Three New Zealand opera singers have been cast in a number of major roles for San Francisco Opera this year.
Adler Fellows soprano Amina Edris and tenor Amitai Pati will perform in Verdi’s La Traviata in September.
Egyptian-born, New Zealand raised Amina has been cast as Annina in La Traviata; and will also be on the main stage alongside her husband, Pene Pati in Rigoletto singing Countess Ceprano. Pene will sing his first major role for the company, the Duke of Mantua.
Pene’s brother and fellow Sol3 Mio tenor Amitai Pati will play Gastone de Letorières in La Traviata, and Matteo Borsa in Rigoletto.
Meanwhile the chairman of the San Francisco Opera Centre young artists programs, Cesar Ulloa, who’s been a guest tutor at the New Zealand Opera School programme in Wanganui this month, has compared Pene Pati to a young Pavarotti.
Speaking to the Wanganui Chronicle, Ulloa said when the Pati Brothers came to him from the Cardiff Academy he questioned whether there was anything he could teach them. "They have God-given voices. I am just their guide."
He also told Pene he could only do one Sole Mio concert a year if he was going to be serious about his operatic career.
The third member of Sol3 Mio, Moses Mackay, will be on Upbeat this Friday discussing his role in Festival Opera’s Carmen and talking about writing and performing his own solo album.
Sol3 Mio (left to right) Pene Pati, Moses Mackay & Amitai Pati Photo: Sol3 Mio
