Exciting young lyric tenor Ta’u Pupu’a was born on the South Pacific's Polynesian island of Tonga. At an early age he came with his family to Salt Lake City, Utah. Growing up, his two passions were football and music. He attended Weber State University on a football scholarship while pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree, during which time he was "discovered" by Bill Belichick and drafted to the N.F.L. to the Cleveland Browns and on to the Baltimore Ravens. After sustaining an injury playing for the N.F.L., he changed career direction to follow his first passion – opera.

Ta'u gained some early stage experience with the Utah Opera chorus in productions of Lucia di Lammermoor, Romeo et Juliette, Of Mice and Men, The Marriage of Figaro, Turandot and Fidelio. In 1997 and 1998 he sang in gala concerts to honor the King of Tonga in both Tonga and San Francisco, and in 1999 he was a soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Tongan Choir. In 2006 he made his major role debut as the Duke in Rigoletto with Espresso Opera in Manhattan. He also performed Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Opera of the Hamptons as well as for his debut with Regina Opera. He recently sang Cassio in Otello for Espresso Opera and an opera highlight concert in Connecticut for Gateway Classical Music Society. Other recent performances include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Staten Island Philharmonic and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with the Gateway Classical Music Society.

Ta'u Pupu'a was awarded the encouragement award in the 2007 Giulio Gari Foundation vocal competition and also in 2007 the young tenor made his role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca for Regina Opera, and repeated the role for Opera of the Hamptons.    
                                          

In the 2007-8 season Ta'u made his debut at Knoxville Opera performing "The Student Prince" for their Oktoberfest and also performed Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, and Cavaradossi in Tosca, both for Opera in the Heights in Houston,Texas. 


Duet with Adriana (Adriana Lecouvreur Act 2)




In the summer of 2008 Ta'u added the role of Done Jose from Carmen to his repertoire, performing major excerpts for Espresso Opera in June and also at the prestigious Chautauqua Music Festival of Fine and Performing Arts. On July 14 he performed Don Jose for that Festival in their 7000 seat amphitheater. He also returned for a repeat performance of The Student Prince for Knoxville Opera.

For 2008/9 Ta'u was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard Opera Center where he took part in their November Triple Bill under the baton of James Conlon.  In February he sang major highlights of La Boheme and Madama Butterfly with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in conjunction with the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia. In April  he sang Dr. Caius in JOC's spring production of Falstaff under the baton of Keri-Lynn Wilson and directed by Stephen Wadsworth. In the summer Ta'u traveled to Tuscany, Italy to undertake an intensive language training course before participating in the George Solti /Kiri te Kanawa Bel Canto Academy and the Cautauqua Music Institution in New York. 

Now called the Associate Diploma of Opera Studies, Ta'u entered his second year at Juilliard, and in March 2010 he will perform Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in Virginia followed immediately by Terrence McNally's Masterclass at the Kennedy Center starring Tony and Emmy Award winning actor Tyne Daly. Summer 2010 will see Ta'u Pupu'a making a role debut as Bacchus in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Maestro James Levine at Tanglewood.

Here is a sample of his singing, performing Pinkerton in Butterfly for Regina Opera:

Act 3 Trio and Aria