In the Spotlight

Photo: Sally Edwards was the guest of honor at a special HOT dinner held recently. HOT Board Director Bob Bunn (l) and HOT General Artistic Director Henry Akina (r) were among those celebrating Edwards and her generous support of HOT.

As a teenager growing up in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1930s, Sally Edwards would look forward to making the trek across the bay to the San Francisco Opera House with her mother and grandmother, longtime opera enthusiasts.

“I was exposed to opera at an early age and have been an opera buff for a long time. We would get all dressed up and sometimes stay at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in the City,” says Edwards. “I remember seeing Wagner’s Gotterdammerung and at intermission we left the opera house and went to dinner and came back just in time for the second half.”

She eventually moved to Hawaii in the mid-1950s and brought her love for opera with her to the islands. “I’ve been a supporter of Hawaii Opera Theatre from the very beginning,” says Edwards. “I’ve seen many different opera companies and HOT is right up there with the finest operas — in many cases, even better. They put on some very wonderful productions.”

The self-described “traditionalist” says it’s hard for her to pick a favorite HOT production, but she loved Verdi’s Traviata and is excited about the upcoming HOT season. Edwards says she hopes more opera lovers will follow her lead and become part of HOT’s Opera Legacy Society by remembering HOT in their estate planning.

“The arts brings us all a very needed balance and the cultural aspect that opera brings is so important — the community needs opera — it brings the community together.”