Opera a homecoming for tenor

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Warren Mok is Alfredo in "La Traviata." Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"It's a homecoming ... my fifth season here," he said. But I attended the University of Hawai'i, from 1979 to '83 and got my bachelor's in music here, got married here in '95 and we had a son born here in '96. I went on to Manhattan School of Music for my master's, then to Europe, where I made my debut at the Berlin Opera. Ever since then, I've been performing around the world ... but there's something special about Hawai'i."

It's the sun, the beach, the people, for starters.

"I used to have a home here, but too expensive," he said. "I live in Hong Kong now but sing around the world."

For three seasons, Wok has mounted the Macao International Music Festival, staged every October.

"So now, I'm a singer and an administrator, which is good because I understand both the management side and the performer side of the business. Maybe it's fashionable, because Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras also are administrators who sing. Helps to know how to treat singers, because artists can be temperamental and sensitive."

He often does no-fee public relations for Hawai'i and the opera scene here because of the joy he experiences and the friendships he formed over the years.

"I e-mail everybody from Hawai'i and sometimes people are surprised to learn that there is opera in Hawai'i, so I tell them yes, Western opera, not only hula."

Wok adores Alfredo. "I love it the most — a young man in love, who gives up everything," he said. "Love is the most important thing and it's a simple but strong character from beginning to end. And Verdi wrote one of the real masterpieces; fits my voice perfectly and it gets easier and easier for me, as my voice gets darker and heavier. The character is straightforward; and I know how to be young and in love; I bring in my own passion to create the character. Any role I do, I try to forget Warren Mok and be the part."