SHOWSTOPPING TALENT

THREE SINGULAR VOICES TWINE TOGETHER TO MAKE THE TEXAS TENORS

by Bill Doolittle

The musical word is “timbre,” a French term pronounced “tam-ber,” meaning the quality of a tone. The way it sounds. And it’s what each of The Texas Tenors has distinctly to himself, says Louisville Pops conductor Bob Bernhardt, who will present the Tenors in concert with the Louisville Orchestra, Friday, April 7, in Whitney Hall.

“Each of the three has a different timbre, their voices are different,” says Bernhardt. “That’s excellent for the variety of the show, but it’s also important that those different voices work together when they are singing as a trio. And that’s what they have — a very wonderful blend that really works.”

“Works,” Bernhardt adds. “And in some ways inspires.”

Which is a perfect quality for the many varieties of song

The Texas Tenors sing, from Broadway to gospel to patriotic to opera to … well, to just plain old love songs.

That includes hits by the Righteous Brothers, a duo who could wind a song up, and pour it on. The Texas Tenors sang the Righteous Brothers’ hit “Unchained Melody” as part of the portfolio of tunes they rolled out as they reached the finals of the network TV show “America’s Got Talent” in 2009.

After the group became one of the most successful graduates of that show, The Texas Tenors were invited back in 2019 to reprise the moment, choosing to perform a dramatic version of “Unchained Melody” that begins with each of the singers stepping forward one at a time to take a solo — then soaring off together on the wings of song.