Uncle Calvin Hoe, Master instrument-maker “Uncle” Calvin Hoe is one of Hawai'i’s premier native artisans, making authentic pre-contact Hawaiian instruments since 1961, and providing musicians, scholars, and hula practitioners with his highly valued creations. He is the co-founder of Hakipu'u Learning Center, a Hawaiian-based public charter school.

Long committed to teaching Hawai'i’s children, Calvin has worked at Kamehameha Schools, Queen Lili'uokalani Children’s Center and Bishop Museum. He has also been featured in Smithsonian magazines and publications. Uncle Calvin's Hawaiian ancestry comes from his mother, whose family owned land for generations in Hakipu'u on O'ahu’s windward side. A long-time community activist, Calvin and his wife Charlene worked successfully to preserve the water rights and keep development out of neighboring Wai'hole and Waik'ne Valleys, because valuable water, like the streams of Hakipu'u, was being diverted for use in Central and Leeward Oahu agricultural fields.

As an important cultural resource, Calvin has been invited to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. on two occasions to demonstrate his art, and he is one of the few allowed into the archival recesses of museums with ancient Hawaiian instruments to touch and examine the artifacts. A student of renown Hula Master, Nona Beamer, “Uncle Cal” has been involved in the renaissance of Hawaiian music, hula, and the arts for the past five decades.

Since 2009, he has been in a partnership with Maile Beamer-Loo at Hula Preservation Society to present workshops on select rare forms of Hula, such as the Hula 'Ohe, or Nose Flute Hula and Hula Ki'i, or puppetry. Uncle Cal has traveled the world sharing his knowledge and we are privileged to have him with us at the Spring Community Week, teaching the making and playing of the 'ohe hano ihu, Hula ki'i, telling stories, and teaching about Hawaiian culture.

LIMITED CAPACITY, CHILDREN TICKETS $15 WITH ONE ADULT COMPANION