Opera sensations ‘Sol3 Mio’ in town

 “Returning to Samoa to perform in front of our people, is a fulfillment of a dream my parents had when they left Samoa for NZ in search of a better life for us kids,” says Darren Pene Pati.

Sol3 Mio is a 3 piece opera group featuring brothers Daren Pene Pati & Amitai Pati and friend Moses Mackay. The 3 have all been selected individually by world-renowned tenor, DennisO'Neil, to study under him at the WIAV (Welsh International Academy of Voice). Only a mere 20 singers worldwide are chosen each year to study at the Academy.

 

Pene Pati (winner of the Sydney Aria Competition) has just completed his Masters and has been invited back by Dennis for another year. He will be joined by his brother Amitai Pati (who just won the 2012 Lexus Song Quest an extremely prestigious award, previous winners include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major, Jonathan Lemalu, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and 2009 winner Aivale Cole) and Moses Mackay who will begin their Masters in early October. The qualification takes a year to complete in which they will be performing and living together in Cardiff.

 

Concert promoter Raymond Fruean who usually promotes more commercial artists saw these talented sons of Samoan immigrants to NZ on a “youtube clip” and thought these artists would be a nice contrast to the types of artist who have been performing in Samoa lately.

 

“I figured no one was bringing artists that appeal to a cross section of ages and this band has that rare ability to appeal to all generations. I took the proposal to Air New Zealand, Tanoa Tusitala Hotel and Digicel who also shared my vision and have joined as “ Major Partners” in the Sol3 Mio Samoa Tour, I am so grateful to Jill Murphy (GM Tanoa) Christina Gutherie (Air NZ Country Manager) and Leaupepe Talai Lene (Digicel Samoa Marketing Manager) for allowing me to bring this talented group to Samoa,” said Mr Fruean. “As I explained to our Sponsorship Partners “Sol3 Mio” pronounced “Sole Mio” the “3” acts as an “e” in this instance, named after a classic Neapolitan Song “O Sole Mio - 1898” which literally translates to “My Sunshine” and the boys use it as one of their signature tracks.

 

“Along with their talent in Opera the boys infuse their own Island swagger and even a fair sprinkling of Island humour into their routine. This is the key aspect that I love about “Sol3 Mio” they break down these barriers to what is typically an elitist art form like Opera and make it accessible and likeable (even lovable) by the lay person. This is why I think everyone in Samoa will love these guys, regardless if you are a fan of opera or not, it does not matter, Sol3 Mio’s charm, swagger and just their mere abundance of talent will literally “have you at hello” saidMr. Fruean.

 

Along with the three boys we are flying over two partners and one accompanist and also both sets of parents a touring Party of 10. I remember early in our discussions with Darren (the older Pati brother) I wanted to talk about talent fees and how much money they would expect from a concert to help with their studies in the UK, but it seemed they were not too interested in money, all he kept asking me if it’s possible to bring his parents and also Moses’ parents. I thought to myself “that is a funny request, not many artists ask me if they can bring their parents, most want to break out on their own at this stage.”

 

Coincidently I saw that same night on TV a show from’ NZ called Sunday’ which featured a documentary of the Pati family and how they struggled in NZ for years in search of a better life for the boys. They were so poor sometimes at night when kids were hungry the parents would tell them to drink water to fill their stomachs’.”This just broke my heart and I knew then I had to fly down the parents as well. They say everything in life happens for a reason, I think my purpose in this instance was to complete the circle”, said Mr Fruean.

 

Like many migrants to NZ, Pene (Snr) & Iurieta Pati left Samoa in search of a better life for their children. And like most immigrants life was a struggle in their new adopted homeland and the Pati’s had to work hard and sacrifice much so that they could give their children a first grade education. Along with a great education the Pati brothers managed to nurture, develop and fine tune their god given talents in music and are now recognised as some of the best vocalists in New Zealand. When the Pati family come back to Samoa at the end of the month to showcase the talent of their sons to their motherland they left so many years ago, “the circle will be complete” in fulfilment of a dream they had when they left for NZ. “This is what I look forward to most of all,” said concert promoter Raymond Fruean with a big smile on his face.

 

Both concerts will be held at the Tanoa Tusitala Conference Centre and a third show on Friday will be added if the first two shows sell out.

 

Concert 1: Cocktail & Show – Thursday 27th Sep 2012 – 7pm
$100 Tickets include Show and hors d’oeuvres (drinks not inclusive) – Cash Bar Available

 

Concert 2: Cocktail & Show – Saturday 29th Sep 2012 – 7pm
$150 Tickets include Show and Buffet Dinner (drinks not inclusive) – Cash Bar Available