Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus - History

History

Originally the Honolulu Children's Opera Chorus (HCOC), HYOC was founded in 1961 to provide children for the Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre (HOT)'s production of Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème. So many children appeared for the audition that it was soon realised that Hawaiʻi was in great need of a children's chorus. Since then, HYOC has grown tremendously. It now contains singers from Kindergarten to 12th grade in eight ensembles. To this day, HYOC shares a strong connection with HOT, and the operas that require children use singers from HYOC. The 2006 season operas Il Trittico (Suor Angelica) and Tosca featured children from HYOC's Cantilena and Scelto ensembles. Past productions include 2005's Turandot, 2003's La Bohème, 2002's Carmen, and 2001's Pagliacci/Cavalleria Rusticana.

HYOC started out as a single ensemble, but as its attendance grew it continued to add additional choirs. Cantilena, for example, was created when the Coro ensemble became too large. Gioventù Musicale was created when the age range of the organisation expanded to include youth rather than just children.

As HYOC has grown, it has attracted more and more singers from all over Oʻahu. It has members from most of Hawaiʻi's public and private schools as well as homeschooled members.

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