Himeda, Marla: - Marla Himeda is an award-winning author and lifelong musician who taught piano and clarinet for eighteen years at Punahou Schools and for over half a century in her own studio. She teaches theory and composition courses, coaches ensemble groups, and is a prolific arranger of chamber music for winds. She has performed in the Seattle Opera House, the Seattle Art Museum, and many concert venues in Hawaii, where she has lived for the past fifty years near Mount Olomana, whose twin peaks sparked the birth of Bardic Mountain. She is a member of the National Music Teachers Association, Opus 5 Winds, and the Honolulu Wind Ensemble.The Bardic Isles Series began over thirty years ago as a story the author told to her four children. It is now an epic fantasy series featuring music as the sole magical element, and the audiobooks include the music of the Bardic Isles, all of which was composed by the author. The Bardic Isles Series is a merging of two passions-music and writing-and portrays a unique world that the author unabashedly admits loving to escape to. The Bardic Isles Series has won nine international awards, including the 2024 Readers' Favorite Fiction Audiobook Gold Medal Winner, the 2024 IP Awards Outstanding Audiobook Winner, the 2023 IAN Fantasy Book of the Year Winner, the BookFest Audiobook Silver Medal Winner, and the B.R.A.G. Medallion.