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Hawaii Tribune-Herald Island Beat Thursday, May 11, 2017 3 TENORS From page 2 Hawaii Performing Arts Festival executive director. The recording of that concert became the best-selling classical recording of all time. “It was HPAF that brought Ultimi to Hawaii in 2015, in conjunction with the Hoku Concert Series,” Freeman says. “We wanted to present them again because of the overwhelmingly positive audience response. We were getting comments like ‘This was the best concert I’ve ever attended!’ These guys are great talents and consummate entertainers.” This year, HPAF will present two concerts by Ultimi 3 Tenors in association with the Hoku Concert Series: at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Palace Theater and May 19 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Breezeway. “Now there are tenor groups for every style of music,” Hurtado says. “There are a million iterations of tenor groups.” But Freeman adds that it’s Ultimi’s stagemanship and artistry that sets them apart. “There’s something unique and very special about these dramatic vocal performances,” Freeman says. “Who doesn’t like to be thrilled by a skilled, powerful voice, not to mention three of them?” Hurtado says having Stucki on cello is what gives the group its signature sound, and you don’t need to be an opera or classical music fan to enjoy their music. “Ultimi tends to draw people with all kinds of musical tastes, and I think they are surprised with how much they like it,” says Hurtado, a father of eight and a professor at Utah Valley University. “It’s really accessible. A lot of our music is sung in English and much closer to today’s popular taste. “We have classical moments in every show — we are all classically trained — but we also have our crazy moments dancing around, too.” Fans have asked for Ultimi’s debut album since its inception and the group is finally ready to release its self-titled eight-track EP, available at their Big Island concerts. “It’s two years in the making,” Hurtado says. “We had an orchestra in Prague that played on some of our tracks and Brian arranges most of the pieces, so there were many layers to get recorded. “We have some crossover music and some straight-up opera and some folk songs such as ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Amazing Grace.’ We want to get to the next level.” Hurtado’s father was an amateur tenor in the church choir. He had wanted to do opera but, growing up in Peru, he didn’t have the chance. “I’d hear opera growing up all the time, but it was when I went with my dad’s choir to an opera at age 17 that I flipped for the sound,” says Hurtado, who specializes in full-lyric Italian and French repertoire. “It was the unamplified voice over a 90-piece orchestra in a 3,000-seat theater. I thought, ‘How do they do that?’” Hurtado has played the leading tenor roles in such famous operas as “La Bohème,” “Madame Butterfly” and “Romeo et Juliet” across the country, but says Ultimi concerts are “way less pressure” than a leading role in an opera because he, Stucki and Nelson can lean on each other. “We don’t shy away from difficult music, but it helps us let down our guard more than we would in an opera,” he says. “I feel like we can be ourselves and have more fun on stage.” And the audience picks up on it. “We had so much fun when we came to Hawaii two years ago,” Hurtado recalls. “I think audiences on the Big Island were among the most appreciative crowds we’ve ever had.” All proceeds from the concerts will go toward the HPAF 2017 scholarship fund and summer season. The festival has brought aspiring young musicians to Waimea to study and perform with renowned guest artists from around the world since 2005. Email Katie Young Yamanaka at BIVHawaii@ gmail.com. ONE GALLERY an artists’ collective Art & Wine Classes 961-2787 $35 onegalleryhawaii.com Paradise Restaurant Supply Downtown Hilo. 808-933-3675 Largest Kitchenware Dealer on Island We Specialize in: Large Woks - Stock Pots - Sinks Stainless Tables - Bar Mixers - Steamers Dishes - Silverware - Thermometers HUGE SALE - 35% OFF ALL COMMERCIAL KNIVES WE SHARPEN KNIVES Open 7 Days a Week 250 Kamehameha x Haili Hawaii Performing Arts Festival presents Ultimi 3 Tenors, in association with the Hoku Concert Series. When: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Palace Theater and 7 p.m. May 19 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Breezeway. Tickets: Hilo performance tickets are $25, available at the Palace Theater box office from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday or by calling 934-7010. Tickets for the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel concert are $60; seating is limited. Call 333-7378 or order tickets online for either performance at www.HawaiiPerforming ArtsFestival.org. ULTIMI 3 TENORS


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