"Oh, yes, with ever-changing sports,
We whiled the hours away;
The skies were bright,
Our hearts were light,
In the merry, merry month of May."

—from “The merry, merry month of May” by Stephen Foster

Aloha mai kākou!

We’re well into May and although it is indeed a very merry (and windy!) month, I promise you our amazing HOT team is hardly whiling away the hours (although several are taking the post-season opportunity to use some hard-earned vacation time, me included).

‍This is actually a very invigorating time of year for HOT, as we reflect on the highly successful season we just closed, approach the close of our current fiscal year on May 31, and dig deep into preparations for 2025/2026. We are especially enthusiastic about the upcoming season because it includes our first-ever world premiere opera, which simply raises the bar on the happiness meter!

Pride, excitement, nervousness – it is a difficult balancing act in building the momentum we need to properly prepare for such a massive undertaking, while also making sure to celebrate the many wins along the way.

The spring brought many wins for HOT, including a sold out production of Carmen (Check out photos here!) and over $100,000 raised during our Fund-the-Future live campaign at Opera Ball. (Check out photos here!) The campaign featured a performance of “If I Were a Rich Man” by our youngest member of Orvis Young Voices, 12-year-old Keanu Ngyuen-Asuega, followed by a live call-to-donate by Director of Development Regi Lammers and Director of Marketing & Communications Elizabeth Wilson. We were thrilled by the overwhelming response as paddles sprung up to show support for our education programs. We could not do it without your support. Also, there is still time to donate before the end of our fiscal year to help us start the new year on a high note.  Donations just have to be submitted or postmarked by May 31st!

DONATE HERE!

As part of our forward-looking work, we launched subscription renewals for the 2025/2026 Season, including our first-ever fall festival in STUDIO101, and two fully staged productions in the spring at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

The season culminates in another first: our world-premiere commissioned opera: Kamalehua: The Sheltering Tree (May 1-5, 2026) starring baritone and international opera star Quinn Kamakanalani Kelsey in the title role of Timoteo Kamalehua Ha’alilio.

A question I’ve been asked is: how did this project come to be? So, I thought you might enjoy a sneak peek behind the curtain of commissioning a new opera.

When I arrived in May of 2019, one of my biggest dreams was producing a Hawaiian opera. Companies across the country have invested in telling stories that reflect their communities, and I felt strongly that HOT should proudly do the same. After all, there is no other company like ours, on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, at the center of Oceania, with one of the most diverse populations anywhere.

There are already operas that speak to our wonderful Asian communities, and we’ve begun exploring those with An American Dream (October 2023), about the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II, and Stuck Elevator (October 2024), a powerful and surprisingly humorous story about an undocumented Chinese immigrant who survived being stuck in a Bronx elevator for 81 hours.

But there are no operas that tell Hawaiian stories, written by Hawaiians.  The closest is a one-act opera about Queen Liliʻuokalani, Better Gods, that was presented by Washington National Opera in 2016.  However, that opera was written by a Canadian composer, Luna Pearl Woolf.

Within my first few months in Honolulu, I was introduced to Herb Mahelona, a Hawaiian composer on the faculty at Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi. Herb had written several operas, sung in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, for his high school groups. A couple of those even traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to great acclaim. He has also written several works for the Hawaiʻi Youth Opera Chorus, directed by our own Nola Nāhulu. Partnering with Herb was an easy choice to make.

I also knew that any Hawaiian opera we present has to involve Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne, a remarkably gifted dancer and storyteller I’d gotten to know over the years in San Francisco. I first attended a performance by his hālau, Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu, back in 1996. It was a powerful show called The Natives Are Restless. I went in with some trepidation and ended up being a huge fan of his talent and creativity.

In my initial talks with Herb, the idea was to adapt one of his Kamehameha Schools operas for professional singers. But when I brought Patrick and Herb together on a video call in February 2022, the project took off in a whole new direction!

Patrick suggested we tell a story about the life of Timoteo Kamalehua Haʻalilio. He introduced us to Hawaiian historian Kauʻi Sai-Dudoit, who had rediscovered this little-known hero of the Hawaiian kingdom. Timoteo, along with William Richards, was sent on a mission by Kamehameha III to secure recognition of Hawaiʻi as a sovereign nation. He was successful in his efforts, but tragically passed away on the long voyage home, less than 30 days out of Boston Harbor.

When Kauʻi finished relating this story, we were all hooked! There was no doubt in our minds that Timoteo had to be the focus on this new opera.

We were off to the races…a very slow race. But still…so exciting!

Herb brought on Victoria Nālani Kneubuhl, a critically acclaimed Hawaiian Samoan playwright and author, as librettist. If you don’t know her work already, you simply must! Her writing is absolutely sublime! Victoria was as taken by the story of Timoteo as we were, and dove head-first into the subject matter.

Finally, I engaged longtime friend and colleague Kip Cranna to serve as dramaturg (and if you’re wondering "what the heck is a dramaturg," it’s a literary advisor and editor).  Kip, who currently serves as Dramaturg Emeritus for San Francisco Opera, has helped shepherd dozens of new operas to the stage. His wit and wisdom have proven invaluable to this project…and another one in the works: Tea, a new opera slated for February 2027! It’s based on a 1984 play of the same name by Velina Hasu Houston with a score by Carla Lucero.)

And of course, HOT Artistic Director Jamie Offenbach and Artistic Manager Blythe Kelsey have both been deeply involved in the process, with all of us focused on making sure this is the best opera possible for our community.

Writing a full-length opera takes time, even when the librettist and composer are as inspired as Herb and Victoria were by the subject matter. (Both Herb and Victoria noted that they’ve never worked faster on a project.) Drafts and redrafts, video conferences, quick trips to Hilo, many emails back and forth, etc.  Creating a great new opera is a lot of work!

But it is also an exhilarating  and fun process, knowing that you’re a part of bringing something new to life. To read the first draft of Victoria’s beautiful libretto was profoundly moving; as was hearing Herb play scenes from the opera on his home piano (and singing all the parts); watching as large sections of the libretto are translated into ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi; being a part of discussions on casting, orchestration, and more.

And there’s still so much to do before rehearsals can begin for the thrilling  world premiere on Friday, May 1, 2026.

I enthusiastically invite you to join us for that journey! If you’re able to support the production financially, we’re putting together some very rewarding sponsorship opportunities, which will be announced soon.  And definitely watch for more news – I promise we’ll keep you updated as Kamalehua: The Sheltering Tree comes to fruition.

Mahalo nui loa for everything you do to support the arts here in Hawaiʻi. We wouldn’t be here without you.

A hui hou!

Andrew