Mete Tasin performs Italian Opera with the Aurora Mandolin Orchestra

Mete Tasin, backed by the Aurora Mandolin Orchestra, will perform in the Koret Auditorium Saturday, May 16, at 2:30pm. He will perform songs from the Italian repertoire.

Mete was born in Wurzburg, Germany, and raised in Turkey. He studied at Istanbul University State Conservatory and later in the US  at Brooklyn College. Mete’s first big role was as Don Jose in Carmen performed in Minnesota. He has also performed as this character at Carnegie Hall with the New York City Light Opera.

Mete previously performed the lead role of Arlecchino in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo and Gastone in Verdi's La Traviata at Opera San Jose in California. He has also represented the San Francisco City Opera by singing at Union Street and North Beach Festivals as a soloist. In addition to singing, he composed the music for Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, which premiered in New York. Mete has performed many roles in the Turkish repertoire at Izmir Istanbul State Theaters and other venues in Turkey.

The Aurora Mandolin Orchestra, the largest and one of the oldest orchestras of its kind in Northern California has performed many concerts over the years to thousands of listeners throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The uniqueness of this group is its varied repertoire and creative arrangements of folk music, semi-classical Italian, Spanish, Russian songs, popular "oldies", contemporary pieces (some taken from familiar musicals), excerpts from operas, and classical orchestra compositions written specifically for mandolin.

If you're interested in looking at books on Italian opera click here.