The Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is continuing its bimonthly virtual speaker series to highlight the discoveries and work of diverse history and humanities scholars that work with Hawaiian Mission Houses' extensive archives that inform our contemporary world. The Hawaiian Mission Houses' speaker series: Archives and Inquiry, an hour long discussion, will begin with the guest speaker and end with a Q& A from the audience. The presentation to be held on December 21, 2021 from 12pm HST to 1pm HST is entitled “Royal Hawaiian Troubadours: Acoustic Architects of the Electric Age” and will feature Kilin Reece, Luthier, and President/Founder of the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings. The main presentation will be a multi-media virtual tour of Kaula Piko - The Source of Strings, a collaborative exhibition mounted last year at Bishop Museum curated by Mr. Reece and Bishop Museum historian DeSoto Brown. Kilin Reece will unravel the origins of the world's most iconic modern stringed instrument designs, tracing them to their origins in the vibrant, cosmopolitan musical community of the 19th century Hawaiian Kingdom. Featuring a pre-recorded musical performance by members of String Ensemble of the Royal Hawaiian Band, joined by members of the Sovereign Strings under the direction of Maestro Aaron Mahi. The Hawaiian Mission Houses Archives hold valuable musical collections that include Hawaiian language hymnals from several eras, including the original 1823 Nā Himeni Hawaii and the 1834 Nā Himeni Hawaii – which was the first hymnal to include musical notes printed on the page, Milo Calkin’s 1840 hymnal for use among the foreign population of Hawaiʻi, collections of music by Charles E. King and Johnny Noble, programs from Kamehameha Schools Founder’s Day musical performances, the Peterson System of Playing Steel Guitar in the Hawaiian Manner from 1916 and a collection of Steel Guitar Solos from the very early 20th century. These collections show the breadth and depth of Hawaiian music in the 19th and 20th centuries; and the influences that led to new developments by Hawaiian musicians that changed music throughout the world. Kilin Reece is Hawai’iʻs premier restoration specialist for vintage acoustic string instruments. A Grammy-nominated musician and writer, Kilin (pronounced KY-lin) for over a decade was the lead singer and guitarist in Hawai’iʻs longest-running bluegrass band, The Saloon Pilots. In 2019, he founded the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the research and celebration of Hawai’i and the Pacific regionʻs enduring legacy in the musical arts. His research has led to The Honolulu Students—Royal Hawaiian Troubadours Historic Recordings circa 1904 , a collaborative release with American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. He has produced the acclaimed concert series A Night of Sovereign Strings—Celebrating the Musical Legacy of Mekia Kealakai , which traces the music of Hawaiʻi from the monarchy period through WWII and features an award-winning ensemble led by Maestro Aaron Mahi and joined by members of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, Hawaiʻiʻs Opera community and leading members of the Jazz and traditional Hawaiian music worlds. Kilin is currently working with the C.F. Martin Guitar Company on a documentary film illuminating the long running collaborations between Hawaiian musicians and America’s oldest string instrument manufacturer. The talk will be livestreamed and be available afterwards via the Hawaiian Mission House website www.missionhouses.org.The Hawaiian Mission Houses Archives are open to the public , including free digital access to over 100,000 pages of historical documents and pictures at https://hmha.missionhouses.org/