The Canadian Tenors just wanna have fun

MANILA, Philippines -  The four Canadian tenors made it clear that no operatic arias will be heard on their first Manila concert mounted by the Hitman and starmaker David Foster last Saturday, Oct. 23, at Araneta Coliseum.

“We want to have fun and spring a lot of surprises and we are sure there will be a lot of fun without the arias,” chorused the Canadian Tenors composed of Clifton Murray, Fraser Walters, Remigio Pereira and Victor Micaleff.

In their place, there is a smorgasbord of David Foster hit songs, perhaps some Neapolitan songs the likes of O Sole Mio and a lot of hit love songs.

Coming from a country where tenor Ben Heppner is highly venerated, the Canadian Tenors have varied favorites.

Said Pereira: “I like the old generation of tenors represented by Franco Corelli and Bjoerling and even Ben Heppner. In a way, I get inspiration from them. When we hear voices from the past and hear our own, we realize how far we have actually come.”

They all admit they still learn from their hectic engagements and find a suitable way on how to better keep their voices.

“Every night is different,” adds Micaleff. “ One some nights, your sound is not always perfect. When you have spent 10 hours on a plane and find yourself on stage performing without rest, you realize your body can only take so much. So there is nothing like lots of sleep, lots of water and eating the right food to keep yourself in shape.”

The tenors agree they learn a lot from every performance.

Points out Walters, “Performances are our rehearsals. We treat every performance as an opportunity to get better. The more we sing together, the more we become a natural blend. When one guy is down, there are always the three remaining guys to pick him up.”

Did they really start out aspiring to be operatic singers in the tenor category?

“You can say we became tenors by accident,” they chorused.

Before the quartet of singers was formed, the four tenors got into singing with diverse backgrounds.

The Canadian Tenors, composed of (from left) Victor Micaleff, Clifton Murray, Remigio Pereira and Fraser Walters performed for the first time in Manila in the Hitman: David Foster and Friends concert at the Big Dome. Inset: Cover of their first holiday season debut album from MCA Music, Inc.

At least two of them started in the classical route not with voice but with classical guitar and piano lessons. The rest were boy sopranos in children’s choirs and one was a hockey player who met an accident and turned to the guitar for a change. He discovered singing later in his life.

When they discovered singing, they decided they want to adopt the classical sound as well.

The group said it was an honor to carry their country’s name.

Said Murray: “We all come from different places in Canada and you may say that we represent the microcosm of the country. Earlier, there is a group known as the Irish Tenors and since we are all from Canada, why not adopt the name the Canadian Tenors?”

For now, the group intends to keep the tenor label in their fast-rising vocal quartet.

“Yes, we will keep the tenor label not just now but for all time,” concluded Murray.

Without batting an eyelash, he quipped: “We hope to become sopranos later.”

The Canadian Tenors have thus far circled the globe with their soaring tenor voices and most probably with their sense of humor, and ostensibly got rave reviews from the Tel Aviv Opera house where they shared the stage with Andrea Bocelli to Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Coliseum with David Foster and Friends to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre where they headlined at One Night Live with Sting and Sheryl Crow.

Thus far, they performed over 80 concerts for over 150,000 people on three separate continents and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities as they share a passion for bringing awareness to impoverished children worldwide.

They have to their credit two CDs and a DVD released by MCA Music in Manila. 

(For details, call 916-2504 or e-mail [email protected]).