| The Tenors | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Alias: | The Canadian Tenors |
| Origin: | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Messina, Sicily, Italy |
| Genre: | Operatic pop |
| Years Active: | 2004–present |
| Label: | Universal Music Canada, Decca Verve |
| Current Members: |
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| Past Members: |
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The Tenors (formerly known as The Canadian Tenors) are a vocal group consisting of Victor Micallef, Clifton Murray, Alberto Urso, and Mark Masri. They perform operatic pop music that is a mixture of classical and pop, featuring songs such as "The Prayer", Panis angelicus, and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
Originating from Canada, Micallef and Masri from Toronto, Urso from Sicily, 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 opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2011, and on ITV's Diamond Jubilee Show at Windsor Castle for Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. They also appeared on the 2009 and 2016 Grey Cup broadcasts, on CBC Television's Holiday Festival of Ice,[1] and at the 85th Annual Rockefeller Tree Lighting which aired on NBC on November 29, 2017.
The venues they have performed in include Carnegie Hall in New York,[2] the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Israeli Opera House in Tel Aviv, and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
They have shared the stage with Sarah McLachlan, Neil Young, Paul Anka, Justin Bieber, Charice,[3] 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, in November 2009. The Tenors filmed a PBS special at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts that began airing in 2012.[4]
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.
With the departure of Fraser Walters from the group in July 2022, The Tenors add Canada's Mark Masri and Italy's Alberto Urso in August to continue as 4 singers.
The group was the creation of Jill Ann Siemens, originally as a trio (Philip Grant, Paul Ouellette, and Ken Lavigne) and debuted in 2004 in Victoria. In 2005, a new re-envisioned group consisting of Craig Ashton, Joey Niceforo and Leon Leontaridis released their self-titled debut The Canadian Tenors (Warner). Siemens then did a cross-Canada search to find four new voices and chose Micallef, Remigio 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.
The band released their first holiday album The Perfect Gift on November 3, 2009,[5] 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. Unbeknownst to them, Oprah Winfrey had arranged for a surprise; midway through their rendition of "Hallelujah", Celine Dion came onstage and sang the rest of the song with the group.
The Perfect Gift was released in the US on 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.[6]
The band announced on July 25, 2012, that they were signed by David Foster to Verve Records.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
The group was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on January 24, 2013.[10]
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 and 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.
The Tenors recorded their second PBS Special on March 12, 2015, at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, featuring their new album, Under One Sky. The CD was released in Canada on May 4, 2015 and hit number one on iTunes within days. In the US, the release date was held back a month, to coincide with the June 2015 release of the PBS special 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.
An 18-date Under One Sky tour of Canada was announced in April 2015 to promote the new album.[11] [12]
In July 2016, Remigio Pereira was removed from the group after 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", and held up a sign with the phrase.[13] [14]
The Tenors became the first act to perform "O Canada" at an NBA Finals game, on May 30, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.[15]
Mark Masri and Italian singer Alberto Urso joined the group after Fraser Walters' departure.
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Sales | Certifications (sales threshold) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN [16] | CAN Class | NLD | US [17] | US Album Sales | US Class | US Digital | US Christ | US Holiday | |||||||
| 2005 | The Canadian Tenors
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2008 | The Canadian Tenors | 22 | 2[18] | 15 | 49 | — | 1 | 24 | 2 | — |
| ||||
| 2009 | The Perfect Gift
| — | 3 | — | 200 | — | 1 | — | — | 7 |
| ||||
| 2012 | Lead with Your Heart
| 3 | — | — | 21 | — | 1 | — | — | — |
|
| |||
| 2015 | Under One Sky
| 3 | — | — | 98 | 49 | 1 | — | — | — |
| ||||
| 2017 | Christmas Together
| 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| " - " denotes the album did not chart. | |||||||||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | CAN Vocal | US Vocal | NL | ||||||
| 2008 | "Hallelujah" | 56 | 1 | 1[23] | 39 | The Canadian Tenors | |||
| "Silent Night" | - | - | - | - | The Perfect Gift | ||||
| 2012 | "I Believe" | - | - | - | - | Lead with Your Heart | |||
| 2013 | "I Thank You (The Tenors)" | - | - | - | - | I Thank You | |||
| " - " denotes the single didn't chart. | |||||||||