‘Disney’s Moana Live-to-Film Concert’ an ‘awesome opportunity’ for representation among Polynesian artists

Cultural consultant: Well-timed musical augmentation will create a ‘grand-sounding adventure’

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025)—The sounds of island life are the backdrop to Disney princess Moana’s seafaring adventures.

“Disney’s Moana Live-to-Film Concert,” an immersive audio and visual experience for fans of the fearless island native and her adventuresome allies, will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Eisenhower Auditorium.

“Percussion is a major part of this score,” said Brandon Fells, director of concert program development and operations for Disney Concerts. He said the variety of traditional instruments used in the score include bamboo flutes and conch shells.

Disney Concerts and AMP Worldwide presentation is a celebration of the music and songs from the 2016 award-winning Walt Disney Animation Studios’ classic.

Inspired by Polynesian mythology, “Moana” tells the story of the strong-willed daughter of a village chief tasked with returning a mystical relic to a legendary goddess. When a blight strikes her island, Moana sets sail in search of demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) in the hope of returning the relic to Te Fiti and saving her community.

The event features a full-length, captioned screening of the beloved movie, accompanied by live performances of a unique on-stage musical ensemble of top Hollywood studio musicians, Polynesian rhythm masters and vocalists.

The film score features a mix of live performances and recordings of songs, including “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” by Lin Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”); as well as “Shiny” sung by Jemaine Clement (“What We Do in the Shadows”); among others.

A nine-piece band will perform an expansive score fit for an epic film adventure.

Fells said the band’s live performance is augmented with tracks in the movie, “so that way, people can still experience this vast, grand-sounding adventure that it is, and not something that is less than that.”

Grant Muāgututiʻa, a cultural consultant on the project and a linguistic professor at Cal State University-San Marcos, said being able to assemble a group of Polynesian artists has been an “awesome opportunity” for representation.

He said the musicians have perfected their craft and are proud to share their varied musical traditions and expertise.

“ ‘Moana’ is representative of the Pacific, specifically Polynesia, which is the eastern part of that region,” he said. “And while we do have a common ancestry, it is quite a diverse region as well. … That, I feel, is really well reflected in the band that we have performing. So them coming together and sort of organically kind of representing their respective cultures and traditions is going to be a beautiful thing on stage.”

The event will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Call 814-863-0255 or visit “Moana Live-to-Concert Film” online for more information about the main event and a pre-performance family activity free to ticketholders. Visit Program Notes for more information about the musicians performing during the event.

Heather Longley is a marketing communications specialist at the Center for the Performing Arts.