Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre offers residency programs that are centered on the arts found in opera. Our focus is on music and drama but there are tangents into other areas such as visual art, design, fashion, as well as language, history, math, technology, and more. Our program takes those involved through the process of producing and performing an opera or operetta and culminates with a performance by your students. Grades 1 through 12 have participated in performing grand operas by composers such as Verdi and Donizetti, and operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan. Projects have also involved the students in developing their own story which is then turned into an original opera. These original operas have included Save the Habitats, Life Changing World, Story of the Ahupua’a, and The D.A.R.E. Opera. In addition to creation, music, and staging, we will supply portable theatrical lights and sound as needed for your performance. Bonuses include taking the students on a field trip to visit a professional opera set as well as a complimentary performance of our touring production to your school.
Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), founded in 1960 as part of the Honolulu Symphony Society, was independently chartered as a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) in 1980. As a cultural/educational institution, HOT is the only performing arts organization in Hawaii presenting Grand Opera, to increase the public’s awareness and appreciation of an art form that provides a unique combination of music, theatre and dance. Hawaii Opera Theatre’s continuing goal is to be recognized as an outstanding regional opera company with a strong financial position that consistently produces the highest quality performances.
Eric Schank: Prior to joining Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre in 2006, Eric Schank was an accompanist for the University of Hawaiʻi, at Mānoa, music department, as well as for the University’s dance department. Undergraduate studies with Edward Shipwright at the University of Hawaiʻi were followed by further studies with Eugene Mancini and Stephanie Brown at the University of Akron. In addition to his work with Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre, he also currently serves as the pianist for the Hawaiʻi Vocal Arts Ensemble.
