WEYBURN - A former member of the Canadian Tenors, Ken Lavigne, will bring his talents and a three-piece band to perform songs from the “three knights”, namely Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.
He will be the featured performer for the next instalment in the Weyburn Concert Series on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cugnet Centre.
As a classically-trained tenor, he has performed in operas, toured with the Canadian Tenors, and has toured extensively on his own, including a concert at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Symphony.
His talents have taken him throughout Europe, Asia, China and South Korea, as well as all over North America.
With this concert in Weyburn, Lavigne will be paying homage to three of the legendary greats of popular music. He will be accompanied by a trio who will play an upright bass, violin and piano.
From the music of Elton John, some of the songs he will perform include Rocketman, Goodbye the Yellow Brick Road, and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the Lion King.
Some of the music from Webber’s stage productions will be featured, including from Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and some from lesser-known works like Evita.
Of McCartney, Lavigne said, “He’s one of the most prolific songwriters and difficult to pick from,” adding he will mostly concentrate on McCartney’s tunes from his years with the Beatles. Some of these songs include Blackbird, I Want to Hold Your Hand and Lady Madonna, among others.
“I don’t pretend to sing like Elton John or Paul McCartney, but it’s my own style of their music. I expect people will be mouthing along with many of the songs,” said Lavigne.
He will also give a taste of his classical training with some favourite music to give people a glimpse into some of the music he loves to perform.
Lavigne has toured in the province before, as in addition to the Canadian Tenors, he did an OSAC tour in 2018 in places like Biggar, Tisdale and Saskatoon, and believes this will be his first visit to Weyburn.
“It’s totally packed show, and everyone will hear something they will enjoy and remember,” said Lavigne, noting this show has been a couple years in the making after being postponed due to COVID restrictions.
