Fall 2026 - Andrew Morgan,
General Director & CEO
As our HOT ʻohana mourns the passing of Artistic Director Jamie Offenbach, I find myself turning to music for comfort and healing. We all need healing, whether the pain stems from a personal loss, concerns over the state of the world, or simply a stressful day at work. Healing is not always easy to find or hold onto in a world that seems splintered and fractured beyond redemption. But I am a decidedly optimistic person (though my husband Danny probably has a different point of view there…). I believe that optimism shines brightest when it comes to my friends and family, and the many forms of music that I love and admire.
Catharsis
Music has the power, the innate ability to offer comfort with melodies that unlock repressed emotions and memories, both good and bad. A catharsis. You can find yourself unburdened through Bach’s monumental B-Minor Mass, Beethoven’s Pathétique sonata, Debussy’s Claire de Lune, Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel (“Mirror in the Mirror”). For me, opera raises that power to a higher level than any other medium, and that’s not just my decidedly biased viewpoint. ‘Catharsis’ is built into the DNA of opera. It was the desire to recreate the reportedly cathartic experience of recited dramas in ancient Greece which inspired the creation of opera in the late-16th century, by a group known as the Florentine Camerata. It’s no surprise then, that death holds a prodigious place in opera.
Numerous articles have been written about opera’s obsession with the subject. Julia Bumke wrote an excellent article, “Curtains: Why Does Opera Have a Historic Fascination with Death” for Opera Philadelphia. Click here to read the full text, but I include the following extract (bolding for emphasis only):
“We go to the opera knowing that its characters are about to break our hearts. The art form sets up spoilers by default: we read synopses before the performances begin or are hearing classic tales that have been retold many times over. By dispensing so efficiently with plot, operas are freed to focus on the emotional storytelling that gets them there, building to these deaths musically in myriad ways. Death can be a release, an indictment, a moment of catharsis, or a lonely act; sometimes, all at once.”
In a 2015 blog post, opera singer Kristen Seikaly looked at 42 of the most-produced operas and found that nearly all operatic deaths fall into three categories: illness, murder, and suicide. While illness is the least common cause of death in opera, making up 17% of operatic deaths, it is the dramatic focus of two of the most famous: La bohème and La traviata. Once viewed purely as elitist entertainment, opera is now recognized by medical experts and neuroscientists as a potent therapeutic tool for both physical rehabilitation and mental wellness. Renowned soprano Renée Fleming has spearheaded collaborations with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to map how operatic music impacts neurological health:
Brain Plasticity and Aphasia: Because the ability to sing resides primarily in the right hemisphere of the brain, melodic intonation therapy allows stroke survivors or patients with left-side brain trauma to bypass damaged speech centers and vocalize thoughts through song.
Dementia and Memory Recall: Music pathways in the brain remain intact long after other cognitive functions decline. Listening to familiar operatic pieces frequently stimulates memory retrieval and temporarily alleviates agitation in Alzheimer's patients.
The Power of Tragedy
Opera is famous for its high dramatics. Research indicates that experiencing intensely sorrowful narratives (such as Puccini's Tosca) stimulates the release of endorphins and oxytocin, providing listeners with a safe space for emotional processing, increased pain tolerance, and a sense of shared human connection.
Consider Verdi’s dramatic masterpiece, Nabucco. He composed the opera while reeling from back-to-back tragedies; having lost his young daughter, young son, and beloved wife in the span of three years. It was also written at a point in history when Italy was being remade in the Risorgimento, the unification of individual states into one nation. It was no accident that the most famous chorus from Nabucco, “Va Pensiero” (which became an unofficial national anthem) was sung from balconies, rooftops, and streets across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. Verdi’s music provided a sense of solidarity during a deeply troubling and isolating time.
Given the recent tragedy in our midst, perhaps it’s fitting that HOT’s 2026/2027 Season features three operas where death and the afterlife play prominent roles. The Shining represents Stephen King at his otherworldly, psychologically charged best. Are there really ghosts? Were there previous murders that haunt Jack’s days and nights, sending him into a psychotic spiral that threatens the lives of his wife and son, and ultimately his own?
Two deaths take place shortly before the action begins in Tea, our world-premiere commission based on the powerful 1987 play by Velina Hasu Houston. And yet, those deaths play an integral role in the drama, with the spirit of Himiko Hamilton acting as a powerful catalyst for healing, both for the four living characters on stage and for us in the audience.
The story of Tosca leads inexorably to the ultimate sacrifice, death. Cavaradossi sacrifices his freedom and his life in a political fight for justice. Tosca must choose between sacrificing her own virtue to save her lover. She flings herself off a parapet rather than suffer further injustices. Even the evil Baron Scarpia makes sacrifices. A deeply religious man, at least in his own mind, he boldly denounces God over his lust for Tosca. That lust – and, in Verdi’s mind, his renunciation of God – proves to be his undoing.
HOT’s 2026/2027 Season is going to be an emotional journey for us all, as we remember Jamie’s significant contributions to the company over the decades. I hope you will join us and find your own peace in the embrace of three remarkable works.
A hui hou!
Andrew
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