[Herald Interview] Family trio dropping a little opera to the club scene

Classical opera is getting a modern and chic revamp, leaving behind the fancy orchestra concert halls and heading out to the mecca of pop music culture and youth.

After hitting it big in their native country of New Zealand with its 2013 self-titled debut album, up-and-coming opera crossover family trio Sol3 Mio will be performing its first concert in Korea in the most unlikely of venues -- Gangnam, Seoul nightclub Octagon.

As part of the international “Yellow Lounge” mash-up music event looking to bridge the gap between classical and contemporary music, Sol3 Mio will be gracing the club’s stage on Sept. 11, presenting the family members’ signature blend of classic opera arias and modern tunes with a splash of comedic banter. The musical trio consists of brothers and opera tenors Pene and Amitai Pati and their cousin and baritone Moses Mackay.

“We think that the actual idea of the ‘Yellow Lounge’ is our bread and butter,” said Mackay, during an interview with all the trio at the Imperial Palace Hotel on Wednesday.

“Taking classical music and putting it into a club, that sounds silly, but that’s exactly what we’re trying to do here,” he continued. “We are taking something that we do and we are presenting it to people that are unlikely to ever listen to this kind of stuff ... so it’s opening doors for them and we just hope that people come and listen with an open heart.”

The Yellow Lounge was first launched more than a decade ago in Berlin in an effort to tear down the all-too-common stereotypes of classical music being “boring and difficult.”

“We were brought up with everything but classical, it was always country music, R&B, pop,” said Pene, adding that classical music didn’t come into their lives until the two brothers joined community youth choir in grade school.

“After pursuing classical music for a while, we slowly fell in love with it and now, we champion the notion that people should have a listen to classical and have a listen to opera,” he continued. “Because if they manage to convert the least likely people (the trio members) to love it, then it can absolutely convert anyone else.”

Tickets for Sol3 Mio’s upcoming concert event are listed at 33,000 won ($28), which includes one free drink. For more information, call 1544-1555.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)