History

In 2005, the Hawai’i Performing Arts Festival [HPAF] was founded by Val Underwood and Genette Freeman, who continue to serve as Artistic Director and Executive Director respectively.  Based at Hawai'i Preparatory Academy in Waimea on the Big Island, the nonprofit arts organization obtained its 501(c)3 status in November of 2005.

HPAF Artistic Director states, “Genette Freeman and I traveled to Hawaii in 1991 after we had both suffered the loss of a close family member.  Genette’s father had died, and in my case, my younger brother, Ray Underwood, succumbed to a long illness.  In our healing, we both fell in love with Hawaii. We visited regularly and long dreamed of starting a summer classical music training and performance program there.  In 2005 Genette retired from her long time job in corporate America, and we decided to undertake the founding of the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Ray Underwood was an incredibly talented actor and artist.  Among his many gifts was poetry.  In a beautiful turn of events, some of our program includes Ray Underwood’s lyrics set to music.”

The first summer festival took place in July, 2005.  One of America's most distinguished living composers, Ricky Ian Gordon, appeared as composer-in-residence. HPAF hired faculty of 15 renowned teachers, all extraordinary performers and mentors. The festival recruited 45 talented students from 125 applications sent in from all over the world. Students were accepted by live auditions in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and New York City, or by sending an audition tape, or recommendation of a faculty member.  HPAF created its Residents Program, [later known as Lifelong Singer], where Hawaii residents took lessons and classes. Eight Hawaiian residents enrolled, and now form a core group.  In 2005 HPAF partnered with Hamakua Music Festival, a well established island music festival, to present the festival's first island scholarship to  Lauren Carvalho, 16-year old flutist from Hilo, who went on to attend Harvard University.

The festival produced nine concerts in 17 days, utilizing five unique performance venues…from historic theaters to a luxury resort. Audiences grew from 30 at the first concert to 200 in the final concert.  Students and faculty participated in three guided hikes, three sunset beach picnics, a day trip to Volcanoes National Park, an authentic Hawaiian dinner with entertainment from a local hula school, in addition to optional horseback riding and yoga.

In 2006 the festival presented a Leonard Bernstein retrospective and the first fully produced opera on the Big Island, Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, and enrollment and audience numbers increased by approximately 20%.

The following year, 2007, was the year of oratorio and Baroque music, along with the return of Ricky Ian Gordon, who presented his Orpheus and Eurydice and selections from his CD Bright Eyed Joy.  Ellen Masaki debuted her “Pianothon”, a five grand piano extravaganza featuring Hawaii’s bright young piano talents.

2008 HPAF featured Poets Corner, with John DeLancie [of Star Trek fame] and Marnie Mosiman, a fabulously successful art song concert, as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Singing, directed by Ken Cazan, and two Baroque concerts.

In 2009 Ricky Ian Gordon made his third appearance to present a concert version of his new opera “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Green Sneakers” .  A world premiere children’s opera as well as an emphasis on Spanish music were hallmarks of the 2009 festival.

In 2010 HPAF proudly presented Peter Brook’s The Tragedie of Carmen and Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges, two more fully produced operas, as well as TropicGlee, HPAF’s pop-infused version of the TV show Glee. Peabody Southwell, singing the role of Carmen, is a three-year alumna of the festival who went on to land her first professional role at Long Beach Opera.  Earlier in the year a light-hearted look at classical music From Mozart to Madonna was created and performed by KGMB-TV broadcast personality Howard Dicus, along with Honolulu Symphony concertmaster Ignace “Iggy” Jang’s Green Sneakers quartet.