As a part of their first U.S. tour, Italian opera group The Four Italian Tenors will bring listeners on a vocal journey through Italy on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium.
OPAS Executive Director Anne Black said she is excited that the MSC OPAS program gets to host The Four Italian Tenors — Alessandro D’Acrissa, Federico Parisi, Giovanni Maria Palmia and Federico Serra — as they travel the country for their U.S. Debut Tour.
“We are always honored to be on the first tour and have the opportunity to bring these events to our audiences first,” Black said. “I always think about how difficult it must be to depend upon your voice every single night in a different venue and in different surroundings. What I am looking forward to the most is hearing all of the most familiar opera arias, laced with humor.”
In these concerts in colleges and theaters around America, the group’s manager Davide La Bòllita said the singers use Italian arias to transmit traditions, culture and feelings from Italy to the audience.
“The basic idea was to create a group of young singers who we knew, with their various vocal qualities, will cover all the musical repertoires for what is one of the most beloved registers of singing: the tenor voice,” La Bòllita said. “I believe that Italian music in general is the most loved ever. It is part of our cultural tradition, and it is beautiful to see that here in America, everyone recognizes it.”
These young singers are seasoned professionals, each having performed in many operas and TV shows prior to becoming a group. OPAS publicist Craig Boleman has worked to market this exclusive concert and emphasized the personality and humor of the tenors.
“Some may think that opera is daunting or uninteresting,” Boleman said. “But this one is [interesting] because of the unique talents of the tenors. We worked with ‘That’s Amore!’ as a headline because we are confident audiences of all ages will fall in love with Alessandro, Federico, Giovanni and Federico on Thursday night in Rudder Auditorium.”
During the concert, The Four Italian Tenors will perform classics from Andrea Bocelli, Mario Lanza, Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti with humor and a distinct, fun flair.
“The unique thing about this particular program is that the guys are amazingly talented vocally as well as comedically,” Boleman said. “The humor that they offer is what sets them apart from other tenor acts. Plus, they are dripping with Italian charm. It’s going to be fun for sure.”
According to La Bòllita, The Four Italian Tenors hope that through this American tour and the A&M concert, they can bring Italian culture and opera tradition to more young people across the globe.
“Seeing the positive reaction of the public that has so far participated in our concerts, I think it is really the most important aspect to see a growing enthusiasm around us,” La Bòllita said. “Music is one of those arts that really identifies so many feelings. It is an emotion, a moment of freedom and pleasure and so much more. The goal is to continue doing this with great passion and to bring these concerts of ours really all over the world.”
Tickets can be purchased at the MSC Box Office or at boxoffice.tamu.edu. Ticket prices range from $22 to $60, depending on preferred seating location.