Interview: THE TENORS Talk Music, Inspiration, and Saturday's Concert at Strathmore in DC Area

On Saturday, November 21, Washington, DC Metro Area audiences will once again get to experience The Tenors' remarkable voices, artistry, and harmonies - this time at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland. Clifton Murray, Fraser Walters, Remigo Pereira, and Victor Micallef - the four members of the popular group - graciously took time out of their very busy schedules to answer a few questions from BroadwayWorld.Com over email about their music, what inspires them, and what fans might expect from Saturday's concert.

Here's the exchange:

How did you come together as a group? What made you interested in performing together?

The Tenors began in 2009 when Victor, Fraser and Remigio began working together. We knew we had a special synergy together, so we auditioned singers for the fourth spot and soon found in Clifton Murray the perfect fit. We set out on a world tour as The Tenors, and have been selling out venues, and putting out Platinum-selling records ever since! We enjoy the creating aspect of writing, arranging, and recording our own songs. We perform a combination of pop, classical, folk and rock music. We sing classic songs from the past with our own unique twist and we also write and co-wrote 8 new songs out of the 17 on our new Under One Sky deluxe album.

How would you describe the kind of music that you do? How would you describe yourselves as artists?

The music we create has a positive message - inspiring people to push through life's hurdles and find the inspiration to overcome all odds through love and compassion, respect and togetherness. As artists, we have a responsibility to reflect on what is happening in the world today and try to leave it a little better than we found it. We are more than just entertainers; we see that we have an opportunity to use our voices for the betterment of humanity. That is why we're all here doing this...it is bigger than us.

Who are your musical influences?

With four different singers in the group, you can imagine there are some very wide ranging influences and important personal mentors as well! Early on, we experienced everything from singing in church and gospel choirs to musical theatre, and jamming around the campfire. We studied voice and instruments classically in university, but also wrote music and played in rock bands! With that brings influences from Mario Lanza, Maria Callas and Pavarotti on the classical side to Freddie Mercury, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder, among many others!

Have you ever performed in the Washington, DC area before and what might we expect at your concert at the Music Center at Strathmore? The focus will be on your latest album, but will you be including older selections as well?

Yes we love performing around DC! Early on we performed at the Birchmere. It might be a smaller space, but it's filled with incredible history and pictures of the many iconic musicians who've performed there over the years. Another highlight was performing with the National Symphony Orchestra over three nights at the Kennedy Center with Steven Reineke conducting. One of our favorite performances ever came at the famous outdoor venue, Wolf Trap in Virginia. The audience was incredible and the setting was stunning! As far as our show at the Strathmore, the audience can expect passionate singing, hills and valleys with regards to styles and pacing, moments that might bring tears and others that will bring joy, laughter, and even dancing! We will definitely perform some of our Tenors standards like "Hallelujah" and "Nessun Dorma." The audience can also expect songs like our new cover of "You Are So Beautiful," and songs we've written for Under One Sky. We often say there is something for everyone, and when we hear stories of 6-year-olds debating with their grandparents about what their favorite Tenors songs are, we know it's true!

Many of the harmonies that are featured in your selections are pretty incredible. What goes into creating your vocal arrangements? Who is involved in creating them and are they unique to your group?

It is always very rewarding to hear that people are not only loving the singing aspect of this group but are very impressed by our music writing and arranging as well. It has always been a very unique part of The Tenors. When we first formed, we knew this journey would be a special one, not only because the voices were so different from each other - yet so cohesive as a unit - but also because of what we had all brought to the table other than our singing. We all had experience writing music before The Tenors and had skills playing other instruments. So, when it is time to create arrangements, we use these experiences to bring each musical line to life. It obviously does help that we know our voices and strengths better than anyone. So, that's why we always like to be very involved with creating the music. We realize that an arrangement can make or break a song, and we're constantly growing in our musicianship and learning what works best, whether it is for a recording or live performance.

After your concert at Strathmore, what's next for you?

After the Strathmore, we have a number of shows left in the U.S. and in Canada leading up to Christmas. You can always find out all our concert dates by visiting tenorsmusic.com and going to our tour page. It is great to see that dates are constantly being added because of the momentum. Many are saying that UNDER ONE SKY is our best show to date and we are super proud of that! Besides North America, we also have commitments in Europe and Asia in 2016, so it's a very busy and exciting time for us.

To date, you've had some pretty memorable career experiences - among them, performing at the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver? What are some things you'd like to accomplish as a group as you move forward?

Certainly our professional career has given us some unforgettable memories on television with Celine Dion and Oprah, the Emmys, NBA, MLB and NHL All-Star games, performing at the White House last Christmas for the President, and performing for the Queen at her Diamond Jubilee celebration. In the future, our ultimate goal is longevity and creative growth. We have four dynamic unique artists in one group. This allows us to explore many different avenues of music. We want to collaborate with artists from contemporary, classical and crossover genres. We want to travel the world and introduce our music to new cultures, but we also want to use our growth and our success to improve the relationships of people around the world. We want to spread our message of social cohesion and harmony to balance out the chaos and the anger that is growing in the world today. Love is the foundation of our music and we hope to use that message for the betterment of humanity.

The Tenors will perform at the Music Center at Strathmore - 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, Maryland - on Saturday, November 21 at 8:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the box office at 301-581-5100.

Photo Credit: Dan Lim

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