Hawaii Opera Theatre

Programs: Opera performances:hawaii opera theatre presented four fully staged productions of operas, with a total of eighteen performances during the year. Puccini's la boheme, andre previn's a streetcar named desire, and offenbach's the tales of hoffmann took place at the neal blaisdell concert hall, with international casts of singers, professional musicians and volunteer adult and children's choruses. The fourth production, three decembers, took place at the historic hawaii theatre, as well as in venues on the big island, kauai and maui - hot's first four island tour. In addition there was a concert performance of verdi's rigoletto, starring hawaiian baritone, quinn kelsey, and a concert by the popular samoan trio sol3 mio. Total attendance for the year was over 19,000. The final dress rehearsal of each production is attended by middle and high school students and their families.

opera education:hawaii opera theatre engaged over 22,000 students of all ages through its education programs, including 85 performances of the opera express production of hansel and gretel at schools and other venues on oahu (54 performances), big island (9 performances), maui (12 performances) and kauai (10 performances). Hot's education team also led opera residencies in five schools on oahu: niu valley middle school;blanche pope elementary,waimanalo; waikele elementary; aiea elementary;and myron b thompson academy. The opera residency program trains schools to create their own opera productions - either versions of well-known operas, or stories written by the students themselves. The students are trained to perform the operas and also learn about stagecraft, costumes, make-up and scenery. In addition, the mae z orvis opera studio trains young singers to prepare them for the singing profession, using hot music staff as well as visiting artists. The orvis young voices studio is designed for high school students.