Kuha‘o Makana Kawaauhau Case: Downloading from Heaven
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu
When Kuha‘o Makana Kawaauhau Case plays music on the piano or organ, he can feel how his melodies affect the people listening. Kuha‘o is a self-taught musician who found his talent at the age of nine when he began playing around on a keyboard with his friends at Waimea Elementary School.
“When I was at Waimea, the favorite students I surrounded myself with played keyboard,” says Kuha‘o.
He began experimenting with the different settings on the keyboard: drums, flute, violins, and would play songs as if he was in an orchestra. Eventually, by the age of 12, he could play any song after hearing it only once.
Kuha‘o is blind, and his extraordinary talent for listening and hearing makes up for what he lacks in visual sight. His ability to translate this talent through his hands and onto the keyboard is “God-given,” as Kuha‘o says.
Born on July 27, 1996 to Pumehana Kawaauhau-Case and Donovan “Kekai” Case, Kuha‘o was two months premature and weighed only two pounds, two ounces. The medical staff did not expect him to live, and he was transferred from North Hawai‘i Community Hospital to Kapi‘olani Medical Center on O‘ahu. Before he was flown over to Kapi‘olani, rather than travel with the name “Baby Case,” his father named him Makana Case, a name Donovan had heard before, but didn’t know its meaning.
“From what I know, I had to be placed in an incubator. When I was two weeks old, I suffered from an intestinal infection and had to go into surgery,” Kuha‘o, now 21, explains. “When they did the operation, they gave me 100% oxygen and didn’t think I was going to survive. But I beat the odds with the help of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”
He survived, although he became blind as a result, and he was given the name Kuha‘o (extraordinary/one who stands alone) Makana (gift). His grandmother Iwalani Case says the name is very fitting and that Kuha‘o truly is an extraordinary gift.
Iwalani says Kuha‘o had the capacity to learn very quickly, even at the age of three and four years old, and has almost a photographic memory. His mother taught him at home, and he knew all the state names by the time he started school at the age of five. There were no available teachers for the blind, so as a family, his mother and grandmother had to advocate for him, working with the Department of Education to get assistance from any programs that existed for the vision impaired.
“He started in Special Ed classes, but was there for only a short time,” Iwalani says. “They [the school administrators] streamlined him and he was in classes with the other students right through his entire school education. Because there were no teacher’s aides available for him, his mother went to school every single day with him for about three to four years.” Iwalani adds that Pumehana took the initiative to learn to read Braille, borrowing books from the library so she could teach her son how to read and write.
“This is no easy feat for a seeing person,” Iwalani says. “Kuha‘o reads Braille easily now, thanks to his mother.”
In the fourth grade, Kuha‘o was assigned a teacher who could teach vision-impaired students. This teacher saw him through elementary, intermediate, and then high school. In intermediate school, blind children from other schools in Hilo and Kona would get together for activities. Others began to notice Kuha‘o’s musical talent, and he enjoyed teaching other kids. Kuha‘o was able to incorporate his talents with the school, playing music while the kids danced or sang in May Day celebrations, or while the students marched at graduations.
In 2010, at the age of 14, Kuha‘o flew to Honolulu to perform at Hawaii Stars, a locally-produced talent show for TV. That same year, he was grand marshal in the annual Waimea Christmas parade, a memory that makes Kuha‘o smile.
“I had a keyboard in front of me while sitting on the float, and I played music for everyone,” Kuha‘o says. “All the trucks were honking; it was a good time.”
A dream came true for Kuha‘o when he was invited to give a TEDx Talk in New York City in 2013. He likes to address audiences, especially young people, and share his motto that anything is possible. His TEDx Talk “Seeing No Limits” is available on YouTube, where Kuha‘o is prepared, well-spoken, and makes his point with finesse and humor.
“Each of us…has untapped potential. A lot of people see limitations on the road to success. I can often do more and be more than others may think. It can be that way for all of us, regardless of our circumstances. Dare to see no limits,” Kuha‘o says in his speech.
Iwalani says they were impressed when Kuha‘o was asked to give a second TEDx Talk at a doctorsʻ convention on Maui in 2016. She says she wondered what her 19-year-old grandson could possibly teach or say to such accomplished and professional people. After a successful presentation, Kuha‘o was rewarded with a standing ovation.
“He came to the consensus that in their profession, medically the doctors heal bodies with their hands. Kuha‘o heals people spiritually with his hands by sharing and playing his music,” says Iwalani.
Kuha‘o is very spiritual and believes that his talent is God-given. In 2009 at the age of 12, he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Kuha‘o remembers the first hymn he heard, called “How Firm a Foundation,” and after church that day, began playing it on his grandmother’s piano.
“I call my grandmother Ama, and she was cooking lunch. I was sitting at her piano playing the song I’d heard, and when she entered the room, all she could do was weep,” Kuha‘o says with tears in his eyes.
In addition to the piano, Kuha‘o taught himself to play the organ. He has been able to practice on the organ at the Waimea LDS chapel, and knows how to play both sets of keyboards. He has learned the stops (registers for the pipes) and plays the pedal board with his feet, all at the same time. Kuha‘o says when playing prelude music before the church service starts, he connects to heaven and brings notes down to earth. Iwalani adds that when Kuha‘o was practicing the organ, people would hear him from the Waimea Community Park, follow the music, come sit in the pews, and listen to his compositions.
It was in 2012, at the age of 15, when another of Kuha‘o’s dreams came true. He had the opportunity to play the huge pipe organ at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. Before leaving, he’d been given a CD of all the pieces played by the principal tabernacle organist. By the time Kuha‘o sat down at the famous pipe organ, he was able to find his way around the multiple sets of keys.
“I also got to play on the LDS conference center organ and meet the members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,” Kuha‘o says. “I’m so grateful to have had this experience. There is a lot to learn on a pipe organ, and I like to know what the stops are, which registers to pitch. I’ve now played the tabernacle organ twice, and it is very special, but I have to be humble about it.”
Kuha‘o has a special mentor: his manager, Andy Thunell, who has been instrumental in sending opportunities his way. Andy helped create a Kickstarter fundraising campaign for Kuha‘o to begin recording his first album in 2013, Dare to Dream (available on cdbaby.com). Andy uploaded songs requested by Kuha‘o’s Kickstarter supporters and backers of the album to YouTube, to share his music with other listeners. Kuha‘o also names the late Barbara Townsend as someone who has sponsored and supported his trips to the mainland and assisted him with different opportunities over the years.
“With the funds from Kickstarter I was able to get an 88-key Yamaha Clavinova keyboard,” Kuha‘o says. “Then we decided to do another Kickstarter for my second CD Seeing No Limits, but it wasn’t successful.”
He was only 15 when Dr. Craig Jessup, a former conductor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir heard him play while he was in Utah. Dr. Jessup told Kuha‘o that he had something very special for him: he would provide the gift of a full music scholarship if Kuha’o returned home and completed his schooling. Then, when he felt ready, he could return to the University of Utah on the music scholarship.
Kuha‘o completed school in 2017, and is now focusing on how to create a means to support himself: he wants to be a motivational speaker.
“The advice I’d like to offer is this: anyone who has a talent for playing music, playing sports, cooking, or whatever flows into the hearts of those who want to learn, take it even further and share with people all over the world. Anything is possible. Remember this: you can not and do not, ask ‘Why?’ Block out all the images telling you that it isn’t possible or that you can’t do it,” Kuha‘o says. “Dare to see no limits. Ask yourself, ‘Why not?’ and if there is anything you want to do in your life, I say, follow your dreams.” ❖
For more information: iwalanicase@gmail.com
