[ WEEKEND ]

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM "Three Tenors of Hawaii" rehearse in the music room of Kawaiahao Church for their upcoming performance in the Hawaii Theatre. Standing from left is Les Ceballos, Robert Cazimero and Aaron Sala. Seated is Bebe Freitas, pianist and associate artistic director of the Hawaii Opera Theartre.

3 men and a Bebe

Robert Cazimero leads tenors
putting a local spin on opera

The Three Tenors of Hawaii Part of Celebrate the Arts! Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education Awards 2004 presentation Where: Hawaii Theatre When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow Tickets: $35 general, $20 for alliance members and $8 for children Call: 528-0506

WHO could possibly think of rehearsals as fun? Robert Cazimero, for one.

"Often times I've found in this long career of mine than the rehearsals are better than the performance itself because it's a kind of sharing experience for the performers. This is for us, this is our time (and) it's great," Cazimero said during a short break from rehearsals with Les Ceballos and Aaron Sala for tomorrow night's 2004 Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education awards show at the Hawaii Theatre.

The trio is being billed as the "Three Tenors of Hawaii," and they're putting a fresh spin on the concept by including Hawaiian songs, along with standard operatic material.

Cazimero, Ceballos and Sala are sharing the bill with kumu hula Michael Casupang, the Hawaii Opera Youth Chorus, Pupukahi I Ke Alo O Na Pua of Mid-Pacific Institute, children from Princess Kaiulani School, and indefatigable accompanist Bebe Freitas, in a celebration of the work of the alliance in promoting arts in the schools.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Aaron Sala

The show also honors this year's recipient of the organization's Alfred Pries Award, Clarence Lee. The graphic designer is probably best known as the designer of the Lunar New Year stamp series for the U.S. Postal Service.

Tomorrow night's big draw, of course, is Cazimero, Ceballos and Sala performing in the popular format introduced several years ago by international opera stars Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, and then by the African-American "Three Mo' Tenors" of Thomas Young, Roderick Dixon and Victor Trent Cook.

In additional to adding Hawaiian music, our three tenors can be expected to add some personality as well. They didn't reveal anything -- even off the record-- but Cazimero was positioning himself as the old man of the three.

"I'm used to doing things (without brother Roland), but here I am singing with Les and Aaron, and they're younger than I am. It's very unfair. They're talented and I find myself handicapped in this situation -- but in a very nice way," Cazimero said with a big smile.

"I'm doing this aria that I last did when I was back in college back in 1864 -- before the Overthrow," he said, while Ceballos and Sala chuckled at the joke.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Robert Cazimero

SALA, the youngest of the three, finds being one of Hawaii's three tenors "big shoes to fill because Les is one of my teachers and Robert is one of my idols ... but it'll be an honor to be working with them."

The "idol" replied. "Aaron really is the baby, but his pronunciation is so beautiful I'd be very content to just oooh-and-ahhh in the background," Cazimero said, adding that Ceballos is "the maestro" of the project.

"Maestro" Ceballos seemed content to let the others do most of the talking, although he explained that doing a three tenors-style show was something new for all of them, and that it was also a rare opportunity for him to perform for the public. Ceballos teaches full-time at Kamehameha Schools, but loves to sing opera, and has adjusted his schedule such that he'll be able to play the Steersman in Hawaii Opera Theatre's 2005 production of Wagner's "Der Fliegenden Hollander."

As for Cazimero, he said he's "working towards 2005 ... a real tough and busy year for me," but before next year comes around, he and Roland have their Christmas concert with the Honolulu Symphony in the second week in December.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Les Ceballos

Sala is working on his master's degree in ethnomusicology at the University of Hawaii and is preparing to record for Hula Records.

If an operatic standard like "O Solo Mio" seems like a strange choice as the finale of a show by three Hawaiian singers, that could be because it's been over 70 years since a post office replaced the opera house that stood for years just across Iolani Palace on King Street. Or perhaps because Hawaii-born opera singers like Tandy MacKenzie, Keaumoku Louis and Charles K.L. Davis achieved their greatest success away from the islands.

However distant opera may seem from contemporary Hawaiian music, Cazimero, Ceballos and Sala plan to bring it all together tomorrow night.

However, they have no plans to record as the Three Tenors of Hawaii.

"I wouldn't want to spoil the record," said a self-deprecating Cazimero.