Leilehua Lanzilotti

Liliʻu (2024) — opera
Dance Suite from Liliʻu (2024) — dance suite
Songs from Liliʻu (2024) — concert version

Music by Leilehua Lanzilotti
Libretto by Lanzilotti, sourced from the writings of Liliʻuokalani

Set in 1895, when Queen Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned for almost a year in Iolani Palace for her alleged knowledge of an attempt to take back the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, Liliʻu tells the story of the Queen's life at a time of great upheaval. Denied visitors except for one female companion, Liliʻuokalani depended on secret messages and news that would come to her as wrapping for flowers. Liliʻuokalani used her voice to encode hope and seeds of cultural renewal in her writings and musical compositions. Liliʻuokalani’s advocacy for the revival of Hawaiian music and culture is her greatest legacy as seen through her various acts of cultural preservation and through her voice as a composer—a spark of hope in the darkness.

The work exists in the following forms:

• The opera, Liliʻu, scored for eight voices (SSAATBBB), flute/alto flute, piano, hand percussion, and string quartet. Staging, costumes, lighting, set design, and other elements are utilized. Grand Rights must be secured with the composer in advance, duration 55’

• Dance Suite from Liliʻu—all the choreographed sections of the work, fixed media with some live musical elements (2 musicians)—will premiere October 2, 2025 in New York City as part of Te Ao Mana’s Tatou Festival. Featuring choreography by Anthony Aiu, costumes by Manaola, and performed by Te Ao Mana (5 dancers). Grand Rights must be secured with the composer in advance. duration 35’

• A concert version, Songs from Liliʻu, scored for eight voices (SSAATBBB), with the singers playing hand percussion, piano, and viola as a part of the band—a selection of songs from the opera with singers in concert dress but with no stage action, duration 25’

For more information about the creative team, historical context, and more about the operatic version of the work, please visit liliuopera.com

Support radical indigenous creation: donate to Liliʻu today.

Liliʻu is fiscally sponsored by Sozo Impact, a 501(c)3. Your donation is tax deductible to the law's full extent.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, October 2, 2025 — Dance Suite from Liliʻu, choreographed by Anthony Aiu, performed by Te Ao Mana, with live music by Leilehua Lanzilotti and featured performances by Lanzilotti and T.J. Keanu Tario, Judson Memorial Church, New York, NY

Past Events

Tuesday, June 25, 2024 — Workshop Songs, Liliʻu: Community Presentation, performed by Roomful of Teeth and Lanzilotti, School for Advanced Research (SAR), Santa Fe, NM

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 — The MERWIN CONSERVANCY Presents A Talk with LEILEHUA LANZILOTTI In The Green Room Series featuring libretto readings and a dance performance by Anthony Aiu, Washington Place, Honolulu, HI

Sunday, April 14, 2024 — The MERWIN CONSERVANCY Presents A Talk with LEILEHUA LANZILOTTI In The Green Room Series, libretto reading, Maui Arts & Cultures Center, Kahului, Maui, HI.

Libretto commissioned by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation through a SHIFT — Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts Award

The music for Lili‘u is co-commissioned by New Native Theatre, Rhiana Yazzie, Artistic Director, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota

The development of Liliʻu is supported in part by Creative Capital Foundation, OPERA America Women Composers: Discovery Grants program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation; the Western Arts Alliance Advancing Indigenous Performance Native Launchpad program with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and Kamehameha Schools through the E OLA (Empowering ʻŌiwi Leadership Award) program; the Atherton Family Foundation; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional residency support for creation and development of the work provided by the American Composers Forum through the 2021 McKnight Visiting Composer Program, Marble House Project, the Macgeorge Bequest, the Merwin Conservancy, the School for Advanced Research (SAR, Santa Fe, New Mexico), and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency Program.