For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jason M.A. Walter | 808-596-7372 ext. 211 | j_walter@hawaiiopera.org
Hawaii Opera Theatre receives $10,000 grant from G. N. Wilcox Trust to support community outreach and education program Opera Express on Kauai
Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT) received a $10,000 grant from the G. N. Wilcox Trust (Bank of Hawaii, Trustee) to support its education and outreach program, Opera Express Tour, on the island of Kauai. HOT’s Opera Express program reaches more than 13,000 elementary school children, grades K-6, statewide, each year. HOT is confirmed for ten performances on the Island of Kauai for approximately 2,000 students at five public elementary schools, including: ‘Ele’ele, Hanalei, Kalaheo, and Wilcox.
Cutbacks in arts education funding are an ongoing struggle. Opera is the culmination of all art forms: the perfect blend of music, theatre, dance and design. It is therefore the ideal foundation for arts education, with its rich diversity of program disciplines and opportunities for self-expression.
“Opera is delightfully unexpected in Hawaii,” said HOT Artistic Director Henry Akina. “And yet, opera has been part of Hawaiian island culture for more than a century.
Each year, HOT produces a reduced scale opera to tour elementary schools statewide. During the 2013-2014 school year, the HOT Opera Express will tour HOT’s adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s witty and entertaining operetta The Mikado which will be performed at the Neal Blaisdell Center June, 2014. The show will be held in cafeterias and gymnasiums, for audiences of up to 200. The 40-minute production features three artists from HOT’s Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio with piano accompaniment and a traveling set. Staging and scenery for the touring shows are specially created by HOT’s in-house production department. A discussion period follows the performance in which singers answer questions from the students. A study guide is sent by HOT ahead of time to allow for classroom based on the opera’s theme. The statewide program is also supported by the State Foundation for Culture and the Arts. The program is marketed to all elementary school in the State via faxed flyers and follow-up phone calls.
HOT’s educational programs for youth serve as both catalyst and active participant in the artistic education of Hawaii’s youth:
- Opera for Everyone (OFE) reserves the 2,000-seat Concert Hall’s preview night of each of the three operas for a large and enthusiastic audience of students. OFE Intern Program provides students with hands-on experience, on-stage in the chorus or as supernumeraries, or backstage in wigs, makeup, wardrobe, or other areas of production.
- HOT Opera Express takes operas specially adapted operas, into elementary and middle schools with special tours to all neighbor islands, reaching more than 15,000 students each year.
- HOT Opera Residency program takes our education and production staff members into an elementary school to work with students and teachers – and parents and grandparents – to produce and perform and opera, touching approximately 4,000 in a year. In some cases, the students develop the story and lyrics centered – set to opera music by HOT education staff – around curriculum components. HOT’s Opera Residency Program has received national recognition with an Opera America Success Award for demonstrating “exemplary effort in advancing public awareness of opera using an innovative approach” and “showing initiative in forging creative, community-building partnerships outside the company.” Opera America is the national service organization for opera companies in the United States and Canada.
- Adult education is offered Opera Previews, at the Honolulu Academy of Arts; Opera Talk at the HOT Rehearsal Space the Saturday before each opening night, pre-performance Lanai Lectures on the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall lanai; and other presentations at various locations in the community.
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Since 1961, Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), formerly a division of the Honolulu Symphony Society and incorporated in 1980, has served to enhance the quality of life Hawaii by presenting opera performances of the highest standards, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Through three productions annually in the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, HOT offers opera to over 14,000 residents and visitors each season thereby increasing the public’s awareness and exposure to opera as a multi-media art form.
Directed by Artistic Director, Henry Akina, and Executive Director Simon Crookall, HOT partners with the Hawaii Symphony to provide the orchestra. Auditions are held, generally in NY, to cast principal roles from mainland, European, Asian and local singers. The Opera Chorus is a local volunteer organization.