Warner Classics signs tenor Pene Pati

Warner Classics has signed an exclusive contract with the Samoan tenor Pene Pati, with his first release on the label scheduled for Spring 2022.

A Samoan who grew up in New Zealand, Pati is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Adler Program and has risen quickly since his 2017 debut, singing the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the San Francisco Opera.

Commenting on his experience of signing with Warner Classics, Pati said: ‘I knew that if the opportunity ever presented itself, I would be very choosy and precise about what I want – and about what I believe the label should get from me. It is for this exact reason I have chosen to go with the team at Warner, who not only share these values, but are also synonymous with classical excellence.’ 

Pati won prizes in a series of major singing competitions, including first prize at the Montserrat Caballé International Aria Competition and the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award. Now, the 2021/22 season brings his debuts at the Paris Opéra, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Staatsoper Berlin, Aix-en-Provence Festival and San Diego Opera.

President of both Warner Classics and Erato, Alain Lanceron, said: ‘Pene Pati is in the great tradition of lyric tenors. First and foremost, there is the beauty and warmth of his voice, which ascends with apparent ease to the proverbial top C, but there is also his elegance and style in both Italian and French opera – and his sunny, expansive personality, which wins the public’s heart as soon as he walks on stage.’

Pati’s first release with Warner Classics (Spring 2022) will be a recital of arias from Romantic operas recorded with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.