Ho'opi'i Brothers

Brothers Richard and Solomon Ho'opi'i are winners of the National Heritage Award for their preservation of a form of native Hawaiian singing that is known as "leo ki'eki'e." The style features men singing in a high falsetto. Photos of the generously proportioned Ho'opi'i Brothers belie the sweet nature of their singing voices, which are often described as angelic. Solomon Ho'opi'i and his younger brother Richard, who were both born in the 1940s, grew up in Kahakuloa, a village on Maui. They were surrounded by a very traditional and music-loving family, with both parents play...