Kinolau / Four Bodies is a structured improvisational piece for an ensemble of  four musicians. For the development of the piece and its first performance, it was important that the musicians each came from a different musical tradition so as to highlight the varied decisions four distinct voices make when interpreting the image of the Makaliʻi (Pleiades constellation). 

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The inspiration for Kinolau / Four Bodies came from the Hawaiian creation chant Kumulipo. The first verse of the Kumulipo references the rise of Makaliʻi from darkness as an allusion to the creation of the universe. The constellation serves as a metonym for creation stories held by many cultures under different names...

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Download the full program notes here