Tag Archives: hawaii arts

HYOC OPERAtunities Summer Youth Program

Looking for something fun for the kids this summer? Then check out HYOC’s Operatunities Summer Youth Program!

Participants will take part in creating Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, a comic opera, full of satire and poking fun at society and politics. Known for its witty language, tongue-twisting lyrics, and catchy melodies, this is popular and enjoyable for children of all ages. 

DETAILS

Afternoon program for students entering grade 6 through graduating seniors (6-12th).  

Times: 1:00 – 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.  June 4 – 29, 2018

All rehearsals and performances to be held at the University of Hawaii Manoa Music Department.  Final Performance at the Orvis Auditorium.

Register your child for this great summer learning and performance program!

This ​4 week intensive youth opera program is produced between Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus, HOT Education, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa Music Department. 

#HOTArtsOhana – Friends of HiSAM

Friends of HiSAM is hosting a benefit sale featuring works by a who’s who of notable Hawaii artists May 4 and 5. The show is aimed toward giving new collectors the opportunity to own works by such artists as Jean Charlot, Satoru Abe, John Young, Toshiko Takaezu and more.

Learn more about this event and the Friends of HiSAM online.

Scroll down and preview some of the works that will be available at this event!

Photos by Erin Paris:

Photos by Kenna Reed:

While We Wait, We Weave by Adeela Islas

Dancers by Jean Charlot

HOTEugeneOnegin

10 Reasons to see HOT’s Eugene Onegin

Still looking for reasons to come out and see HOT’s Eugene Onegin? Here’s 10!

1: It’s GRAND

Eugene Onegin

Courtesy of Erhard Rom

The magic and power of the local, volunteer HOT Chorus collides with a full symphony, magnificent sets and scenery, and world-class opera singers for truly grand opera! Eugene Onegin is “a deeply moving tale packed with big tunes, dances, and a heart-stopping duel,” according to Opera 101. See all of the arts – music, theatre, staging, literature, etc. – come together in perfect harmony for HOT’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

2: It’s RUSSIAN

Russian

In a time when all we seem to hear about Russia is bad news, experience Russia’s best. Iconic Russian literature by Pushkin brought to life with one of Russia’s most famous composers, Tchaikovsky, and performed in the beautiful Russian language. But don’t worry, there are English supertitles!

3: It’s RARE

Eugene Onegin

Courtesy of Erhard Rom

Sure, you can see Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Ballet every year in Hawaii. But how often do you get the chance to hear his most loved opera, Eugene Onegin? The last time HOT produced the opera was 2003. Don’t let another 15 years go by without hearing the opera live!

4: It’s STAR-STUDDED

Ryan McKinny and Melody Moore

Opera stars Ryan McKinny (Onegin) and Melody Moore (Tatyana) are back together for the first time in years! They were last onstage together for HOT’s 2015 production of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman.  Joining them onstage is a multi-national cast, including singers making their debuts from Serbia, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

5: It’s EMPOWERING

Eugene Onegin

Courtesy of Erhard Rom

Some have said that Eugene Onegin should be named Tatyana. Her character transforms from an impressionable, quiet country girl to a confident, powerful young woman. And though she begins the opera downtrodden, she finishes triumphant.

6: It’s LITERARY

Pushkin

Pushkin’s poetry, which is the basis for the opera, has been likened to Shakespeare. The character of Eugene Onegin is the original ‘superfluous man,’ or anti-hero, influencing Anton Chekhov and countless other narratives since its inception. The story of Eugene Onegin can be compared to Romeo & Juliet, Pride & Prejudice, and more literary and theatrical favorites.

7: It’s DRAMATIC

Eugene Onegin Drama

Passion. Revenge. Regret. And an action-packed duel. Get ready for even more drama than “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”.

8: It’s NEW

HOT Co-Production

Be one of the first audiences to see this ALL-NEW production, co-produced by HOT in collaboration with Seattle Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

9: It’s TCHAIKOVSKY

Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the romantic period. His works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire, including his 1812 Overture, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and more. His music is regarded as some of classical’s most beautiful. And his opera Eugene Onegin is considered near-perfect among opera lovers.

10: It’s LIVE

Live Opera

Courtesy of Erhard Rom

This is an experience you can’t catch on Netflix or DVR for later. Each and every HOT performance is different from the next, and there’s only one opportunity to catch it live! Hear vocal acrobats reach the back of the 2,000-seat Blaisdell Concert hall with absolutely no amplification. Get your tickets today!

HOT's Daughter of the Regiment

10 Reasons to see The Daughter of the Regiment

Still looking for reasons to see HOT’s production of Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment? Here’s 10! 

Photo by Brian Kuhlmann

1. Metropolitan Opera Star Audrey Luna 

Hawaii’s own Grammy Award-winning Soprano Audrey Luna stars as Marie! Audrey broke the record for the highest note ever sung on the Metropolitan Opera’s stage earlier this year. Opera News has said that she “has power and a blazing coloratura facility that most lyric sopranos can only dream of.” Read Audrey’s thoughts on returning to Hawaii in this #HOTSpeaks post
 

2. The Tenor Aria With 9 High C’s 

With no less than 9 high C’s, Donizetti’s “Ah, Mes Amis,” sung by the character Tonio, is famously considered an impressive vocal feat for a tenor. Listen to this recording of HOT’s Tonio, Italian-American Tenor Michele Angelini, flawlessly performing the aria. Then come see him sing it live in his HOT debut! 

Photo Courtesy of Fort Worth Opera

3. It’s a Comedy 

“It’s a rollicking combination of esprit de corps, slapstick antics and innocent romance — not to mention intoxicating music highlighted by spectacular vocal writing.” ~ NPR 
Few associate comedy with opera. But the Daughter of the Regiment is filled with parody, irony, and eccentric characters. Even the premise of an army brat adopted by the French Regiment is comical. So get ready to laugh! 

Opera History in Hawaii
 
4. The Local Historical Significance 

A rich history of opera in Hawaii dates back to the 1800s. Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment was the first known operatic performance in Hawaii in 1854. Learn more about opera’s local history in this #HOTSpeaks article


 
5. The French Language 

The French language is regarded as beautiful and romantic when spoken – imagine it sung! But don’t worry, HOT provides English supertitles, so you’ll always know what’s going on in the plot. 

 
6. HOT Debuts 

Tenor Michele Angelini Debuts with HOT in the role of Tonio, along with Mezzo-Soprano Jenni Bank, who debuts in the role of the Marquise. Michele is heralded by the Dallas Morning News as an artist who “displays a voice of silken loveliness as well as graceful agility.” The Baltimore Sun has said of Jenni that she has a “deep, dark, penetrating tone… that can extract Verdian richness.” 


 
7. The Duchess Guest Appearance 

HOT recently announced surprise guest as the Duchess of Crackenthorpe in Donizetti’s comedy, Daughter of the Regiment: Soprano Jill Gardner. “The Southern Songbird” joins a long list of guest stars to play the non-singing role of the Duchess, including US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 


 
8. HOT Favorites Jake Gardner and Jamie Offenbach 

HOT is thrilled to welcome back Baritone Jake Gardner and Bass-Baritone Jamie Offenbach, singing the roles of Sulpice and Hortensius, respectively. You’ll remember Jake from the 2008 production A Little Night Music, and Jamie most recently sang in the 2016 HOT production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  


 
9. It’s Donizetti 

Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. He penned some of opera’s most famous shows, including LElisir dAmoreDon PasqualeLucia di Lammermoor, and Anna Bolena

Photo Courtesy of Fort Worth Opera

 
10. There’s a Happy Ending 

Opera can be pretty grim. La Bohème, Macbeth, Roméo et Juliette, and more end with death, insanity, or both. We won’t spoil the ending of The Daughter of the Regiment for those who haven’t seen it, but rest assured that every character lives to see the end! 
  

 

HOT Opera For Everyone

Carmen OFE Reaches 1,300 Students!

A big mahalo to all students and chaperones who came out for last night’s Opera For Everyone, the last dress rehearsal of Carmen! More than 1,300 students saw the production through HOT Education.

Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services shared this photo of their group at the event:

HOT Opera For Everyone

And HOT asked a few students during intermission what they liked about the show:

Established 1991, HOT’s Opera for Everyone program offers students from elementary through high school and college classes (age 24 and under) the opportunity to enjoy the live opera experience for just $7!  Teachers and others working with Hawaii’s youth may reserve seating for the Wednesday before each opera opening. This is the final full orchestra dress rehearsal and designated Opera For Everyone night reserved exclusively for this purpose during the regular school year.

In addition to the opera production, HOT’s Opera For Everyone program provides expanded opportunities for schools to incorporate the performing arts into regular curricula. Many teachers intrigued by opera tie-ins to literature, culture, language, geography, science and math, integrate the Opera For Everyone program into their classroom activities.

#HOTSpeaks: The HOT Chorus, Continued

Though they are often in the backdrop of a production, the Hawaii Opera Theatre Chorus is at the forefront of what makes HOT’s productions world-class. Time and time again, visiting artists are impressed with the dedication, the diversity, and the deep bonds that make up the local, volunteer-based chorus. In this month’s and last month’s #HOTSpeaks, we share their stories. 

Oaklea Rowe: Soprano

Oaklea Rowe joined the HOT Chorus and Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio earlier this year. Her first opera as a chorister with HOT was last season’s production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. But before the production, she was no stranger to opera. For nearly a decade, Oaklea lived in New York and sang opera professionally – even touring to companies in South America and Italy. But before moving to Hawaii, she stopped singing for a few years.

“I had stopped singing, because I just got burnt out or something. Then I heard about the studio,” Oaklea, 39, said. “I didn’t know much about it, but I felt like it was something I wanted to be involved in.”

Since then, Oaklea said she’s made a couple of really good friends in the chorus and studio. Along with music, she also loves fashion. When she’s not singing, she’s working at a boutique in Honolulu. Bizet’s Carmen will be Oaklea’s next production with HOT, and she said she’s excited for it.

“It’s about making music together and making the production the best it can be,” she said.

David Del Rocco: Baritone

David Del Rocco still vividly remembers his first opera with the HOT Chorus, although it was 12 years ago. He had always been a singer, but he never imagined he’d be singing in an opera chorus. It wasn’t until a couple of David’s friends from his church choir auditioned for the chorus that he considered trying out himself.

“I thought, ‘Well, if they can do it, I can do it!’” He said. “I realized that, you know, regular people can do this, too. You have to be a good singer, but, you don’t have to be a full-on opera singer to be in the chorus.”

Since then, David has been a part of many operas, from Puccini’s Turandot to Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. The upcoming production of Bizet’s Carmen will be his second time performing in the opera as a chorister. The opera has brought David several opportunities and friends, he said, but he has also brought something new and special to the opera. Outside of the chorus, David teaches Hawaiian Studies and dances hula. A few years ago, he decided to teach the opera singers in that production’s principle roles to dance hula after the show, alongside other choristers who play Hawaiian music. Now it’s a tradition.

“The vast majority of the principles who come over from elsewhere are so down to earth and so willing to party and learn new stuff,” David said. “And the chorus is great for that.”

Larry Whitson: Bass

Larry Whitson wanted to be in the chorus as soon as he knew it existed. But he never believed he could really do it. Classical music had been his passion since childhood, and singing in an opera was a dream of his long before he joined the chorus 12 years ago.

“When I read that the chorus was a volunteer chorus and I could do it, I just knew right away that I wanted to do it,” Larry said. “The first time I didn’t get in. But the next time I did. The biggest excitement for me was the first time I stood on that stage in the Blaisdell and looked out over that grand, empty concert hall and realized I was going to be able to perform there.”

Larry has also been a part of several HOT productions in the chorus, including Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah and, most recently, the 2017 production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. The next time he will perform onstage with HOT will be for this season’s February production of Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in April.

“Each year – not even just the first time – every time I get up on that stage, it’s just a magnificent thing,” he said.

Diane Koshi: Mezzo

Diane Koshi doesn’t entirely share Larry’s enthusiasm for opera, but she does have a love for music and music education. Diane worked with the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus for 20 years and taught music with a number of other organizations before retiring. Now she directs the music department at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.

“I sing in the opera because I teach,” Diane said. “I think my students need to see that their director is involved and can do what she’s asking them to do. I’ve never fallen for opera, but I appreciate it as an art form because it encompasses all the arts.”

Despite not having fallen for opera, Diane has been in the HOT chorus for almost 25 years. Her upcoming performance with the choir in Bizet’s Carmen will be her fourth time singing the opera’s music. A few of the HOT productions that she especially enjoyed being a part of were Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado. Even as a seasoned music educator, Diane said she still learns new things in the chorus.

“What I enjoy most about working in the opera is the opportunity to hear different musical ideas from the maestro,” she said. “It’s a different philosophy. They share different techniques than what we usually hear.”

Bonnie Chock Burke: Alto

Surprisingly, another chorister has been part of the chorus even longer than Diane. Bonnie Chock Burke joined the HOT Chorus in 1992. And she has been a volunteer with HOT even longer – since the late 1970s. She’s worked in the box office, she’s been assistant stage director, she’s worked with costumes, she’s picked artists up from the airport, and more. And she doesn’t even currently live on Oahu. Bonnie has flown in from the Big Island for each of the many productions she’s been a part of.

“Some people think I’m crazy. They’ll say, ‘Why do you do it?’” Bonnie said. “And I say, ‘Every time there’s a rehearsal and an opera, there I am with my $500 seat.’ I can see the singers spitting. It’s worth it. Being backstage, you get to hear these professionals sing and practice. It’s just incredible to me to have that opportunity for free.”

On the Big Island, Bonnie enjoys hiking and bird-watching. But she’ll soon be moving back to Oahu, and she said she plans to be in all three of this year’s choral productions with HOT.

“All the people who come to perform for HOT say it’s incredible to see all these volunteers in such huge numbers,” Bonnie said. “I’m so proud. I know without all the volunteers we would never have opera in Hawaii.”

 

Hawaii Opera Theatre Chorus

#HOTSpeaks: The HOT Chorus

Though they are often in the backdrop of a production, the Hawaii Opera Theatre Chorus is at the forefront of what makes HOT’s productions world-class. Time and time again, visiting artists are impressed with the dedication, the diversity, and the deep bonds that make up the local, volunteer-based chorus. In this month’s #HOTSpeaks, we share their stories. 

Marcia Wright: Mezzo

Chorister Marcia Wright has been singing for and working with the HOT Chorus for more than 15 years. The first HOT production she sang in was Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma. Since then, she has sung in about a dozen other productions, including Puccini’s Tosca, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Verdi’s Aida. When asked what the HOT Chorus means to her, she answered, “singing with people of excellence.”

“I remember my very first rehearsal at Kawaiahao Chuch. We opened the book and we launched right in, which is very different from any church choir I’d ever been in. And the sound was so glorious that I burst into tears just sitting in the middle of all those incredible voices and kind of wondering what I was doing there. It really just opened up my world and my social life.”

Marcia is retired, and while she’s not working with HOT on a production, she spends a lot of time with her church in Kaneohe. It was at the church where HOT’s Head of Music Beebe Freitas had originally recommended Marcia for the HOT choir. Though the most recent production she sang in was four years ago, Marcia remains active with HOT in the wardrobe department.

“I always look forward to the opera season rolling around,” Marcia said. “I enjoy encouraging a number of people I know through church.”

Falefia Jr. Brandon Fuamatu: Baritone

Falefia Jr. Brandon Fuamatu, 24, hadn’t discovered opera until he began studying music at UH Manoa. But once he found it, he came in swinging – literally. During Brandon’s first production with HOT – Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman – he sang while swinging from a rope. The experience, along with singing for HOT’S Orvis Opera Studio, helped influence Brandon’s decision to pursue opera as a career.

“I think the HOT Chorus is such a great example of what Hawaii has to offer to the arts, because the chorus is in itself a melting pot within Hawaii of different people who come together for music and for the love of opera,” Brandon said. “You always hear people saying, ‘There’s no chorus like our chorus.’ They’re so amazed by how diverse our chorus is ethnically and culturally, and even with our backgrounds. It’s a volunteer chorus, so I’ve sang along with lawyers, teachers – people with all kinds of different professions and backgrounds.”

Brandon recently moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he will be continuing his pursuit of music study at Westminster Choir College. But the HOT Chorus will always have a special place in his heart, he said.

“It’s never going to be the same singing with any other chorus,” he said. “There’s such a specific way we treat each other and respect each other. It’s more of a family than it is a chorus.”

But that’s not all Brandon will miss.

“Our cookouts are pretty world famous for all of the singers who come to Hawaii from the mainland. We don’t fool around with food here in Hawaii,” he said.

Jaime Craycroft: Soprano

Jaime Craycroft also didn’t discover opera until college. Growing up in the North Shore, Jaime said she was removed from the opera scene HOT had created in Honolulu. But when her professors shared opera with her in college, she found it came natural to her. Her first opera with HOT was Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado in 2014. Since then, she has sung with the chorus in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and, most recently, in last season’s production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. The chorus, for Jaime, has brought many opportunities in her career.

“What I really appreciate with the HOT chorus is the professionalism,” said Jaime, 38. “Your first rehearsal you need to have everything learned already. We don‘t spend much time correcting notes or language, and I appreciate that. I am thankful for being able to be myself vocally and being able to be with such fun and vocal people. Everyone there is a lot of fun.”

When Jaime isn’t singing with the choir or with the HOT Orvis Opera Studio, she enjoys Flamenco dancing and spending time with her husband and two daughters. She recently graduated from UH Manoa and plans to teach music and generate her own choir for youth in Wailua.

“I want to inspire and motivate other mothers and students to continue to follow their aspirations to sing on that glorious stage,” she said.

Angeliki Scordilis: Soprano

At 17 years old, Angeliki Scordilis is the youngest member of the HOT chorus, but her entire life has been surrounded with opera. She was only 6 months old when her father brought her to see a HOT production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The first opera Angeliki remembers listening to and enjoying, however, was a Metropolitan Opera recording of Mozart’s The Magic Flute when she was about 5 years old. Her combined experience in the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus, which she joined at 4 years old, and the HOT Chorus have brought her onstage for quite a few productions, including Pagliacci’s Carmina Burana, Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and, most recently, Puccini’s La Boheme – her favorite opera.

“It’s a little strange being the youngest member of the adult chorus, because I grew up with everyone,” she said. “And so all the people, they’re like my aunties and uncles. And now instead of watching them, I’m singing with them. The HOT Chorus is like a family. Being able to sing with them– it’s just, like, a very powerful experience.”

When she’s not singing opera, Angeliki is often studying Greek culture and music. She traveled to Greece for the first time this past summer. In the coming year she will leave her home where she grew up in Honolulu and travel to Colorado for college. She dreams of being an English teacher, but she said she’ll always enjoy opera singing.

“I’ll miss being a part of HOT productions,” she said. “It’s been something that I’ve been a part of since I was really small.”

Chris Walsh: Alto

Chris Walsh has been an alto singer with the HOT Choir since 1984, when she sang in her first production of Verdi’s La Traviata. She has since sung in nearly all of the “ABCs” of opera, she said, from Verdi’s Aida to Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress. As one of the most the most experienced choristers, Chris said she’s now reached “Kupuna status” within the choir. The productions she’s been a part of have taken her through every emotion – from feeling like her heart was “torn out of her chest, thrown on the floor, and stomped on” after singing in Puccini’s Turandot to laughing hysterically after a wall fell over unexpectedly on the set of a production of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah, revealing a group of sheepish and embarrassed choristers. But as a child, Chris hated opera. It wasn’t until she sang with HOT that she began to enjoy the art form.

“I’ve really gone through the whole spectrum of despising opera to having it be a critical part of my life,” she said. “I have met a great deal of wonderful people, have had incredible life experiences, made lifetime friends – the chorus means an awful lot to me. And it’s a joy having so many diverse people come together for a common goal.”

Off the stage, Chris works for a commercial diving company. She also enjoys cooking, weaving lauhala, and gardening in her yard in Aiea.

“I plan to keep with the chorus,” she said. “I’ll keep singing and supporting these efforts and enjoying watching new singers launch into careers.”

 

Read more chorister stories in the August edition of #HOTSpeaks.

Macbeth at Niu Valley Middle School

Gallery: Niu Valley Middle Summer Residency

Students in HOT Education’s Residency Productions do it all! They build props, design sets, put together costumes, dance, act, and (of course) sing!

Niu Valley Middle school students wowed audiences when they performed Macbeth on July 28, 2017.

 

HOT Education’s Opera Residencies transform a school, grade level or participating classrooms into an Opera Production Company. The Opera Residency has become an annual learning program for the schools, and its success shows. The program is a great interactive tool for integrating arts into your curriculum through the art of opera. In addition to its foundation in literature, opera offers multiple opportunities for tie-ins to math and other core subjects. The program can be a great complement to Core Curriculum goals.

HOT Residency: Waikele Elementary School

Gallery: Waikele Elementary Residency

Waikele Elementary School second-graders showcased their talent and hard work on April 28, 2017 with a performance of Adventures in the Marshall Islands: A Tale of Needlefish and Crab!

 

HOT Education‘s Opera Residencies transform a school, grade level or participating classrooms into an Opera Production Company. The Opera Residency has become an annual learning program for the schools, and its success shows. The program is a great interactive tool for integrating arts into your curriculum through the art of opera. In addition to its foundation in literature, opera offers multiple opportunities for tie-ins to math and other core subjects. The program can be a great complement to Core Curriculum goals.

Henry Directing The Tales of Hoffmann

The Tales of Henry Act II: Hawaii

A true love for music has guided Henry Akina, Hawaii Opera Theatre’s first Hawaiian director, through more than 120 operas over a 30-year career.

Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann will be the last opera that Henry directs for HOT, before retiring from his role as Artistic Director, which he has held for 20 years. The production will be performed on April 21, 23, and 25 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

In a 2002 HOT concert program Henry wrote: “The opera is but one art form where we can go beyond everyday life to look at some of its mythologies and gain insight into the lives of other characters, and thus into our own.”

With this in mind, the Tales of Henry will look back on Henry’s life and career.

Feeling At home

The HOT opera program, “Aria,” has always featured designs relating to the production being presented. But in 1996, there was a special edition of Aria.

On the cover was Henry, in Aloha attire, sitting in a chair with a warm smile on his face. The only accompanying text proudly pronounced “Henry G. Akina takes the reins of HOT.” Henry was back in Hawaii, after more than two decades in Germany, to serve as the first local-born manager of HOT.

“To be invited to manage this company, in the town of my birth, is a unique blessing, one that I approach with a sense of challenge and responsibility.” Henry said in the 1996 Aria. It was the first of nearly 30 Director’s Notes he would write for HOT audiences over the years.

When he returned back to Hawaii, Henry said he felt welcomed. He remembered someone telling him he hadn’t forgotten his local roots.

“Henry was at home in Hawaii,” Elsa Grima, who had worked with Henry in both Germany and Hawaii, said. “He was in his element.”

HOT was special to Henry. The company presented the first opera performances he had ever seen. And he had plenty of plans for its next steps.

Henry laid out his goals for HOT in the 1996 Aria. They included producing more operatic activities throughout the year, expanding the education program, and balancing the repertoire between classics and new works. He felt that HOT could be a “cultural lighthouse in the community,” he said.

Henry explained in a 1998 interview with Midweek that he felt HOT was built on Puccini, but there was much more to draw upon from within the art form’s 400-year history.  “I wanted to make musical changes and production changes… I wanted to change everything,” Henry said.

The scheduled 1997 and 1998 season productions, which included the Hawaii debut of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, shed some light on the direction that he wanted to take the company. Henry wanted to relate to local audiences, and he wanted to show them literature they might already be familiar with in a different way.

“I wanted opera more for the people,” Henry said. “I think that every audience is different and every community is different.”
Since then, Henry has staged several acclaimed productions like Madam Butterfly, Tosca, The Mikado, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Of the 28 productions he has directed, almost half were Hawaii premiers.

Many of Henry’s aspirations for HOT were realized. The company now produces operas throughout the year, he expanded and founded new programs within the company’s educational outreach, and he certainly introduced new repertoire.

In a 2001 program, Henry appeared confident as he declared: “Yes there is opera in Hawaii, and yes, opera thrives here. Come celebrate with us.”

It was the program for that year’s production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann – the same production that would be his last with HOT.

Staging the Last Production

Henry didn’t know that The Tales of Hoffmann would be his last production with the company when he picked this season’s repertoire. He didn’t pick it for any sentimental reason. But the production speaks to him, and his artistic direction shines within it.

“I’ll try to bring as much joy and as much happiness to the production as possible, and I’ll let the music of the opera shine through,” Henry said.

This is the third time Henry has directed the opera. The last time he directed it was in 2001. Both productions utilized Peter Dean Beck’s set designs, but aside from that similarity, Henry said the current production is “a fully new opera.”

Eric Fennell plays the lead role of Hoffmann in this production. It’s his fifth time singing Hoffmann’s arias, but he said that each time is very different. And Henry’s direction will give this a new spin, Eric said.

“Henry is a wonderful resource,” He said. “When you work with someone who is as experienced as Henry is, I just try to listen as much as I can.”

Henry told Eric during one rehearsal that Hoffmann should not be the hero of the opera. That stuck with Eric and changed the way he performed the role.

“I want artists to walk away [from HOT productions] with a positive experience that hopefully is enlightening,” Henry said.

Audiences who watch the opera will also be able to see Henry’s influence in the staging of certain characters, according to HOT Artistic Administrator Barett Hoover, who has worked with Henry for about a decade.

Barett points to Henry’s use of the local, volunteer HOT chorus. Henry stages the chorus in a way that helps tell the story, Barett said. “Henry makes them more than just background figures,” Barett said.

The relationship Henry has with the chorus has also impressed Olivia Vote, who debuts with HOT in this production as the Muse.

“Everyone has such a respect and awareness of Henry’s contribution,” Olivia said. “There is no other place where the chorus will come to rehearsals five nights a week. But they do it here, because that’s what he expects. They want to work with him, and that’s the kind of community he’s created.” 

Throughout the company, from the chorus to the board, donors, and staff, people have felt Henry’s impact.

Bringing “World-Class” to Hawaii

As Henry reflects on his impact on HOT, he does so humbly.

“I think I’ve had a positive impact, but I don’t know,” he said. “The people here are the judge of that.”

Many people and organizations have already made their judgments in favor, however. In 2015, the Hawaii Arts Alliance recognized Henry with its Alfred Preis Honor for his commitment to arts and arts education in Hawaii, and the state legislature awarded Henry a certificate for his lifelong service to the arts last year.

Additionally, HOT Board President Jim McCoy said he feels that Henry is the reason that HOT produces world-class opera. Barett said he feels the same way.

“He looked at more of a world-wide perspective and saw us in the grand opera landscape,” He said. “I think increasing the artistic standards of the company was probably his biggest legacy.”

But Henry has also left behind a living legacy – one that will impact the world long after he’s left the company. The Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio, Henry said, is his most proud accomplishment with HOT.

By: Allison Kronberg