Monthly Archives: December 2016

Frederica Von Stade in Three Decembers

HOT Recommended for NEA Grant

We are honored to announce that the National Endowment for the Arts has recommended HOT for one of seven federal grants in the state of Hawaii!

The grant is to support HOT’s first-ever four island tour of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, starring the world-renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade.

“The arts are for all of us, and by supporting these projects, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum, or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer.”

The grants for fiscal year 2017 will be distributed through the Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

For more information, please visit this link.

HOT Receives Community Contribution Award

 

ThinkTech Hawaii, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a platform for civic engagement, presented the Hawaii Opera Theatre with a Community Contribution award on Thursday, December 8th, at ThinkTech Hawaii’s annual holiday party in Honolulu. HOT Board Vice President Evelyn Lance had the honor of receiving the award.

The award recognized HOT’s dedication and service to the ongoing welfare of the community by bringing the art of world-class opera to our audiences and schools and raising Hawaii’s quality of performing arts, life and public engagement.

Each of these organizations represents the best of our community by raising the quality of life in our islands,” said Jay Fidell, president and CEO of ThinkTech Hawaii, Inc. “When selecting these recipients, our goal was to identify change makers transforming the way we live and think.”

The award was also presented to four other community organizations, including the Institute for Human Services, Make ‘Em Smile, OC 16, and Pacific Forum CSIS.

 

How Are We Doing? Share Your Voice!

Hawaii Opera Theatre is local, non-profit organization determined to employ sound business practices in its effort to bring a broad spectrum of opera and music-theater as well as a wide range of educational and artistic opportunities to the whole state of Hawaii. We genuinely need feedback from those who have been to a recent HOT production to help us understand where we stand in that endeavor.

We invite you to take part in a focus group discussion regarding your thoughts about opera in general, the Hawaii Opera Theatre, specific productions you may have been to and your reactions to initiatives we’ll describe to you, which HOT is considering in the near future. This is your chance to share your likes and dislikes and to have your point of view carefully considered as we work to shape HOT to better serve the community.

The focus group will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 3:00pm to 4:30pm, at Ward Research (828 Fort St Mall).  If you are interested in participating, or would like more information please email:

HOTresearch@hawaiiopera.org

Participants will receive a small gift as compensation for their time. Please be assured that our only interest is in getting your honest opinions and that nothing you say during the focus group will be attributed to you personally in our analyses of what’s covered that afternoon.

We hope that you will be able to join us for this important discussion.

#HOTSpeaks: HOT President Jim McCoy

A Former Navy Commanding Officer’s Voyage with Opera

It was opening night of the Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of Puccini’s Tosca in 2006.

As Baron Scarpia, the opera’s villain, sang his famous aria Va, Tosca! (Te Deum) in the setting of a Roman church near the end of the first act, the accompaniment swelled. A full choir belted at fortissimo, the orchestra jerked their bows along the instruments’ strings with vigor, and pressurized air resonated through the pipes of an organ.

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Underneath a lavish, golden robe and mitre cap stood retired U.S. Navy Captain and Hawaii Opera Theatre Board President Jim McCoy. He had volunteered to play the non-singing role of the Cardinal.

It was his first on-stage opera performance.

Years later, standing in a room surrounded by naval memorabilia, Jim held a photo of his performance in Tosca and smiled nostalgically.dsc00745

“I’m not a musician. I’m not a musicologist. I’m just a passionate opera lover,” he said. “And having a role in Tosca – my favorite opera – was a thrilling experience.”

Preparing For Voyage

Jim grew up playing classical music on the piano, and he said it was natural to make the transition from classical music and the pop music of the day to opera.

“It was easy to listen to a Rodgers and Hammerstein song from Oklahoma or The King and I and then hear something from La Bohème, for instance, and say, ‘There’s a lyrical similarity there,’” he said.

Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, Jim was exposed to opera through television. Opera singers were often guest stars on popular television series like The Ed Sullivan Show or Your Show of Shows.

And the year that he began high school coincided with the introduction of 33 RPM vinyl records. The long-playing records revolutionized private opera listening, since listeners no longer needed a tall stack of breakable 78 RPM records to listen to a complete opera.

Jim began renting vinyl records of opera soundtracks and librettos from the Mill Valley Public Library in California when he was in high school. Latin and French classes in school helped him read the librettos – the words of the opera – while listening to it.

Before long, he was hooked.

“Opera, with its plots and characters and their arias and so forth, reaches an emotional depth that is deeply moving,” McCoy said. “I love all forms of classical music, but opera is special.”

Out At Sea

Classical music aside, Jim was a career Navy man.

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“When I was growing up, I never had any desire to do anything else but go to the Naval Academy and be a naval officer,” he said. “And that’s what I did.”

Jim commanded two ships and a squadron of 12 ships during his 30-year naval career.  When these ships deployed to the Mediterranean or North Atlantic, port visits introduced him to opera houses in Italy, France and Spain.

When on shore duty in the States, he saw opera performances in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, San Diego and San Francisco.

“It’s thanks to the Navy that I saw all those shows,” he said.

Back On Land

After retiring in 1990, he assembled various memorabilia from the three at sea commands.  There are photos, paintings, models, pennants, flags and awards that pay tribute to the many tough judgment calls he had to make, the stormy seas he faced, and the leadership skills he learned.

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Jim’s naval ships had docked, but his voyage with opera was far from over.  He has been traveling on opera tours to Europe since 1998 and has seen productions at many of the most important opera houses on the continent.  He believes these experiences give him credibility when he asserts that HOT stages world class opera.

In 1997, a new opportunity with opera presented itself: Jim joined the HOT Board of Directors.  He has been on the Board ever since and has served as Treasurer and President.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, presented Jim with a National Opera Trustee Recognition Award for his dedication to promoting HOT in 2015.

“I had no idea that was coming,” he said. “But that was very gratifying.”

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But his favorite moment with HOT was still the moment that he stood on stage in 2006, surrounded by the music of the opera he had discovered as a teenager.

That night, as the powerful sound vibrated the stage, Jim bowed and blessed the chorus, then turned to bless Scarpia, and finally he turned to face the thousands of people in the audience.

His blessing fell upon the crowd just as the final dramatic chord was struck, and the heavy velvet curtain fell.

“I was the cardinal,” he said, “and it was very grand.”

Active duty, retired or dependent military personnel receive 20% off on all single tickets to Hawaii Opera Theatre productions.
Call the HOT Box Office at 808.596.7858 for more information.

Mahalo for your service.

 

The Orvis Opera Studio Live in Concert with the Oteys

Featuring Louis Otey and Maria Todaro-Otey

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

Kawaiaha’o Church, Dec. 09, 2016, 7:00pm

Louis and Maria Todaro-Otey return to Honolulu to work with members of the Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio and Orvis Young Voices Studio.The Oteys will work for two weeks with singers focusing on individual coaching sessions, group sessions, and an intensive weekend with the high school singers of the Orvis Young Voices Studio.

This series of work will culminate in a concert, with the Oteys joining Studio Members on stage at the historic Kawaiaha’o Church, on Friday, December 9. Singers will be accompanied by the incomparable Beebe Freitas on the church’s exquisite Bösendorfer grand piano.

About the Oteys: 

Louis Todaro-Otey: Baritone
A major stage personality noted for his incisive interpretations, Louis Otey has performed with the leading opera companies of the world. Notable roles in his repertoire include all of the leading Verdi roles (including Falstaff), Puccini (including Jack Rance, Scarpia, Michele, and Gianni Schicchi), important French roles such the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffman.

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Mr. Astley in Prokofiev’s The Gambler and his European debut as the title role in Eugene Onegin in Basel. The New York Times describes him as “ardent and moving. His baritone bloomed on sustained notes, which had a shimmering quality… a powerful performance.”

Maria Todaro-Otey: Mezzo Soprano

Maria created 2 choirs in Paris suburbs ” Arteodor” and ” la Carnelloise” which reached 80 members. she has also started one choir In Manhattan since 2000 and a second one since  the beginning of 2006 and upstate NY since Nov.2009. As a recording artist, she can be heard on the album: “Echoes From Earth“, for Sony records ( June 2001).