Kazuko Hillyer International Inc was a performing arts production and management organization based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It was formed by Kazuko Hillyer in 1970. It arranged tours for a variety of clients, including the

Tokyo String Quartet The was an international string quartet that operated from 1969 to 2013. The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where they studied with Professor Hideo ...

, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Grand Kabuki, the Jewish Theater of Romania and the Zambia National Folk and Music Ensemble.

History

The business was at first run out of the apartment Kazuko Hillyer shared with her husband,

Juilliard String Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous ...

co-founder

Raphael Hillyer Raphael Hillyer (April 10, 1914 – December 27, 2010) was a Jewish American viola soloist, teacher. Born Raphael Silverman in Ithaca, New York, his career included playing in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and co-founding the Juilliard Strin ...

. An early success was a successful arrangement in 1972 with musicians in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, which was before that time closed to cultural exchanges with the West. By 1975 the Hillyer organization represented 50 conductors and soloists and 20 orchestras worldwide. The company was notably responsible for organizing the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

's first tour to Japan in May–June 1975. Hillyer successfully brokered a sponsorship deal for the tour with the Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Company. The Met, which at the time was experiencing financial difficulties, jumped at a chance for three weeks of opera performances that had all costs covered and generated income for the company. The company toured Japan for three weeks, giving performances in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. General director

Schuyler Chapin Schuyler Garrison Chapin (February 13, 1923 – March 7, 2009) was a General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and later Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City during the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He also served as the de ...

and Hillyer were able to secure many of the world's leading opera singers for the tour. Their production of '' La traviata'' starred Joan Sutherland as Violetta and

Robert Merrill Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993. Early life Merrill was born Moishe Miller, ...

as Germont with Sutherland's husband, Richard Bonynge, conducting.

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

portrayed the title role in '' Carmen'' for the tour with conductor Henry Lewis,

Lucine Amara Lucine Amara (born March 1, 1924) is an American soprano who was chiefly based at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Biography Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco wh ...

is Micaela, and James McCracken as Don José. The role of Rodolfo in the tour's ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'' was alternated in performances between tenors Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti with

Dorothy Kirsten Dorothy Kirsten (July 6, 1910, Montclair, New Jersey – November 18, 1992, Los Angeles, California) was an American operatic soprano. Biography Kirsten's mother was an organist and music teacher, her grandfather was a conductor, and her great-a ...

as Mimi. In 1992, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which was soon converted to Chapter 7.

References

Theatrical organizations in the United States Entertainment companies established in 1970 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992 1970 establishments in New York (state) Entertainment companies disestablished in 1992 1992 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies disestablished in 1992 American companies established in 1970 {{theatre-stub