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Leila's Belgium UMC Fund!

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My name is Leila Hawana and I am a student at the University of Oregon. At the UO, I'll be graduating this Spring with my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and my Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance. Since my time there, I have studied extensively with Dr. Sean Wagoner and Dr. Pius Cheung. I began playing percussion in high school (around the age of 13), and found myself falling in love with all the different instruments. However, I started finding myself favoring the marimba, as you see in the various pictures. Since my studies at the University of Oregon, I have grown not only as a marimba player, but also as a musician and an artist. I have been competing in the international circuit and performing all over the United States, including places like Oregon, Washington, California, Indiana, Texas, New York, and many others! .  As awesome as this sounds, it has all been self-funded and/or funded by scholarships, which as a college student, is hard but doable.

In addition to being a performer, I also try to help in the community. I am a member of the professional music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon (past historian), which is a music fraternity that aims in getting music into the community and helping improve and fund the education of young musicians.

Also, to further my outreach, I teach high school students throughout the state of Oregon how to play percussion (usually through marching band programs, but not always). My hope is that someday each person I teach will be inspired to pursue something they are truly passionate about, whether it be in music or not.

Now, as I finish my senior year, I am preparing for what will be the ultimate competition of my marimba career so far. This is called the Universal Marimba Competition, which is a two week long event held once every two to four years in Belgium. This is a very difficult competition designed for some of the worlds’ top aspiring marimba artists, and is essentially a high risk high reward kind of deal. (The way I think of it is that it is like the Olympics for marimba players.) There are four rounds, and it goes from anyone can join to elimination down to 40, then 12, then 4, and then a winner is chosen. It gets very intense very fast. Now, I wouldn’t be attempting such a thing if my professor and I didn’t think I would have a chance of progressing in the competition. Put simply, this is a big deal for me and could be something that helps launch my career in music.

This is where I need help. This trip is totalling approximately $5500! The breakdown in the budget is shown below. Although I have jobs and I am working as hard as possible while still keeping my grades up in school, this is one trip that will be quite costly. Any donation helps and is greatly appreciated!

On top of fundraising through GoFundMe and working, I am also doing fundraisers throughout the year, which mainly consist of local can and bottle drives. As the time progresses, I will keep updates on here as to money that has been raised on here and in separate fundraisers. 

Feel free to check out who I am and what I do! There's lots of pictures and videos on here, including a recent TEDx talk and performance that I gave in Portland, OR! (at the top of the page) I also placed some links below that can give you a better idea of what the competition is all about and who I am.

Starting Amt: $0

Budget for Trip (High Approx):
Airplane Ticket and Travel: $1600
Hotel: $1750 (about $120/night)
Food: $900 (about $60/day)
Competition Fee: $312
Photography Expenses: $225
Repertoire/Mallet Expenses: $200
Emergency Fund: $500
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Total: $5487.00

Links:
Universal Marimba Competition:
www.marimbacompetition.com
My LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/leila-hawana/22/350/548

Photo of a select group of students performing an improvisation with Pedro Carneiro and Joint Venture
Percussion Duo.

Photo of Mu Phi Epsilon, the professional music fraternity I am a member of.

Photo from my recent solo percussion recital given in Aasen Hull Hall at the University of Oregon, which is located in Eugene, OR.

Video of Keiko Abe's Wind Sketch, as performed by me!
This video was submitted for my acceptance into the Keiko Abe Marimba Academy, where I performed for and with Abe Sensei (THE Keiko Abe!).
*For those who are unaware, Keiko Abe is a legend in the marimba community. She currently teaches in Japan, and she is very old.*

Duo performance at the University of Oregon of a new arrangement by performer (pictured above, right) Adam Dunson at a Doernbecher's Charity Fundraiser.

Photo with Jack Van Geem (left), the Bach master!!

Performing with Keiko Abe!

Post Concert with Keiko Abe. Truly an inspirational woman :)

Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $50 
    • 9 yrs
  • Rachel Harris
    • $1 (Offline)
    • 9 yrs
  • Bottles and Cans
    • $8 (Offline)
    • 9 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $65 (Offline)
    • 9 yrs
  • UO Percussion Studio
    • $3 (Offline)
    • 9 yrs

Organizer

Leila Hawana
Organizer
Beaverton, OR

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