Photo by Randee St Nicholas
Acclaimed Canadian vocal group The Tenors performs on Wednesday at Casino New Brunswick. The show offers fans both a night of great music and the chance to raise funds for a great cause.
They will provide the entertainment at the RCMP Educational Trust Fund Dinner and Silent Auction. Proceeds from the event will go towards an educational trust fund established for the children of Constables Doug Larche, Fabrice Gevaudan and Dave Ross, the three Codiac RCMP officers who were murdered on June 4.
“These officers made the ultimate sacrifice for their community, and a group of local business people have come together in an effort to help the families with the creation of educational trust funds for their children,” said Jeff Parr, CEO of Clairvest Group, and co-owner of Casino New Brunswick , which partnered with Cox & Palmer, BMO Financial Group and Ernst & Young to establish the trust funds. “We truly hope others will help out by making donations at any BMO branch in Canada.”
The educational trusts will be managed free of charge by BMO Harris Private Banking. Following a donation of $150,000 from an anonymous local business, Casino New Brunswick general manager Craig DeMarta hopes to raise an equal amount through the dinner and auction .
“The initial donation certainly helps us to get the trusts off the ground,” DeMarta says. “When we looked at doing something, we felt what better way to honour the memory of the fallen officers then by assisting their children as they make their way in the world, a few years down the road.”
The Tenors’ Fraser Walters says that having the opportunity to perform at the benefit is an honour that holds personal significance as well.
“My brother is a police officer in British Columbia, and so hearing what transpired in Moncton in early June affected me quite deeply,” Walters says. “It was a jarring event to everyone right across the nation. Police officers everywhere are valiant individuals who put their lives on the line and put themselves in harm’s way to protect the general population.
“We get to move around our daily lives unscathed thanks to the work of police officers everywhere. We are very proud to be able to perform at this benefit show and pledge our allegiance to the men and women that serve us every day.”
Speaking to the Times & Transcript from California, where the group is currently working on their next studio album, Walters says that the record is coming together nicely.
“Our summer has consisted of spending 12-hour days in the studio, but it has been great. We are striving for a nice balance of songs people are familiar with while also ensuring we have new material as well. We want the album to feature a range of material, from more pop-oriented songs to tracks that showcase more of the classical side of the group.
“We have been working with some truly great songwriters like Stephan Moccio (writer of the Miley Cyrus hit “Wrecking Ball”) and Drew Pearson, who has worked with American Idol’s Phillip Phillips. The list goes on and on, honestly. We have been so lucky to work with an extremely talented group of songwriters.”
The Tenors quickly found an audience for their music: the quartet’s 2008 debut has been certified platinum, as has their 2012 album Lead With Your Heart. The Tenors 2009 holiday-themed album The Perfect Gift remains their bestselling effort, with more than 160,000 copies sold in Canada.
Perhaps no one is more surprised at their success than The Tenors themselves: Not only have they performed on the Oprah Winfrey Show alongside Celine Dion, the group also performed before Queen Elizabeth II at her Diamond Jubilee celebration in 2012.
Asked if the group feels any pressure to live up the high standard of success they have established, Walters says that, for better or worse, they are often their own worst critics.
“There are outside pressures, but I don’t think that anyone is as hard on us as we are on ourselves,” he says. “We set a high level of expectation within the band, which I feel has helped us rise above and push through what is a very competitive business.
“I think we have earned our stripes in an authentic way. We planted seeds that allowed us not worry about being the flavour of the month. Our first tour was through 12 small communities in Saskatchewan, playing for 75 to 100 people a night. It is those experiences that I think helped prepare us for performing at the Olympics and on the Emmy Awards. It has been a remarkable journey so far.”
What: RCMP Educational Trust Fund Dinner and Silent Auction with The Tenors
When: Wednesday, Sept. 10, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Casino New Brunswick, 21 Casino Dr., Moncton
Tickets are $125 each or a group of 10 for $1,000. Advance tickets are available for purchase at the Casino Gift Shop, by phone at 1-866-943-8849 and online at casinonb.ca