pandemic. Open stage Showcase programs will be presented periodically as an alternative to regular Showcase presentations.

Potential participants can submit their prerecorded performance videos to HIMELE for consideration in its Open Stage showcase. Procedures for preparing and submitting videos are being developed and will be announced at a later date.