Arts Council travels to the Manu’a Islands to recruit for
Holiday Music Festival
Five representatives from the American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture, and Humanities were accompanied by employees of the Office of Public Information (KVZK-TV) to the Manu’a Islands yesterday to review performances by groups from Ofu, Olosega, Fitiuta, and Ta’u, as well as Manu’a High School auditioning for a slot in the upcoming Holiday Music Festival.
The trip was made possible thanks to federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The annual Christmas Holiday Music Festival is scheduled to be held at the Malaeoletalu Fagatogo Pavilion from December 16-18.
In an earlier interview, Arts Council Executive Director Mrs. Leala Elisara Pili said that this year, they want the performances to be more traditional and that is why they are discouraging the use of modern organs and pianos but instead, encouraging the use of traditional musical instruments like the ukulele, kitara, and drum.
Performers who have access to the fagufagu and the lali are welcomed to use those as well.
All registered participants have to audition for a slot in order to perform, and those selected will have to attend a meeting where details like time limits will be ironed out before the final program schedule of performances are distributed. An official list of this year’s performers is not yet ready.
The Music Festival can include Nativity scenes and Christmas plays, provided that the performers furnish their own props.
Leala invites the public to come out and view this year’s Music Festival “to celebrate the birth of Christ and at the same time, promote the art of music.”
Employees of different departments and agencies of the American Samoa Government will be performing a week earlier during the ASG annual Christmas program also set to be held at the Fagatogo Pavilion.
Rehearsals and choir practice sessions for different ASG departments and agencies are already being held.
The annual Holiday Music Festival is sponsored by the American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture, and Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
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