WAIMEA — Since the summer of 2005, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival has continued to bring world-class music to Hawaii Island.
Over the past 20 years, HPAF has garnered an international reputation as a premiere training and performance program for aspiring young artists worldwide, many of whom have gone onto significant careers as singers, conductors, directors, orchestral musicians and teachers. Alumni have recently appeared on Broadway, national tours, The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera and beyond. Each season, HPAF assembles an exceptional roster of faculty artists who provide instruction and appear in a series of public concerts for the Big Island community.
“I have been immensely grateful that Hawaii Performing Arts Festival has remained such a significant part of my life since I first arrived as a student in 2009. Though fifteen years later, it feels like just yesterday,” said HPAF Executive Director Justin John Moniz in a press release. “I have been fortunate enough to see this organization continue to grow in ways unimaginable and hope the community has, too. We are especially grateful for the continued trust and enthusiastic applause of our beloved ohana as we look towards HPAF’s biggest celebration to date.”
From this Thursday through July 21, HPAF will present the 2024 Festival, “A Season of Celebration,” which includes a diverse offering of chamber music, cabaret and fully-staged musical theatre and operatic productions featuring “Little Women: The Broadway Musical” and Monterverdi’s timeless opera, “The Coronation of Poppea.”
All performances are presented at various venues across the island including Kahilu Theatre, Blue Dragon Tavern &Cosmic Musiquarium, Gates Performing Arts Center, and more.
On Thursday, HPAF celebrates its season opener with “A Return to the Stork Club.” Festival favorites Ashley Lambert (vocals), Justin John Moniz (vocals), Phil Kadet (piano) and Jason Gamer (trumpet) return to the historic Stork Club.
“A Return to the Stork Club” will celebrate one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks of all time, featuring music made famous by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, among others. The program will also celebrate favorites from the Great American Songbook, including works by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers.
During its years of operation, the Stork Club was visited by many political, social, and celebrity figures. It counted among its guests the Kennedy and Roosevelt families and The Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Food and drink will be available for purchase at The Blue Dragon Tavern &Cosmic Musiquarium.
All proceeds from this evening will support the HPAF scholarship fund for local high school students.
HPAF also is continuing its Hawaiian Cultural Initiative. For the third season, HPAF will offer a series of classes aimed to strengthen faculty, staff and students’ engagement and understanding of the rich culture of Hawaii.
HPAF’s commitment to music education reaches beyond the training of its participants. The festival’s “Behind the Curtain Series,” will welcome audience members before all performances of “Little Women: The Broadway Musical” and “The Coronation of Poppea” at Kahilu Theatre. These preperformance discussions will offer an opportunity for attendees to engage with HPAF artists on thematic material and the process of moving a story from the page to the stage.
“During the past 20 years, we’ve presented over 200 world-class concerts and performances in 12 different venues around Hawaii Island, offering all kinds of music … from jazz to classical, chamber music to show tunes, opera to Hawaiian,” said co-founder and Executive Director Emerita Genette Freeman in the press release. “It was hard work. Some people asked, ‘Why do you do it?’ There were times when I could think of no reason! Until one night, squirming in the stern pews of Davies Chapel, I realized I was part of a team that transports the audience to another place, where our everyday cares and woes disappear, a place where beauty, tragedy, melody, laughter and love come together.”
Hawaii Performing Arts Festival runs Thursday through July 21. A full calendar of events and tickets for all events are available by visiting hawaiiperformingartsfestival.org.
Tickets for Kahilu Theatre events may be purchased at https://kahilutheatre.org/ or via phone at (808) 885-6868.