The Province

The gospel according to Ben

Canadian opera great to share stage with legendary group Blind Boys of Alabama

- Stuart Derdeyn sderdeyn@postmedia.com twitter.com/stuartderd­eyn

One of the world’s greatest heldenteno­rs (heroic tenors), Canadian vocalist Ben Heppner has scaled the heights of opera, particular­ly those big Wagnerian roles.

For decades, he was considered the go-to for such signature parts as Tristan in Tristan and Isolde, or the title role in Lohengrin. A recipient of seven honorary degrees, he has also been promoted from the Order of Canada in 1998, to an Officer of Canada in 2002, and eventually to a Companion of Canada in 2008. His place in the nation’s cultural history is assured.

Retired from full-time singing since 2014, the Dawson Creek-bred superstar still gets out on stage now and again.

He will join the legendary gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama to open this coming season at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

Together since 1939, Blind Boys of Alabama have won five Grammy Awards over the years.

The group features four blind singers — Jimmy Carter, Ben Moore, Eric “Ricky” McKinnie and Paul Beasley — as well as a band with guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. Original member Jimmy Carter is the current leader, having taken over the role after the other surviving original member Clarence Fountain retired from touring due to health concerns.

The group is well known for its collaborat­ions outside of the gospel church, with recordings featuring everyone from the late Lou Reed to reggae legend Toots Hibbert. Three U.S. presidents have had the group perform at the White House — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. As recently as 2016, the group was nominated for two Grammy Awards, so it remains a vital force 68 years after its founding.

Heppner and the group joined forces once before, in 2015, and found it wholly enjoyable, so they decided to do it again. Heppner might not be the first candidate you would think of to pair up with the soulful Southern gospel sounds of the Blind Boys, but it’s all in a night’s work, says the singer.

“You need to remember that no opera singer, at least none I know of, started in opera, you start doing something else — like church, or school choir, or folk music, or something else,” says Heppner.

“Then you take on the operatic technique and become that kind of singer. While some of those earlier muscles may kind of atrophy, if you listen to a wide range of music that is not classical, you fit into it instinctiv­ely.”

Based upon videos of a previous performanc­e, Heppner is spot on about that instinctiv­e singing. He is quick to point out that, like in every musical collaborat­ion, it’s all about the conversati­on and the journey. Nobody should expect to be hearing Heppner testifying with African-American fervour.

“Mr. White Boy with a Mennonite Name is not going to be exactly what they are, but I have a real feel for what they do, and they do for me,” he says.

“It was the very reason that they invited me back to do this over again. We adapt and make a sound that becomes ours rather than each individual, and it’s no big deal.”

Heppner says he has seen only a few failed attempts at opera singers trying to move outside their normal area of expertise. He believes that a singer’s vocal skills can almost always be adapted to suit various styles of singing. The material in the concert program is selected from gems such as Amazing Grace and I’ll Fly Away performed as a group, as well as some solo showcases for individual singers. The crack Blind Boys of Alabama backing band keeps the music swinging throughout. There are frequently surprises. “Last time, for one of my solo numbers, I selected His Eye is On The Sparrow, the old Mahalia Jackson hit,” says Heppner.

“It seems like everyone does it — there is even a Whitney Houston version — and I just assumed that it would be well-known in the Black gospel community. But it turned out that the keyboardis­t didn’t know it, even though everyone else in the band and the group did.”

So Heppner sang the verses and the Blind Boys came in with the chorus to create something he considers “quite marvellous, and with them putting their signature on it quite gloriously.”

Anyone familiar with Heppner’s CBC Radio hosting gigs on both Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and Backstage with Ben Heppner knows how much he loves a good story, too.

Heppner keeps finding them. One of the most amusing recent gems to come out of his frequent appearance­s in unusual places was the creation of Trumpera — the concept of singing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets came up while sitting in on comedian Gavin Crawford’s Because News program.

“Really all I did there was take some of Trump’s words and assign them to something operatic, in this case I think it might have been Pagliacci,” he chortles. “I’m hoping to have another shot at it and, who knows, if he wanted we could do regular sessions.”

Radio, the occasional master class, or judging internatio­nal music competitio­ns keeps the singer busy. There are also five grandchild­ren who arrived in the past three years (“my kids, they be busy”). Growing up in a close-knit community like Dawson Creek helped him build strong family and friend connection­s.

“For such a small place, a lot of fine musicians come out of there, and last year we actually filmed a program called Out of Dawson which features me, Roy Forbes and Tonye Aganaba,” he said.

“We did it at one of the Gastown pubs, and that was a lot of fun. I think its being screened the same night that I take the stage at the Chan Centre.”

 ??  ?? Ben Heppner performs as Tristan in the opera Tristan und Isolde in New York City, in 2008. Heppner will be joining the Blind Boys of Alabama for a performanc­e at the Chan Centre. — THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Ben Heppner performs as Tristan in the opera Tristan und Isolde in New York City, in 2008. Heppner will be joining the Blind Boys of Alabama for a performanc­e at the Chan Centre. — THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

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