519 December 2018

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It’s Christmas, that must mean The Tenors are coming Award-Winning trio returns to Windsor for 7th all-new Christmas Show Story by Dan and April Savoie Multi-platinum, Juno award-winning vocal supergroup, The Tenors will be spreading some annual Christmas cheer, when the group returns to Caesars Windsor for another Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec. 16. The trio’s tradition of Christmas concerts in the Rose City dates back about 7 years. 519 Magazine spoke with the entire group about Christmas, the holidays and the annual Caesars Windsor December appearances. Windsor is a bit of a holiday tradition for you guys. How long has it been now? I think I can go back to 2011 from when you guys have done a concert here. Clifton - I think we were about 12 years old when we started. They didn’t let us in though; it was weird. They got us special permission though and let us sing (laughter). Yeah it is an annual pilgrimage and it’s really because of the response. Every time we go there they pack the place with 5,000 people and it really is a highlight of our tour. Every year people are just jacked and ready to celebrate the season. And so many fans make it out from the U.S. and Canada because it’s so close to the border. I’m sure safe to say that you guys truly love the holidays. Victor – Absolutely! The holidays, specifically Christmas, is our favorite time of year - not only because it means being with family and friends, it’s about absorbing what we’ve done over the year by looking at pictures and just enjoying what we’ve accomplished. It’s a time of year where Tenors music is celebrated, so it’s extremely busy for us. We’re not home a lot until Christmas itself, but we enjoy it because we reconnect with a lot of fans. We just finished a Fall tour, by the way, and that went extremely well, and now we’re going into the Christmas season by putting some of those fan favorites in the show. But you know, we have to admit that the Christmas repertoire is one of our favourites. It’s so beautiful for harmonies and we’re looking forward to it. It’s the most controversial question of the season – do you say Christmas or Holidays? Fraser - We say both, how is that for PC? Our tour is called Home For The Holidays, but we certainly sing about Christmas. Our album is called Christmas Together. So you know we’re happy to celebrate the many traditions and in the music that we perform, we hear different languages and we’ve traveled internationally, so we’re always talking about our Canadian experience ,which is very multicultural. We feel like there’s something there for everyone in our performances, but we’re certainly not scared of saying Christmas at this time of year. Is there a specific reason you chose Home for the Holidays for the name of the tour? Clifton - We’re from Canada and we’re coming back to Canada? We do a lot of international travel as Fraser said. We’re fortunate to see the world and perform for Prime Ministers and Kings, orphanages in Africa, and just see the world through music. It’s such a joy, but then traditionally we come back to Canada and North America for this time of year. So we thought it was fitting. And I think that anyone who travels for work, or is gone a long time, or is away for school, or are our service men and women who are overseas - they get to come back for those special moments at Christmas time. It is really one of the greatest feelings to share with family - sharing few stories together over the holidays. We try, The Tenors Caesars Windsor Dec. 16, 2018 and like the album Christmas Together, we take that nostalgic warm Christmas feeling and put it into our album and show. Let’s chat about your bus music videos - you recently released Thriller and Bohemian Rhapsody recorded on your tour bus. We got such a great response from Thriller, and it was so fun to do. We’ve done these little music videos in the past. These are really focused on social media, one minute long, and we do really popular songs that people may not expect a Tenor’s group to do. First, Thriller and then Bohemian Rhapsody, which tied in perfectly with the movie. We’ve actually been doing Bohemian Rhapsody in our show for a year now. It was our big encore on the fall tour and it gets such incredible response - even just the first line “Is this the real life?” The crowd goes nuts. We’ve got Anthony Mancini from St. Catharines shredding on the electric guitar in the middle and it’s just really that song everyone knows and everyone loves - we put our stamp on it and it’s now going to be part of our repertoire forever. We’re planning our next bus session here pretty soon and we’d like to do them on the road. So we’ll do them on the buses while traveling between the cities; maybe this next one will be a very festive one perhaps. Who knows? It will certainly be unexpected, that’s for sure. It will only be on Instagram so you’ll have got to @tenorsmusic. Watch for The Tenors bus videos on your favourite social media channels and be sure to catch the next Caesars Windsor Christmas show on Sunday, Dec. 16. Tickets start at $35 and are available at Ticketmaster or the box office. 4
Nightingale Chorus Tradition Continues With New Christmas Show By Brian Hay The enthusiasm Carrie Beauchamp and the crews around her have for the annual shows by the Nightingale Chorus is something to see. It’s not just a show. Carrie and Gigi Walent-Burke first produced one 23 years ago, simply because they love Christmas. Kristen Lobsinger and Malcolm Lawson have been involved from the start because they feel the same. Carrie and Gigi got the idea while on a trip to London, ran with it, and introduced Sarnia’s audiences to a conception that’s become an honoured tradition. Many people have told her the season doesn’t really begin for them until they’ve seen the production. Things actually began on a smaller scale then they are now. The inaugural piece featured 23 children, 13 women and one man, just 37 in all. This year’s event has 33 children, 32 young adults (ages 12-16) and 56 adults of (widely) varied ages, for a total of 121. The Victorian theme has always been used, but the early productions were variety shows. Storylines were Elzabeth’s Wish Imperial Theatre, Sarnia Dec. 12-15 introduced just a few years in. Use of props was minimal initially. The first production had a window. The second added a bridge, and a backdrop was introduced in their third year. Costumes were always used. They were made by Carrie’s mother, Dianne, who has created over 90 percent of the wardrobe that’s still being seen. Sets, once they were introduced, were designed by Carrie’s husband, Guy Bennett. He handles the sound and collaborates with Carrie on their projections as well. Their shows were first staged at the Library’s Theatre which has about half the seating of the Imperial Theatre. Their message of hope resonated clearly with audiences. Attendance was strong from the outset and the shows have been sold-out consistently since about their fifth year. They moved into the Imperial Theatre when it opened in 1999 and it, along with Theatre Sarnia and Bluewater Musical Productions, were among its first clients. Since that time they’ve never really looked back. As she goes over how the productions have evolved, what stands out in Carrie is the integrity in her purpose — it literally shines like a beacon. The productions have never been about the money. She’s well aware of the need for stability in that area and lists attendance figures readily along with the benefit to the Downtown area when approaching potential sponsors. But it’s a means to an end. She loves Christmas and views what she’s doing as an answer to the cynicism that surrounds and often seems to take the season over. The story she presents from among the seven she’s written, always gets a rewrite. There’s over 100 musical numbers at hand and she constantly searches for new material. Of the 32 songs in this year’s production, a third are new to the show. Her fondness of the Victorian look gives the productions one of their constants. The extreme disparity between rich and poor back then resonates with her and provides an ideal setting to convey the message. The purity of her conviction that Christmas should be about giving from the spirit, hit home deeply when I first saw one of her productions. Among the things I wrote were that “Malcolm Lawson’s reading of “O Holy Night” was extremely moving and Carrie’s performance of “God Help The Outcast” had my eyes misting over”. Her message is still transparently clear. A repeat is bound to happen. Elizabeth’s Wish, the Nightingale Chorus annual Christmas show, runs from Dec. 12-15 at the Imperial Theatre in Sarnia. A New Generation to Carry on the Leahy Legacy By Dan and April Savoie Building on over three generations of Leahy musicianship, Doug Leahy, together with his wife Jennifer and their children, are keeping those traditions alive through music, song, and dance. Doug, as a member of “Leahy” and Jennifer, having played music throughout her life, both understand the joy and exhilaration only music can provide. It’ no wonder then that their children understand innately that music will be a huge part of their lives. Even the smallest children feel the music pulsing through their veins. They are drawn to it. They are passionate about it. We spoke with Doug about the family and music. Just to put things into perspective. Where does the next generation gang fit into the family and the Original group? Next Generation Leahy Belle River - Dec. 6-7 London - Dec. 12 Brantford - Dec. 16 Well I’m one of the members of the original group and of Leahy and our children, I guess the four oldest have had the opportunity to play on stage with myself and my brothers and sisters when Leahy was still touring and so we’ve been asked a lot of questions over the years about when are the kids going to do their own thing and that time has arrived and it’s been quite a great experience. So was there ever a time that you thought maybe the kids wouldn’t be involved in music. Absolutely, You know, we never planned to play publicly like this. We certainly wanted music to be part of their lives. But very early you start to recognize their ability and how much they love it. We had some kids in the house here that would rather play music than almost do anything. They have a hard time passing by an instrument in the house without playing it. And it just brings so much joy to them when they get to play and then the other part of that is when they get to perform on stage. That’s also a reward to them where they get to go and share it. But see other communities and meet people and get that response from the crowd that really gets them energized and makes them love it. How any generations does music go back in the family? Well when you go back on both my parents sides, that’s what they did - they played music, not necessarily professionally, but it was in their blood. It was part of immigrants lives years ago. They brought a lot of stuff with them. And both my dad’s family came from Ireland and my mom’s family is from Scotland. She’s actually from Cape Breton and music was part of their lives and it is part of our lives. It’s in our blood and we’re thankful for it now. Catch Next Generation Leahy on tour in the 519 at The Urban Field House in Belle River on Dec. 6 and 7, London Music Hall on Dec. 12 and the Sanderson Centre in Brantford on Dec. 16. www.thenextgenerationleahy.com 5
Page 1 and 2: YOUR LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE 5
Page 3: 12 C.P.R. THE TENORS 4 CHRISTMAS PE
Page 7 and 8: An interview with With over 50 mill
Page 9 and 10: British Beat 66 - Perfoming Music F
Page 11 and 12: Guelph Rapper Brings Superstars to
Page 13: 10 FUN QUESTIONS WITH... Without us

519 December 2018

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