BY LORRAINE MECCA – The Symphony of Leif (CsiMec, Inc. 2010) by local author Paul Y. Csige made its debut at bookstores throughout Hawaii this month. Distributed in Hawaii by The Islander Group and on the mainland by Ingram Books, the novel is a coming of age story about a boy from the Big Island who is sent away to a Scientology boarding school on the mainland.
Desperate to escape his current school and his domineering father, Leif says “Aloha” to his island home. At first blush the Lamia School seems to be a dream come true, but soon Leif discovers darker and more sinister intentions than educating young minds.
Paul Csige was dubbed, “a scarily talented young fellow from Kailua-Kona who seems able to do just about anything” in a review of The Symphony of Leif by Burl Burlingame in the Honolulu Star Advertiser. In addition to his recently released first novel, Csige, age 28, has had a successful career as a composer, editor, and film maker. In 2009 he collaborated with “Living Treasure of Hawaii” Herb Kawainui Kane to produce an hour long animated film, Voyagers: The First Hawaiians (Guiding Star Pictures, LLC 2009) an adaptation of Kane’s 1976 book Voyage: The Discovery of Hawaii (Island Heritage).
Csige directed, edited and animated over 300 of Kane’s works of art for the film in addition to composing and recording the original musical score. Voyagers: The First Hawaiians aired on PBS in 2010 and is currently available in DVD.
Paul Csige was commissioned by The Kamuela Philharmonic to compose an original piece for the orchestra’s January 2008 performance at the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea. Again collaborating with Herb Kane, a multi-media recording of the concert earned the Aloha Accolade Award for Excellence by the Honolulu Int’l Film Festival.
Paul Csige is currently working on a second novel, a concerto, and a live action feature movie scheduled for filming in Hawaii in the summer of 2011.
Submitted by Lorraine Mecca of CsiMec, Inc.