First Friday
Jun 2, 2023 • 6:00 PM
– 9:00 PM
Free, family-friendly evening of art and music at HiSAM. The Lēʻahi Gallery, POD, and our Sculpture Garden will be open. Come visit and enjoy performances in the garden. Admission is free and all ages are welcome. In honor of Pride Month, HiSAM presents QASI Queer Arts Festival, including a performance with Lady Laritza “Lala” Labouche.
About the Artists
Lady Laritza “Lala” Labouche
Lady Laritza “Lala” Labouche (T.J. Keanu Tario) is a multifaceted composer, pianist, Hawaiian cultural practitioner by day, and ballroom vogue drag artist by night. She is the first Kanaka Maoli graduate of The Juilliard School, in the classical piano division, and The California Institute of the Arts.
Her compositions have been performed by ensembles including the New York Youth Symphony, the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra & the Attacca String Quartet. Performances for the concert stage include ‘Capriccio’ for One Piano/Four Hands commissioned by the Aloha International Piano Festival, and premiered by Lisa Nakamichi and Jon Nakamatsu (Gold Medalist at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition). The score to short film ‘A Fish Out of Water’ (dir. Daniel Schloss) was the Official 2017 Winner of Boundless in Brooklyn: A 48 Hour Dance Film Contest, and premiered at the Cinéma Majestic Passy/Écrans de Paris.
As a pianist, she has won awards at competitions including the Virginia Waring International Competition, Aloha International Piano Competition, and the Stecher & Horowitz NY Piano Competition. Notable performances include NPR’s From the Top radio show, Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Colorado College Music Festival, and Château de Fontainebleau in the Écoles d’Art Festival.
Film credits include The Jimmy Kimmel Show, HBOMax’s Generations, National campaigns for ULTA Beauty & Nintendo Switch, and ‘Crimson’s Cabaret’ short film (featured Winner at the Cannes World Film Festival).
Recently, T.J. was a faculty at The University of Southern California. In collaboration with esteemed playwright, Velina Hasu Houston, T.J. is workshopping a newly composed Hawaiian musical regarding the overthrow and imprisonment of Queen Liliʻuokalani. As a fellow of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, she is creating a multi-disciplinary performance piece ‘E aha ʻia ana ʻO Mauna Kea’, that brings continued awareness to the Protect Mauna Kea movement, Hawaiian Sovereignty, and Aloha ʻĀina. More of her portfolio can be found on instagram @laritzalabouche and website www.tjkeanutario.com
