Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 7, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - It's been about a year since the Canadian Tenors were first formed, but the group's talent hasn't stopped evolving.

Fraser Walters is one of the four tenors originally chosen to form the group. All the members were working on solo careers when the move was made, and he said they all had different levels of comfort at the beginning of the project.

"Once we all got together and sang together, it was obvious there was some great chemistry here," said Walters.

But the group still struggled while looking for a fourth member, until about five months ago when Jamie McKnight joined them.

"Since he's joined the team, we've done a lot of touring," he said. "We're having a good deal of success - we are very close to releasing our debut studio album."

As part of their touring, the Canadian Tenors are in Yellowknife this weekend for two concerts at Northern Arts and Cultural Centre. Walters said much like in the recordings in progress, they will sing a variety of songs in different styles.

"You'll hear some of the songs that I think are our favourites to sing," he said.

"But we'll also include some songs that are more suitable for this time of year, for the holiday season."

Ben Nind of NACC said he wanted to bring this group to Yellowknife at this time of year to highlight the season. He had heard them sing at the Royal Ontario Museum and said it was a "remarkable performance."

"We thought Canadian Tenors is a good way to bring about the spirit of celebration," he said. "I think for me what it is, is there's nothing like a tenor's voice. And if you combine all of those tenors' voices you're getting something incredibly special."

Walters said that while touring in Canada and internationally, they have had good crowd response.

"People often say it's much like stepping into our living room and sharing an evening of music together," he said.

The singers spent Wednesday night performing for an audience at Our Lady of Victory church in Inuvik before coming to Yellowknife. Walters said performing in the North is a great experience for the group.

"I think in order to represent Canada as the Canadian Tenors, it's very important for us to be involved as much as we can in every geographical area," he said.

Nind said earlier in the week that the Saturday tickets were selling fast but there may still be tickets available for tonight's show, which starts at 8 p.m. Tomorrow's show starts at the same time at NACC.