PEARL CITY \u2014 The Pearl City Cultural Center on the Pearl City High School campus was renamed as the Michael D. Nakasone Performing Arts Center in recognition of the renowned band master’s contributions to music education and band programs across the state in a celebratory concert today. Nakasone\u2019s illustrious career spans over five decades and includes both public and private schools and some of Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s most storied ensembles. Nakasone, 77, began as band director at Wahiawa Intermediate School in 1968 and went on to direct music programs at Mililani High School, Pearl City High School, the Hawai\u02bbi Youth Symphony, the Royal Hawaiian Band, Punahou School, Kamehameha Schools and, currently, at the University of Hawai\u02bbi at West O\u02bbahu. He is widely regarded as the single most influential and respected band director in Hawai\u02bbi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis incredible honor is meant to honor the efforts of many,\u201d said honoree Michael Nakasone. \u201cIt is a tribute to the community leaders, government leaders and legislators who have continued to support this wonderful complex, to the teachers and administrators on all levels who have given their whole-hearted support, to the many parents and band boosters who, through the decades, have poured out the energy, time and finances to support their young musicians, and most importantly, it is a tribute to the students who have given their time and talent to produce musical excellence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The renaming ceremony included honors from Gov. David Ige; former Govs. Ben Cayetano and John Waihe\u2018e; Sens. Michelle Kidani, Bennette Misalucha and Clarence Nishihara; Reps. Gregg Takayama, Sylvia Luke, Roy Takumi and Henry Aquino; former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann; Honolulu City Councilmember Brandon Elefante; Superintendent Keith Hayashi; Assistant Deputy Superintendent Heidi Armstrong; and Complex Area Superintendent Keith Hui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The program also included stirring musical tributes by a 100-member select band ensemble composed of current and past members of Nakasone\u2019s most distinguished bands and members of the Nakasone family. Nine guest conductors who collaborated with or were former students of Nakasone led his favorite musical numbers and included current and former band directors of Pearl City High School, Mililani High School, Moanalua High School, the Royal Hawaiian Band, and universities in Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI could not think of a more perfect person to have their name on this building, to inspire the next generation of band students to dream about all they can be and don\u2019t let anybody or anything deny them from pursuing their dreams,\u201d Governor David Ige said. \u201cOn behalf of the people of Hawai\u02bbi and the people of Pearl City, thank you so much for your dedication, for your inspiration and for teaching us about being truly world-class in everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nakasone\u2019s dedication to students has extended to all schools throughout his career as exemplified by his leadership of the Leeward District Band Festival, the O\u02bbahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) Band Festival and his continued assistance to other school band directors in developing their concert and marching band programs. He has also assisted parent booster clubs from other schools in coordinating and fundraising for their band trips. His work leading Pearl City High School\u2019s summer marching band clinics also led to the participation of intermediate and high schools from all islands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis tireless efforts have helped to develop music programs across the state at all levels, from students learning their instruments and how to play in a group for the very first time, to our finest public and private school programs and our state\u2019s most historic and respected bands, Mike has been able to connect every organization he\u2019s touched and bring them together to the benefit of music and music education in Hawai\u02bbi,\u201d Superintendent Keith Hayashi said. \u201cHe is a humble man who will never take credit, but countless families throughout Hawai\u02bbi have been touched by his dedication to our students and his passion for education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born and raised in Hilo, Nakasone graduated from Hilo High School and received his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa. His status as a master teacher has been credited to his continual professional development, attending music workshops and symposiums, and his constant interactions with the finest musicians in the world, to the benefit of his professional growth and that of his students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His distinguished list of honors include National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors inductee (2020), the O\u02bbahu High School Marching Band Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), the Honpa Hongwanji Living Treasures of Hawai\u02bbi award (2013), High School Band Directors National Association Hall of Fame inductee (2012), the Governor\u2019s Fine Arts Award (2005), the Hawai\u02bbi Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award (1998), Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Education State Teacher of the Year (1996), and John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor inductee (1995).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PEARL CITY \u2014 The Pearl City Cultural Center on the Pearl City High School campus was renamed as the Michael D. Nakasone Performing Arts Center in recognition of the renowned band master’s contributions to music education and band programs across the state in a celebratory concert today. Nakasone\u2019s illustrious career spans over five decades and […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Stanley Lee","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/author\/stanley-leek12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":306,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":306,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 09:03:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}