Biography
-
WARREN MOK
International Acclaimed Tenor/Artistic Director
Mr. MOK is a world renowned tenor from Hong Kong. His lyrico-spinto tenor voice has been praised by the press: from The Guardian, England ¡§His technique is rock solid, with beautiful even timbre, and an engaging enthusiasm on stage; ringing top notes were attacked and held in rocklike Pavarotti vein." , from Opera Magazine, ¡§he seems to have modeled his performance on that of La Scala¡¦s Raoul, the late Franco Corelli, and comes amazingly close to the ideal. Suffice it to say that Mok has a ringing, rather baritonal timbre and pours forth tone generously. His Raoul is a visceral experience not least for its secure, expansive high notes¡K

Since his European debut in 1987 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he sang many leading roles, then he has been making frequent guest appearances in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, such as New York Carnegie Hall, London Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musik Verein, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paris Opera, Leipzig Opera, Lyon Opera, Nice Opera, Sydney Opera House, The Netherlands Opera, Teatro Colon in Argentina, Teatro di Bologna Comunale in Italy, Royal Danish Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Warsaw National Theatre, San Carlo Theater Lisbon, Seattle Opera, Teatro di Cagliari Italy, Bilbao Opera ABAO, Teartro di Palma de Mallorca, Teatro Ventidio Basso Italy, Nancy Opera France, St. Etienne Esplanade France, Bergen Opera Norway, Opera Lyra Ottawa in Canada, Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Orlando Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater, National Opera of China, Shanghai Opera House, Singapore Lyric Opera. He also sang in Vienna Festival, New Zealand International Arts Festival, Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago Italy, Wiesbaden May Festival, Athens Music Festival, Martina Franca Festival, Riga Opera Festival, Dalhala Festival Sweden, Track Festival Lithuania, Xanten Festival Germany, Seoul Arts Center Opera Festival, Macau International Music Festival, Beijing Music Festival, Shanghai International Arts Festival , Singapore Arts Festival, Hong Kong and Taiwan Festivals. He possesses a unique & beautiful lyrical-spinto tenor voice, and an operatic repertoire of more than 50 leading roles, including Calaf in Turandot , Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La Boheme, the Duke in Rigoletto, Riccardo in Un Ballo di Maschera, Don Carlos, Radames in Aida, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Don Alvaro La forza del destino, Don Jose in Carmen, Romeo, Faust, Werther, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Canio in Pagliacci, Sou-Chong in Das Land des Laechelns.

On constant demand, Mr. Mok also appears frequently in concerts throughout the world. He sang in the world famous concert halls such as New York Carnegie Hall, London Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musik Verein, Munich, Hamburg, Tokyo, Prague, Zurich, Vancouver, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong. Among the important orchestras with which he has worked are Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Radio Philharmonic Leipzig, St. Martins in the Fields Orchestra, Opera Orchestra of New York, Russian Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, Portugal Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Lithuanian State Symphony, Orchestra International Of Italy, Strauss Festival Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, China National Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, Singapore Symphony, National Hall Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Taiwan Symphony. His oratorio credits include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; Handel's Messiah & Jeptha, Haydn's Creation; Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde & Symphony No.8, Mozart's Requiem; Rossini's Stabat Mater; Verd's Requiem and many other works.

Among the well known conductors with whom he has worked are G. Sinopoli, N. Marriner, J. Lopez-Cobos, C. Hogwood, R. Palumbo, K. Weise, E. Queler, M. Guidarini, P. Olmi, Yu Long, Tan Dun.

He has recorded four solo albums, one duet album and 8 opera CDs , on Dynamic, Hugo, D.G. BMG, Koch International & other labels. He also appears regularly on TV & Radio shows worldwide

In recent years, Mr. Mok has been appearing regularly at the Martina Franca Festival in Italy, where he sang and recorded five complete opera CDs, Manrico in IL Trovatore ,Gabriele in Simon Boccanegra, Lentulus in Roma by Massenet, Title role in Robert le diable, Raul in Les Huguenots by Meyerbeer, All these CDs are available worldwide on Dynamic label.

He made his New York Carnegie Hall debut with the Opera Orchestra of New York singing the leading tenor role in Adelia by Donizetti. His London debut was in Turandot as Calaf at the Royal Albert Hall with great success. He portrayed Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschere, and tenor solo in Verdi¡¦s Requiem at the Macau Festival opposite Tomowa-Sintow. He recently appeared with the Berlin Rundfunk Orchestra in Das Lied von der Erde in Berlin, and joined the orchestra on its tour of China. In December 99, he sang Alfredo in La Traviata in a co-production with Covent Garden in Shanghai. In the new millennium, he sang Werther in Bergen, Norway. In April, 2000 Mr. MOK returned to the Royal Danish Opera singing the role of Alvaro in La Forza del Destino. In May,2000 he made his debut at the Bydgoski Festival in Poland. In summer 2000,he returned to Martina Franca Festival singing the title role of Robert le Diable by Meyerbeer. He also returned to Riga Opera Festival for La Boheme and Verdi¡¦s Requiem and Dalhala Festival in Sweden for Turandot and Lucia di Lammermoor . He sang Duca in Rigoletto at Saint-Eteinne, France, and Don Jose in Arles Festival, France. In July 2001, he sang a Verdi Gala Concert in Berlin with Berlin Symphonie Orchestra. In 2001/2002, he sang Arrigo in I Vespri Siciliani in Bilbao Spain. Returned to Royal Albert Hall for Turandot, Cavaradossi in Tosca in Seoul Opera Festival.

In 2002, he sang Nabucco in Ravenna & Il Trovatore in Cagliari ,Les Huegenots in Martina Franca Italy, Carmen in Mallorca,Spain. Samson & Delila in Singapore, La Bohme in Macau International Music Festival & Shanghai International Arts Festival.

In 2003, he returned to Seoul Arts Center for La traviata, to Opera Lyra Ottawa Canada & Riga Opera Festival for Un ballo in Maschera, Turandot in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, I Pagliacci in Orlando Opera, USA, made his debut in Aida at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In Fall 2003, He performed Mahler¡¦s Das Lied von der Erde in Paris Opera, Warsaw Opera Theatre, and Vienna Musik Verein on a tour with China Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2004, he sang Turandot at Lithuanian National Opera, Rigoletto at Opera Lyra Ottawa, Tea by Tan Dun at Opera Lyon, Edgar by Puccini at Tivoli Festival in Italy, produced & sang Romeo & Juliet at Macau International Music Festival, produced and sang Samson Delilah & La traviata with Opera Hong Kong.

In 2005, He sang the leading role in Tan Dun¡¦s Tea in the Netherlands Opera, Turandot in Hawaii Opera Theatre and Nice Opera. In the fall he will produce & sing in Turandot in Opera Hong Kong production.

In 2006, He sang Turandot in Sydney Opera House, Puccini Festival in Italy, Rome Opera, Tosca in Teatro di Bologna, Opera ¡§Tea¡¨ by Tan Dun in New Zealand Arts Festival and Tokyo Suntory Hall. Carmen with Opera Hong Kong, Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci in Macau International Music Festival.

In 2007, he will make his debut with Opera di Roma and Opera Irland as Calaf in Turandot, with Teatro di Massimo in Palermo as Canio in Pagliacci. He will produce and sing in Aida , Romeo & Juliet with Opera Hong Kong, Rigoletto in Macau International Music Festival.

In recent years, Mr. MOK has been very active in Asia, not only as a singer, but as a producer as well. He is the advisor for the Shanghai Opera House, Shanghai Symphony and China National Opera House. He produced and sang in Romeo & Juliette, Carmen, La boheme in Shanghai with the Shanghai Opera House and Shanghai International Arts Festival. He also produced many concerts with world renown conductor and singers. In Beijing he sang Calaf in Turandot with the National Opera Theater and Rodolfo in La Boheme , Don Jose in Carmen in the Beijing Music Festival. He has also been making frequent appearances at the Macau Festival, singing Cavarodossi and Riccardo opposite to the world famous soprano Tomowa-Sintow in Tosca and Un Ballo in Maschera. In Hong Kong , he has been appearing on TV and Radio frequently, and was the featured soloist for the 1997 Hong Kong Repatriation Ceremonies which were televised and seen worldwide. In Asia, he has been singing operas and concerts in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan, becoming one of the most distinguished Chinese tenors in the world, and an active promoter of western operas and music in China.

Since 2000, he is the artistic director of the Macau International Music Festival. He has been successfully leading the festival to a new international standard, artists from around the world, e.s. Maazel, Slatkin, Tovey, Palumbo, Bychkov, Lang Lang, Maisky, Kavakos, orchestras including New York Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, NRD Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Luxemburg Philharmonic, WDR Cologne Symphony Orchestra, Borodin Quartet, with wide range of repertoire from Opera, Symphony Concerts, Chamber Music to Jazz, Folk, Pop & Rock, with great success. He is also the general director of Belcanto Co, which ran the program & marketing for the Macau Cultural Center from 2001 to 2003. It has been very successful for Macau Audience to witness diversified programs with high standard. In Macau , he has produced operas including: Otello, La traviata, La Boheme, The Magic Flute, Romeo & Juliet, Madame Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci. Critics in the world have been praising the Macau International Music Festival¡¦s standard of performance to high level in the region. In recent seasons, he also brought full staging musicals to Macau audience such as Chicago, West Side Story, Guys & Dolls. His main goal is to serve the people of Macau and build a cultural bridge to the world.

In Hong Kong, he has produced many concerts with the support of the HK Government, most recently he brought in the Latvian National Opera tour in Hong Kong, fully supported by the HKLCSD, with huge success by press and audience alike. In 2003, he has created the first opera company in Hong Kong, named Opera Hong Kong, which has been producing operas annually, making a mile stone for Hong Kong. In 2004 he has produced OHK¡¦s first La traviata in a co-production with LCSD, won the praise from audience & critics alike, thereafter he has produced Turandot, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro.

He holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and Bachelor from the University of Hawaii.