This season the Samoan tenor Amitai Pati makes his European debut as Bizet’s Nadir in concert performances of Les pêcheurs de perles presented by Les Grandes Voix in Paris and Compiegne under Arie van Beek. He’ll also making his role and company debut as Jupiter/​Apollo in Handel’s Semele with New Zealand Opera in a production which will exploit the ecclesiastical architecture of both North and South Islands. A former Adler Fellow, Amitai’s commitments in San Franciscio last season included Beppe in I pagliacci conducted by Daniele Callegari, Lord Cecil in Roberto Devereux under Riccardo Frizza, and Angel Quartet in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life conducted by Patrick Summers. Elsewhere Amitai has recently recorded La fanciulla del West and Madama Butterfly with the Gulbenkian Orchestra under Lawrence Foster, due for release by Pentatone. 

Amitai received his master’s degree in advanced vocal studies at the Wales International Academy of Voice under the tutelage of tenor Dennis O’Neill. In 2014, he was invited to join the Young Singers Project in Salzburg, Austria, where he appeared in performances and concerts including La favorite with Elīna Garanča, Juan Diego Flórez, and Ludovic Tézier, and the tenor solo in Mozart’s Spatzenmesse under Christoph Koncz. Following this, Amitai became a participant of the 2016 Merola Opera Program, singing his first principal role as Ferrando in Così fan tutte under Mark Morash. During this time he has developed a wide repertoire including Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Gastone in La traviata and Borsa in Rigoletto, both under the baton of Nicola Luisotti.