Canadian Tenor Ken Lavigne has hit the road with a new show.
“Three Knights with a Tenor,” an admittedly cheeky title, features the music of Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lavigne has returned to northern Ontario with six shows.
He opened in Kirkland Lake on Oct. 5 and will have a Tour de Fort performance this Thursday (Oct. 10) at 7:30 p.m. at the Townshend Theatre.
Lavigne has a long and impressive list of solo concerts and engagements with symphony performances presenting popular songs and traditional tenor arias.
With his voice, his presence and his interpretive strengths, Lavigne had the option of taking the traditional route to a career in opera.
“You don’t have to start out and just be one thing,” Lavigne said.
“For me, learning about McCartney, John and Lloyd Webber’s process and what caused them to take the paths they did is inspiring.
“It’s music I enjoy singing privately and it is music I don’t get the opportunity to perform outside of my shower. What makes these artists stand out is that their music still inspires young and old alike and I want to carry on the tradition.”
These music legends, their stories so successful they almost eclipse the art, still have audiences clamouring to see their iconic work.
From their early years these men seemed to have been destined to create; Paul McCartney, with his simple three-chord pop songs in the 1950s, today composes and performs multiple styles of music.
Elton John, who as a youngster spent life learning classical piano and singing in the choir, would go on to achieve rock star super status by the early ’70s and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who began composing music as a school boy, would become history’s most successful musical theatre composer.
Lavinge has made a career doing classical crossover, using his voice to merge styles in a way that very few can.
“It’s great to take an audience on a new ride, share stories and new musical obsessions but it’s important to remember that people want to hear what they’ve grown to love. I’ll never tire of singing the same songs,” said Lavigne.
“There’s always something new to explore in a great piece of art. I sing because I love it, I sing because it makes me happy.”
A founding member of The Canadian Tenors in 2004, Lavinge co-founded the successful tenor trio, ROMANZA in 2006, and toured throughout Canada and the United States presenting hundreds of concerts.
In 2007, Lavinge shifted his focus to independently producing solo performances and CD recordings.
In 2008, Lavigne decided that he wanted to follow his dream of performing at the prestigious Carnegie Hall.
He made his New York Debut twelve months later on Jan. 22, 2009, accompanied by the New York Pops Orchestra.
Since his Carnegie Hall Debut, Lavinge has regularly performed with multi-Grammy winner, David Foster, and has had the honour of performing for his His Royal Highness, Prince Charles.
Lavinge continues to earn accolades with symphonies and orchestras internationally.
