PERFORMANCE PREVIEW

April 7, 2023 as the idea who they might conjure, as three up-and-coming young singers — all

Marcus Collins is the first of the tenors stepping forward in the clip, followed by J.C. Fisher, with John Hagen capping the intro singing in Italian. Pretty cool effect.

ALL-AMERICAN ROOTS

Two of The Texas Tenors hail from Texas, with one from Kansas, and their voices sound like it — each with its own … timbre.

Before they formed their trio, Collins sang pop songs and added classical training before landing on Broadway and acting in TV dramas. Hagen followed the operatic trail, singing Alfredo in La Traviata and Otello on tour with the Cleveland Opera. Fisher, with more of a country music background, found the classics in music school at Wichita State, singing roles in Mozart and Puccini operas — and capping his collegiate career with a duet sung with Miss America for the Miss Kansas pageant.

Sounds very All-American — with a dash of European opera and the flair of the Great White Way. The Texas Tenor’s repertoire flies all around, but never strays too far from Home Sweet Home.

“It has some Americana, and a little patriotic flavor — Americana flavor,” says Bernhardt. “There’s some country in it, and some western American. Not country-western, but American West, like we’re doing something from ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ There’s a tinge of gospel in it, and then a significant Broadway section — from Rogers and Hammerstein to Leonard Bernstein.”

Sounds like the lads have found a recipe for success. And their formula for fame includes a namesake model.

“It’s really interesting, you know,” says Bernhardt. “The whole thing with the tenors started, of course, with the Three Tenors of 25 years ago — Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras — and this is kind of a contemporary take on that.”

It’s also another nod to the magic of small ensembles.

It can be the blending of different instruments or voices; like the way the Brahms Trio spellbindingly combines a piano, violin, and cello. Or similar voices like the Andrews Sisters, with harmonies held closely among themselves. The Righteous Brothers did it with two voices. The Four Tops covered octaves from top to bottom. The Statler Brothers worked it from the bottom up. Or, it could be four singer strummers stretched across the California sunset as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

So many ways to team up. Though, who would have ever thought of Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse!

Bernhardt says The Texas Tenors reach audiences with a fastpaced show and an ever-changing list of songs. Plus that one song, which Bernhardt predicts for the Louisville Pops show will be a Rogers and Hammerstein hit from “South Pacific.”

“Some Enchanted Evening,” says Bernhardt. “That’ll be the showstopper.”

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit LouisvilleOrchestra.org