Monthly Archives: October 2015

HOT Opera Ball 2015 Program and Auction Catalogue

An exquisite assortment of items have been donated to the Opera Ball this year in support of Hawaii Opera Theatre. Click through this sampling of the Art to inspire you for the Silent Auction!

Derek Bencomo - Dancing in Harmony

Derek Bencomo – Dancing in Harmony

Robert Butts - Curly Koa Calabash

Robert Butts – Curly Koa Calabash

Yvonne Cheng - Untitled Hawaiian Girl

Yvonne Cheng – Untitled Hawaiian Girl

Vicky Chock - Sitting with the Peaches

Vicky Chock – Sitting with the Peaches

 

Anne Irons - Gingko Song

Anne Irons – Gingko Song

Mitsuda

Mary Mitsuda – Blossoming

Esther Shimazu, Into the Woods

Esther Shimazu – Into the Woods

Venters

Roy Venters – Reflect

Maile Yawata - Venus

Maile Yawata – Venus

John Young - Untitled

John Young – Untitled

 

Click here to view the full Program and Catalogue.

HOT Opera Express presents The Magic Flute

It’s National #OperaWeek and the HOT Opera Express is ready to hit the road, taking opera to schools throughout Hawaii!

Learn more about the Opera Express school tour program online:
http://www.hawaiiopera.org/education-outreach/tours-to-schools/

And don’t miss the Hawaii Theatre performances on Nov. 4 & 5!

More info: http://www.hawaiitheatre.com/events/the-magic-flute/

Hawaii Opera Theatre presents the Hawaii Debut of SOL3 MIO

600x200 SOL3 MIO SERIOUS PRESS FLT

Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), the Islands’ only opera company, announces a one night only performance by the internationally acclaimed group Sol3 Mio. This talented trio of classically trained New Zealanders, saw their self-titled debut album released in 26 countries and have performed at sold out venues across the globe. They make their Hawaii debut with Hawaii Opera Theatre.

United by a love of opera and deep family bonds, tenor brothers Pene and Amitai Pati, and their baritone cousin Moses Mackay have carved out a unique niche for themselves. While continuing to study, train and make huge achievements within the classical world, they have been able to take the music they love to a fresh audience, helped along the way by their vivacious good humor, and a refreshing slant on contemporary tunes and the classics.

The talent and hard work of Sol3 Mio has not gone unnoticed in the opera world. Pene recently placed 2nd overall and received the Audience Choice award at Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition in London. Sol3 Mio also won two Vodafone Pacific Music Awards in 2014.

HOT’s performance by Sol3 Mio will be held on February 13, 2016, at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, starting at 7:30pm. The group will perform two sets, with an intermission in between.

Ticket Information – Tickets range from $39 – $95 and will be available on online from Oct. 26, 2015. To purchase tickets, contact the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858. Tickets are available online at HawaiiOpera.org and via Ticketmaster.

It’s National Opera Week 2015!

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Friday, October 23, 2015, kicks off National Opera Week 2015!

It’s a time to celebrate opera, share opera, and promote opera! It’s a time for opera lovers to tell their story to those who haven’t yet felt the joy of Mozart, rush of Verdi, the depth of Puccini, the angst of Wagner, and the full scope of human experience that is so beautifully shared by our favorite opera creators!

Visit Opera America today for more information about Opera Week and tell HOT why you love opera so we can share our story of the opera’s impact on our lives and communities with the world!

To share a story, please email hotopera@hawaiiopera.org.  Excerpts will be published online at HawaiiOpera.org and shared during Opera Week.

 

Hawaii Opera Theatre announces Verdi’s Rigoletto starring Quinn Kelsey

Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), the Islands’ only opera company, announces a grand finale to close the 2015-16 Opera Season, a concert experience of Verdi’s Rigoletto, starring Hawaii’s own Quinn Kelsey. He has performed the role with companies around the world including English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Opernhaus Zürich.

The internationally acclaimed Baritone received The Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Young Artist Awards earlier this year for his solo work at The Met. A former Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio Member, Quinn Kelsey began his operatic career in the HOT chorus and was last seen in the company’s production of Aida in 2012. He is considered by many to be the Rigoletto of this generation, and has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the haunted character:

“While Rigoletto’s music explodes with all too human anguish, his brutal nature, superbly portrayed by the Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey, is repellent. His boorish, tortured performance, together with a voice rich and secure from bottom to high top, is incomparable.” The Guardian

This live concert performance of Guiseppe Verdi’s iconic masterpiece, will be led by Maestro Hal France, with Nadine Sierra, Barry Banks, Matthew Treviño, and Cynthia Hanna making their HOT debuts! Blythe I. Kelsey, who thrilled audiences this season in The Magic Flute as the Third Lady, completes the cast.

HOT’s production of Verdi’s Rigoletto in Concert starring Quinn Kelsey is slated to perform on the stage on June 26, 2016 (4:00pm), at the Blaisdell Concert Hall!

Ticket Information – Tickets start at $29. To purchase tickets, contact the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858. Tickets are also available online at HawaiiOpera.org.

Hawaii Opera Theatre announces Hawaii debut of Sol3 Mio

Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), the Islands’ only opera company, announces a one night only performance by the internationally acclaimed group Sol3 Mio. This talented trio of classically trained New Zealanders, saw their self-titled debut album released in 26 countries and have performed at sold out venues across the globe. They make their Hawaii debut with Hawaii Opera Theatre on the heels of a new release, On Another Note.

United by a love of opera and deep family bonds, tenor brothers Pene and Amitai Pati, and their baritone cousin Moses Mackay have carved out a unique niche for themselves. While continuing to study, train and make huge achievements within the classical world, they have been able to take the music they love to a fresh audience, helped along the way by their vivacious good humor, and a refreshing slant on contemporary tunes and the classics.

The talent and hard work of Sol3 Mio has not gone unnoticed in the opera world. Pene recently placed 2nd overall and received the Audience Choice award at Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition in London. Sol3Mio also won two Vodafone Pacific Music Awards in 2014.

HOT’s performance of Sol3 Mio: On Another Note Tour – Hawaii will be held on February 13, 2016, at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, starting at 7:30pm. The group will perform two sets, with an intermission in between.

Ticket Information – Tickets range from $39 – $95 and will be available on online from Oct. 26, 2015. To purchase tickets, contact the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858. Tickets will be available online at HawaiiOpera.org and via Ticketmaster.

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Join us for a Golden Moment

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Golden Moment Comes to Hawaii!

Golden Moment, headlined by Olympic Figure Skating Legends & Gold Medalists Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Boitano, comes to Honolulu on Nov. 20 & 21 at the Blaisdell Arena! Group Tickets to this benefit event to support Early Childhood Literacy in Hawaii are on sale now through the HOT Box Office!

In addition to Yamaguchi & Boitano, Golden Moment will showcase the talent of fellow Olympic Gold Medalists of Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Shizuka Arakawa, and Katia Gordeeva! This event also features World Champions, Kurt Browning, Yuka Sato, & Miki Ando, National Champions, Takeshi Honda & Jeremy Abbott, with live musical performances by Hawaii’s own Na Leo & ManoaDNA!

Group sales for 10 or more seats available now through the HOT Box Office!  Discounted group prices are $85, $65 and $40.  Call (808) 593-2468 for more information.

Celebrate HYOC’s 55th Season with La’ieikawai: Princess of Paliuli

Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus celebrates its 55th Season with La’ieikawai: Princess of Paliuli!

If you enjoy the Big Band music of the 1940’s, you are sure to love this production, which is set on the Big Island during that era telling the legend of La’ieikawai.  La’ieikawai: Princess of Paliuli will be performed by the talented students of Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus (grades K -12) under the direction of Nola A. Nahulu and will be sung in English and Hawaiian.

This also marks the 20th Anniversary of the composition by Dr. Neil McKay, who was commissioned by HYOC to compose the opera and create the libretto.

Two performances of the production will be held on November 11, 2015, at 3:00pm and 6:00pm at the Hawaii Theatre.  Tickets ($18 – Students, Seniors, & Military and $23 – Adults) can be purchased at the Hawaii Theatre Box Office. To buy your tickets call 808-528-0506 or visit HawaiiTheatre.com.

For more information, contact HYOC at 808-521-2982, or email info@hyoc.org. 

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Honolulu Star-Advertiser Review – The Magic Flute

There are at least two ways to enjoy Hawaii Opera Theatre’s 2015-2016 season-opener production of “The Magic Flute.” One is to dissect it with an academic’s knowledge of the social context of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last opera — the things that were of concern to him in the final months of his life, and the messages about various issues that he may have intended the story to deliver. Another option is to just enjoy it as a beautiful and imaginative staging of a great 18th-century opera. Well-matched and impressively talented leads do a wonderful job even when the forward motion of the story slows to a glacial pace.

‘THE MAGIC FLUTE’

Presented by Hawaii Opera Theatre

>> Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
>> When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
>> Admission: $34-$135
>> Info:ticketmaster.com or 866-448-7849

The premise is familiar: A protagonist is hired to help someone and then gradually discovers that there are things about the job he’s taken on that his employer didn’t tell him. Antonio Figueroa stars as Tamino, a prince on a mission, with Curt Olds as his quirky sidekick, Papageno, a professional bird catcher whose natural response to danger is quick retreat. Talise Tre- vigne is an appealing heroine as Pamina, the kidnapped princess Tamino is determined to rescue. Julius Ahn is a delightfully hissable villain in the role of Monostatos, the man who is holding her in the service of his overlord but wants her for himself.

So Young Park (Queen of the Night) got the loudest applause of the evening on Friday’s opening night for her climactic aria in Act 2. Park’s voice soared up to hit the high notes required in this demanding piece of music. She nailed the emotional intensity called for as well.

Paul Whelan (Sarastro) physically dominates every scene he appears in, towering over the other members of the cast like a giant. Whelan’s size suggests that Sarastro is a godlike creature rather than a mortal and that the mystical organization he heads has otherworldly origins.

True love rarely runs smoothly in operas. This one is no exception. Figueroa and Trevigne have several emotionally fraught scenes where Tamino and Pamina endure separation, misunderstandings and possible death.

Trevigne and Park make the big daughter-and-mother confrontation one of the most dramatic scenes in the show; how sad it is to know that mother or daughter is going to lose! Olds is immediately entertaining as the comic sidekick but plays his serious scenes with equal finesse. Ahn makes Monostatos a complete three-dimensional prisoner of lust; you’ll hiss Monostatos but, as Bill Clinton might put it, you’ll feel his pain.

Eclectic costuming also makes HOT’s “Flute” memorable. Tamino wears the garb of a late-Victorian or early-Edwardian gentleman. Papageno sports 18th-century attire, most of Sarastro’s court wear garments that suggest the early 1500s and the Queen of the Night’s slinky attire brings to mind Theda Bara as Cleopatra in 1917. Add a few more eras to the fashion mix and it is quite the mash-up.

Many Americans avoid opera because so much of it is sung in German, Italian or some other language that isn’t English. HOT’s “Flute” is performed in English — and with the English lyrics projected in “supertitles” above the stage just in case anyone has difficulty understanding English sung in traditional operatic style. That concession makes this “Flute” an excellent introduction to opera for adventurous first-timers as well as satisfying entertainment for seasoned aficionados.

By John Berger for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser