A complicated Christmas for at least one of THE TENORS
Canadian trio bringing Santa’s Wish tour to Hamilton’s FirstOntario Concert Hall
Christmas can be complicated when you’re a touring musician, especially during a pandemic and even more so when you have two young daughters at home eager to celebrate with their dad.
Take the case of Fraser Walters, one third of the pop and classical singing trio known as The Tenors.
The multiplatinum selling Canadian vocal group is nearing the end of their cross-Canada “Santa’s Wish” tour, which comes to Hamilton’s FirstOntario Concert Hall on Dec. 20 before closing out with two nights, Dec. 22 and 23, at Toronto’s newly renovated Massey Hall.
That schedule doesn’t leave much room to make it home to be with the people you cherish most. It gets even tougher when your family lives on opposite sides of the continent.
Walters, his wife, American singer Kelly Levesque, and their two daughters — Hope, 5, and Lulu Grace, 2, — live in Westchester County on the outskirts of New York City, near Kelly’s parents.
Walters is a native of Steveston, B.C., near Vancouver on the south arm of the Fraser River. His parents still live there. It’s a musical family — Walters’ mother sang with the Canadian Opera Company in her teens — and Christmas caroling is a big part of their celebrations.
So, here’s Walters’ family plan for Christmas. His wife and two children will fly from New York to Toronto to take in the two Massey Hall shows. They’ll probably leave the concert hall close to midnight on the 23rd.
“Then, on the 24th, we’re going to fly to Vancouver to have a Canadian Christmas with my family,” Walters says in an interview during a break from The Tenors’ hectic tour schedule. “We always rotate but last year, because of COVID, we had to skip our Vancouver Christmas. So, we’re doubling down and doing it in Vancouver and then to Whistler for some ski time. My mom always has a great carol sing.”
Meanwhile, Walters is just happy to be performing live in front of audiences again after almost two years of COVID.
“It’s been pretty amazing to get back on stage, sharing that energy with the audience,” says Walters. “It’s something you can’t recreate when you’re recording videos in your living room on an iPhone.”
“There’s something for everyone. We’ve got classic songs, Christmas carols like ‘Come All Ye Faithful,’ and familiar Christmas songs like ‘Let It Snow’ and ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,’ as well as songs we’ve written ourselves, one of which is going to be featured on
This year the trio is also getting traction with a new version of ‘O Holy Night’ recorded with Canadian pop phenom Tyler Shaw, who is opening for The Tenors.
the Kelly Clarkson Show in December.”
The Tenors always get strong Christmas radio play due to their hugely popular 2009 album “The Perfect Gift,” but this year the trio is also getting traction with a new version of “O Holy Night” recorded with Canadian pop phenom Tyler Shaw, who is opening for The Tenors on the current Santa’s Wish tour.
As well, The Tenors recently filmed their fifth PBS television special, “Best of Our Lives,” which entered rotation on the American network late last month.
Despite the flurry of activity on the part of The Tenors, Walters admits that life isn’t quite back to normal on tour.
“We have restrictions back stage,” Walters says. “We are doing VIP meet and greets but everyone is wearing a mask and is six feet apart.
“We’ve been really diligent on tour. We have our two tour buses and one 18-wheeler truck. We’re all basically in a controlled quarantine. We test ourselves every single day. We’re staying on top of it and we take that responsibility very seriously.
“There’s no running out into the audience as we’ve done in the past.”
Hamilton Juno-winning blues singer/guitarist Steve Strongman and his longtime musical collaborator Rob Szabo are celebrating the holiday season on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m., with an acoustic online show. It’s Strongman’s 17th annual holiday show and, for the second-year in a row, will be a streamed performance. Tickets to view the show are $20 and available through Strongman’s website, stevestrongman.com.