The Second Annual HTIC Talent Show was held on Friday, August 14. Although the number of intrepid student contestants was small, the talent demonstrated was huge. College Prep student Koki Murakami from Japan impressed everyone with his skillful rapping, nimbly done in perfectly pronounced English. Next, the HTIC community was enthralled by a graceful, exotic, and mesmerizing belly dance by Tessy (Zhang Kaipei), a Chinese student from Shenzhen University participating in a course of study organized by HTIC’s International Programs. Demonstrating an interest in his ancestral roots, Liberal Arts student Travis Harada offered his rendition of “Shima Uta” on the shamisen, a traditional Japanese/Okinawan instrument he began studying a short time ago. The final offering was a fierce but fun New Zealand Haka performed by Liberal Arts student Nicholas Medeiros, a student of Hawaiian martial arts, who got the cafeteria rocking.

Special thanks to the very excellent emcee, Natsuka Koizumi, and to faculty members Seleena Harkness, vocalist, and Danilo Marrone, guitarist, who closed the program by sharing their musical talents in a beautiful rendition of Gershwin’s “Summertime,” from the opera Porgy and Bess.