*Opera in the Heights debut

Ta`u Pupu`a, Maurizio, is a young lyric tenor who was born in the South Pacific Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga. At the age of two 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 this time we was "discovered" by Bill Belichick and drafted to the NFL to the Cleveland Browns and on to the Baltimore Ravens. After sustaining an injury playing for the NFL, he changed career direction to follow his first passion: opera.  Ta'u gained some early stage experience with the Utah Opera chorus in several productions. 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 performed Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Opera of the Hamptons as well as Regina Opera and Cassio in Otello for Espresso Opera. Other recent performances include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Staten Island Philharmonic and the Duke 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. He debuted as Cavaradossi in Tosca for Regina Opera, then Opera of the Hamptons, and will repeat the role for Opera in the Heights this spring.