About Our Guest Speaker

Kilin Reece is a luthier, writer, musician, founder and president of the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings. After moving to Oʻahu in 2001, Reece became steeped in Hawaiian instrument-making traditions while working at the Koʻolau Guitar and ʻUkulele Company. In time, Reece founded KR Strings earning himself a place among Hawaiʻi's top luthiers. As his knowledge of the history of Hawaiian instruments expanded, Reece learned that the Martin Dreadnought acoustic guitar that he had been playing for decades traced its origins to the Hawaiian kingdom. Further, the first electric guitar ever made was a Hawaiian-style lap steel guitar. Reece, inspired to learn more, began working with the C.F. Martin Guitar Company Archives, the Library of Congress, Bishop Museum and the Hawaiʻi State Archives, spending hundreds of hours unraveling their compelling story. In 2019, Reece founded the nonprofit Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings with a mission to research, restore and celebrate the pivotal and enduring role that Hawaiian and Pacific music and musicians have played in the evolution of popular music - a legacy of global influence. He is excited to collaborate in the creation of The Pacific String Museum and the Pūmanamana Project. The Pacific String Museum will be the world's first online museum dedicated to Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Region's pivotal role in the evolution of the world's most iconic stringed instrument designs, and their related musical styles. The Pūmanamana Project will create a public heritage resource for those interested in mele Hawaiʻi by hosting a free, online index to guide users as they interact in a virtual library and digital archive of mele.