Open Stage Showcase Procedures Announced

February 5, 2021 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

Hawaiian steel guitarists are now invited to submit performance videos for the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Open Stage Showcase. The Open Stage Showcase will be livestreamed periodically as a part of the Showcase's Livestream Steel Guitar Saturdays series that is broadcast monthly. The first Open Stage Showcase is scheduled for March 27, 2021.

The Open Stage Showcase is similar to the open stage feature at live Hawaiian steel guitar festivals where any steel guitarist – amateur, semiprofessional, or professional – can present a small program to a live festival audience. The open stage provides performance and confidence-building opportunities for artists trying to perfect their skills and share their talents. The Open Stage Showcase extends those opportunities to the monthly livestream broadcast.

Any Hawaiian steel guitarist or band with a Hawaiian steel guitar, from amateur to professional, is invited to submit an application to the Showcase. Instructions for preparing and uploading the video will be provided in an acknowledgment.

The first Open Stage Showcase will air in March. A limited number of invitations were sent to select steel guitarists as a way of helping HIMELE develop the submission procedure. Videos submitted by these musicians will be included in the March Showcase.

It is hoped that there will be sufficient interest in the Open Stage to produce quarterly programs. Any Hawaiian steel guitarist or steel guitar band is invited to participate.

Additional information about the Open Stage Showcase appears on the Open Stage Showcase page. Anyone interested in participating should complete and submit the Virtual Open Stage Showcase Submission Form. Receipt of the form will be acknowledged with further instructions on preparing and submitting the video. Applicants are requested to submit one application form for each video.

The Open Stage a feature of some live Hawaiian steel guitar festivals that provides uncompensated performance opportunities to all interested Hawaiian steel guitarists. The Open Stage is a way to present their talents to a live audience and helps to develop stage presence and performing confidence. It also provides a public performance venue which otherwise might not exist.

Adding the Open Stage to the livestream broadcasts provides expanded opportunities for artists to showcase their talents to an unlimited worldwide audience. All broadcasts are archived and available for on-demand repeat viewing rom the Showcase's Facebook page. Links to all Showcases are also provided in the Showcase website's Gallery Page.