Artist Bios

Keahi Horowitz ('19)

Keahi plays cello, or maybe it plays him ... or maybe both? He also participates in taiko (Japanese group drumming), but he likes playing almost anything, really! He received his Master's of Music in Cello Performance just before attending JABSOM and hopes to keep music and medicine closely aligned wherever they both lead him next.

Keahi was 2016-2017 President of JAM and continues to be an active member in the group. He strives to bring more opportunities to the group so that we all can keep music going in our lives.

Caroline Ritson ('18)

Caroline plays the pedal harp, musical saw, and ukulele, but she also loves collecting musical instruments from around the world. In college, she created a major in Music Cognition and hopes to incorporate music therapy into her future practice. Her other artistic interests include crafting and jewelry making. Her jewelry line Kealani Jewelry features shells and treasures she collects from the sea.  

Caroline helped found and serve as co-President of JAM in 2015.

Leimomi Kanagusuku ('18)

Leimomi began her formal ballet training at the age of 8 at Punahou Dance School and later joined Ballet Hawaii in high school. As a sophomore at Stanford University, she helped establish the Chocolate Heads Movement Band, a multidisciplinary student performing arts group that included singers, dancers, musicians, poets, and a variety of other types of artists who performed as a collective.  There, she dabbled in other dance forms including hula, modern, jazz, broadway, and hip-hop, and she found her home as a dancer, choreographer, assistant to the director.  Upon returning home to Hawaii, Leimomi has choreographed and organized shows for the annual JABSOM Halloween Spooktacular, Willed Body Ceremony, Senior Lu'au, Friends of the Medical School Dinner, Dean's Circle, and JABSOM's 50th Anniversary Gala.  In addition to dancing, Ms. Kanagusuku also enjoys playing the flute, piano, and ukulele from time to time.

Charles Peebles ('18)

Charles is known for his talent in the saxaphone and piano, and also composes and arranges music. He loves playing jazz, but really, will attempt to play any genre of music. He received a Master's in Music and taught professionally on the Big Island for several years. He was the West Hawaii County Band director as well as the Hulihee Palace band director for a short while. He was honored to play in a Hoku-nominated band, the Olliephonics, for several years. These days, he enjoy jamming with my fellow musician schoolmates when time allows!

Nina Leialoha Beckwith ('18)

Nina loves art in its many forms. She has been dancing hula for most of her life and hope to continue as she age into "kupuna" years. One of her favorite hula memories was dancing at Merrie Monarch and atop volcanoes to give our offerings. She love to paint, draw, and craft as well. While she wishes could sing and play instruments (other than hula implements), she will leave those special talents to her other dear JAM friends.

A hula quote that always leaves her feeling inspired:

"Hula is the language of the heart, and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people." - David Kalakaua (King of Hawai'i, 1874-1891)

Andrew Kinimaka ('19)

Andrew enjoys keyboard percussion arranging and instruction, hula, and a cappella arranging. He is interested in multiple genres including Hawaiian, pop, and choral.  Andrew participated in the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets Front Ensemble 2009, Santa Clara Vanguard A Corps Front Ensemble 2010, Merrie Monarch 2016, and has been an arranger at Kamehameha High School Marching Band since 2012.

Ryan Yanagihara ('19)

Ryan enjoys both art and music as he plays violin and is an active photographer. He used to play violin for the Iolani Symphonic Orchestra and Hawaii Youth Symphony in high school. While at Iolani, he premiered a violin concerto, The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (梁祝小提琴协奏曲, He Zhanhao, Chen Gang) in Hawaii with the Iolani Symphonic Orchestra. He was also a cinematographer for the University of Washington football team in college. 

Chris Tokeshi ('20)

I'm a singer in JAM but play ukulele and piano on the side. I have an interest in exploring all types of music and dance with my favorite musician being Jack Johnson. My first year with JAM has been awesome, we have had many opportunities to perform and it's the perfect way to take a break from school! To people who are considering joining JAM, I would tell them that you don't have to have any kind of training, just an interest in music and open mind (like me)!

Brysa Kato ('20)

Brysa loves to sing! She loves to sing musicals, Disney songs, or anything with a great melody. She has never really performed (except if you count middle school theater), and thus appreciates being involved in JAM as it enables her to step out of my comfort zone and share her voice.

Charis Mok ('20)

Charis plays the violin. She participated in the Punahou Symphony, Stanford Symphony Orchestra, and various chamber ensembles. Her hobbies include people-watching through not-so-dark sunglasses.

Vladimir Bernstein ('20) - double bass

Vladimir Bernstein is classically trained double bassist. Vladimir received his Bachelors of the Arts degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Columbia University , and continued on to obtain a Masters of Music degree in Double Bass Performance from The Juilliard School of Music where he studied under former Principal Bassist of the New York Philharmonic Eugene Levinson. 

He currently performs with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and JABSOM Artists and Musicians. Vladimir also plays the guitar, ukulele, and piano (barely), and enjoys listening to and performing all genres of music (mostly). 

Dr. Malia Lee, MD 

In her center, Dr. Lee has been singing since the time she could speak -- mostly because her father would sing to her when she was a baby and later taught her how to play a bit of the guitar.  Because of her love for singing and the urging of her dad, she spent four years in vocal training during high school and participated in various choirs.  Her home base for singing has been through music ministry in church.  Some highlights in her vocal career have been in musical production during high school,  a performance at Carnegie hall with the Honolulu Symphony Choir and the completion of her original songs in an album Eyes of a Stranger which later received a nomination for a Na Hokuhanohano award in 2011.  

The songs on the album were inspired by her patients' struggles and written mostly during her long drives to and from work each day during a short period after her father had passed away.  Music grounds her and helps her to move forward everyday knowing that whatever beauty she is to contribute to this world will make its way from her inside out. 

If she had not chosen medicine as a career, I think I would like to have become a classical performer or jazz singer or both.