My name is Joseph Keola Donaghy and live in Wailuku, Maui. I am an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Hawai‘i Maui College, a prolific composer, performer, and producer of Hawaiian and contemporary music, and a member of the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning group A‘ea‘e. I am a perpetual language student, having learned ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i and achieved a high level of proficiency. I am a student of te reo Māori (Māori language) and to a lesser extent (at the moment) reo Tahiti (the Tahitian Language. I previously studied Gaeilge (Irish Gaelic) and 한국어 (the Korean language). Please check out the navigation bar for pages document my work in Hawaiian language revitalization and technology, academia, music, languages, and much more.
I received a Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian Studies from UH-Hilo in 1999, a graduate certificate in Telecommunications and Information Resource Management from UH-Mānoa in 2000, and a Master of Arts in Hawaiian Language and Literature from UH-Hilo in 2003. I also hold a Ph.D. in Music (Ethnomusicology focus) from the University of Otago in Dunedin, Aotearoa (New Zealand), where my wife, daughter, and I spent six months in 2008. Finally, I received a Master’s in Pacific Island Studies from UH-Mānoa in Spring 2025. Yes, I am a perpetual student.
My first scholarly book, entitled “Mele on the Mauna: Perpetuating Genealogies of Hawaiian Musical Activism on Maunakea,” was published by Indiana University Press in September of 2024.
Hulihua: A Hawaiian language versions of a popular word game.
A‘ea‘e is a Contemporary Hawaiian Country Music group featuring myself, Tarvin Makia, Kenneth Makuakāne, Māpuana Makia. and Jeff Dayton. Check out our music below:
Institute of Hawaiian Music: I’m the faculty coordinator of this Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning Hawaiian music program at UH Maui College. If you love Hawaiian music, please check it out!