The Tenors
The Tenors are a vocal group consisting of Victor Micallef, Fraser Walters, and Clifton Murray. They perform operatic pop music that is a mixture of classical and pop, featuring songs such as "The Prayer" and Panis angelicus from the former genre, and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah from the latter.
Originating from Canada, Micallef from Toronto, Walters from Vancouver, and Murray from Port McNeill, the Tenors have performed on more than 60 international television programs. They appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show with Celine Dion in 2010, at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, at the opening ceremonies of 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and on ITV Diamond Jubilee Show at Windsor Castle for HM Queen Elizabeth II. The venues they have performed in include the Tel Aviv Opera House, and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. They also appeared on the 2009 and 2016 Grey Cup broadcasts and on CBC Television's Holiday Festival of Ice. Their most recent proud moment was appearing at the 85th Annual Rockefeller Tree Lighting which aired on NBC November 29, 2017.
They have shared the stage with Sarah McLachlan, Neil Young, Paul Anka, Justin Bieber, Charice, Paul McCartney, Brian McKnight, David Foster,, Natalie Cole, and Jackie Evancho,.
Universal Music Group released their platinum-selling self-titled debut album and double-platinum holiday album, The Perfect Gift. The Tenors filmed a PBS special at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts that began airing in 2012.
The Canadian Tenors were renamed The Tenors in November 2012 in advance of their third album, Lead with Your Heart. Also in 2012, The Tenors signed a US distribution deal with Verve Records.
Lead with Your Heart went platinum in Canada in seven weeks. The album garnered a 2013 JUNO Award for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year and a JUNO nomination for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award for Bob Ezrin's production of "Forever Young". Lead with Your Heart was featured on Katie, Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, ET Canada, CNN Morning Live, e-Talk and FOX & Friends.
In July 2016, the Tenors announced that Remigio Pereira would no longer be performing with the group because he altered the lyrics to the Canadian national anthem at the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in San Diego—from "With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free," to "We're all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great."
Career
Origin
The group was the creation of Jill Ann Siemens, originally as a trio and debuted in 2004 in Victoria. In 2005, a new re-envisoned group consisting of Craig Ashton, Joey Niceforo and Leon Leontaridis released their self-titled debut The Canadian Tenors. Siemens then did a cross-Canada search to find four new voices and chose Micallef, Pereira, Walters, and Jamie McKnight. They released their second self-titled album The Canadian Tenors in 2009.Walters, Micallef, and Pereira sang a repertoire of popular and classical music together for seven years. In January 2009 Clifton Murray replaced Jamie McKnight and the official The Canadian Tenors were formed.
2009–2011: ''The Perfect Gift''
The band released their first holiday album The Perfect Gift on November 3, 2009, which was later certified platinum by Music Canada.In September of that year, the group toured with David Foster as the opening act. They performed O Canada at the 2009 Grey Cup game. On February 10, 2010, the Tenors appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and sang "Hallelujah" alongside Celine Dion.
The album was released in the US October 12, 2010, and has since peaked at #7 on the Top Holiday Albums Chart.
On December 13, 2010, The group performed during a holiday special called Canadian Tenors and Friends, which drew 957,000 viewers. The performance included the Tenors, Justin Bieber, and Jackie Evancho.
The Canadian Tenors appeared at the 2011 Emmy Awards, performing a version of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah".
Another special called Season of Song featuring the Tenors aired December 14, 2011, attracting 743,000 viewers.
2012–2014: ''Lead with Your Heart''
The band announced on July 25, 2012, that they were signed by David Foster to Verve Records.The group's third album Lead with Your Heart was released in Canada on October 9, 2012, through Universal Music Canada. Lead with Your Heart is a 12- track classical crossover album. It includes covers of Forever Young, Amazing Grace and Nessun Dorma. The album also includes new compositions written by The Tenors. Walter Afanasieff, Bob Ezrin, and Marco Marinangeli have production and co-writing credits on the album.
The album's first single "I Believe", was released on iTunes on July 24, 2012 and was sampled on CTV during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The group was awarded with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on January 24, 2013.
The album was released in the United States on January 15, 2013, and debuted at No. 1 on the Classical Crossover Albums chart and No. 21 on Billboard 200, selling 16,000 copies in its first week. On August 2, 2013, Lead with Your Heart was released in the United Kingdom. Later that year The Tenors appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.
In October 2013, The Tenors released the single "I Thank You" with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Spokesperson & Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada.
Conceived by Kenny Munshaw and co-written with The Tenors and Marc Jordan, "I Thank You" was recorded in London and produced by Grammy nominated producer and songwriter Sacha Skarbek.
2015–present: ''Under One Sky''
The Tenors recorded their second PBS Special on March 12, 2015, at Caesar's Windsor Palace in Windsor, Ontario, featuring their new album, Under One Sky. On May 4, 2015, the first release of the CD, Under One Sky, took place in Canada and hit number one on iTunes within days. The US release date is held for one month, to be released in June. The PBS special is also slated for release in June 2015 to public television stations. Under One Sky features both original and re-recorded songs, and was well received at the PBS taping by a live, international audience. The PBS Special DVD was pre-released on May 13, 2015, for June 6 shipping. In April 2015 The Tenors announced an 18 date Canadian tour. The tour is in promotion of & named after the Under One Sky album.MLB 2016 All-Star Game controversy
In July 2016, the Tenors released a statement saying that Remigio Pereira would no longer perform with the group until further notice, following an incident at the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in which Pereira acted as a "" and changed the lyrics of "O Canada" to include the phrase "all lives matter" and held up a sign with the phrase.In 2019, they became the first group to perform "O Canada" at an NBA Finals game.