Inside Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre’s production of “Carmen”

When Robert Feng takes the stage to sing in a production of “Carmen” this week, he will be performing with Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre, the same group that inspired his own love of singing.

Two showings on Friday, April 11, and Sunday, April 13, will be sung in French with English supertitles and include the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra. For tickets ranging in price from $70-$135, click here.

Feng, a Punahou School graduate, sings the role of Zuniga, who orders Carmen’s arrest and later sends Don José to prison after the soldier lets Carmen escape.

What makes “Carmen” stand out?

“Every single measure is extremely good and memorable,” he said. “There's a reason why this show has so many hits that people know outside of the opera, in popular media. It’s just that good. And aside from that, I do really recommend ʻCarmen’ as someone's first opera, because it contains all of the stereotypically good things that someone thinks of when they think of opera: big voices, high drama, love, murder, jealousy — all that high stakes stuff that you'll find in something like ʻGame of Thrones.’’’

When Feng is not singing, he is also a librettist, or someone who writes the text to operas. So far, he has written librettos — which include stage direction — for more than seven operas, he said. 

The “opera bug” started in high school, he said. His sister, Ellie Feng, was taking voice lessons, so he decided to do the same. His voice teacher Cathy Goto encouraged him to see Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre’s production of “Aida,” which featured Quinn Kelsey. 

“Once I saw that, I got the opera bug right away,” Feng said. “I was just so inspired by the drama and the music and just the sheer power of the unamplified human voice. It was pretty immediate. That’s when I knew: ʻYeah, opera might be for me.’ ”

Feng graduated from Punahou in 2014, then went on to get a bachelor’s degree in music with a focus on voice and opera from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in voice and opera from Manhattan School of Music.

He went on to become a Young Artist in Residence at Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre from 2022 through 2024. As part of that program, he performed in operas such as “La Bohème,” “The Secret Garden,” and “An American Dream.”

He has also participated in a statewide outreach program that visits elementary, middle and high schools to introduce students to opera music. 

“These are pretty shortened versions of classic operas, and they're all done in English, so that we don't need any supertitles [or translated lyrics projected above the stage],” he said. “The kids just love it. And, that's the thing though with the outreach [program] and when they get to come to the second orchestra dress rehearsal — like they did last night for ʻCarmen’ — we always say they are one of the best crowds because they will let you know if they like it or not. And they go wild.”

This year, Feng is a Handorf Company Artist with Opera Memphis. 

“Opera is alive and well,” he said. “Opera is not dead. It's awesome and powerful, and you should go see it because you will love it.”

Find Feng on Friday, April 11, and Sunday, April 13, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, which was recently renovated.

Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.