The Vancouver Island Symphony will ring in the holiday season by welcoming back the Celtic Tenors.
According to a release, guest conductor Calvin Dyck will move from concertmaster to the podium to conduct two performances on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2, at the Port Theatre, the only Vancouver Island appearances by the Irish trio.
James Nelson with the tenors said that while the concerts will concentrate on music from their Christmas album, and will include staples such as O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard on High and We Three Kings, the trio plans on performing “a little bit of opera and a little bit of everything.”
“We found that’s what people seem to like, that we do a mix of all the repertoire. We’re classically trained tenors, but we do a bit Irish and a bit of pop and a bit of sacred,” he said.
They approach their music with passion, blending classical arias, haunting Celtic harmonies and contemporary hits, noted the release.
Nanaimo’s Christmas concerts will also include a trilingual version of Silent Night in German, English and Irish.
“We just thought because it was originally written in the Austrian Alps … and because we learned it in German originally… and then we thought, let’s put in our own native tongue as well … It’s a lovely chance to use our Irish language so that it doesn’t die … it’s a strange language on the ear,” Nelson said.
Although the Celtic Tenors have performed with groups such as rock duo Air Supply and the ensemble Celtic Woman, a typical Celtic Tenor performance tends to be just Nelson, Matthew Gilsenan, Daryl Simpson, and their musical director Brian McGrane on piano and guitar, who “brings the glamour to the group.”
Next year the trio will celebrate 25 years together and already have a large international tour in the works.
Nelson said one of the most common remarks they receive from a male audience member following a performance is “how their wife dragged them out and they didn’t want to come, but that they still really enjoyed it.”
“We do a wide variety of emotions in our songs … Often something for everybody, but we don’t take ourselves seriously. We do like to have fun on stage,” he said.
Both Port Theatre concerts, Dec. 1-2, will start at 7:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online at www.porttheatre.com.
READ MORE: Symphony promising ‘mesmerizing melodies’ at season opener in Nanaimo
mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter