Tenor to present songs of First World War in first tour

Saskatchewan born and based tenor Spencer McKnight will be presenting Songs of the Great War at Third Avenue United Church in North Battleford on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.

Accompanied by pianist Mark Turner and with special guest Lisa Hornung, McKnight will explore music that came out of one of the defining moments of the 20th century.

McKnight, who is familiar to North Battleford audiences, has garnered himself a great deal of attention on the national music scene. Three-time award winner at the national music festival finals, the singer has performed across the country and now spends some time sharing his talents with towns across the province.  

Together with pianist Mark Turner, McKnight has spent the last year researching composers, poets, and popular song that were written during the war.

“Many of the composers we’re performing were young men conscripted into the war and many died, leaving behind a handful of songs,” said McKnight. “The music is so beautiful that our idea of finding songs from World War I grew into a full concert.”

“We discovered a piece by English composer William Denis Browne, a composer we’d never heard of. After researching, we’d discovered that he’d died in action in 1915 and that only six songs remain. At just 26 years old he wasn’t yet a famous composer, but a remarkable young voice who was silenced too early. If you were an able bodied young man in Britain, you were going to the front no matter whether you were prepared to fight or not. So we researched music from British, French, American and German composers and can’t wait to share it with the audience.”

The concert features many of the biggest popular songs of the Great War including Keep the Homes Fires Burning, Danny Boy, and K-K-K-Katy written by Canadian Geoffrey O’Hara in 1917.

“O’Hara’s song was the number one song the summer of 1918, and when we discovered it was Canadian we had to include it!”

McKnight grew up in Leroy currently calls Outlook home. He began his musical studies at the age of 18 with North Battleford’s Lisa Hornung. McKnight currently studies with Toronto based vocal pedagogue Mark Daboll. He has been featured as a soloist in performances across Canada, and is a regular soloist with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. He has been called “one of Canada’s finest young voices.”

McKnight has been performing with pianist Mark Turner (executive director of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra) for five years. This recital marks their first concert tour.

They have already performed in Maple Creek and Marysburg.

Further fall 2017 dates: Sept. 10 - North Battleford; Sept. 17 – Outlook.

Summer 2018 dates to be announced in Ontario and British Columbia

November 2018 - Saskatoon performance as part of Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra’s “No Exceptions” Festival commemorating the end of the First World War.