The Texas Tenors bring high energy and boundless talent to the Woodlands

I have spent many an enjoyable evening with guest artists of the Hot Springs Village Concerts’ Association series and last night was, without a doubt, the best.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to one of the concerts without someone leaving at intermission to beat the end of the night traffic flow. Last night, there was a full house at the end of The Texas Tenors concert, the highest compliment paid by Villagers, to stay to the end.

Marcus Collins, JC Fisher and John Hagen are the Texas Tenors, the trio discovered on America’s Got Talent’s fourth season in 2009. Since their discovery the trio has toured around the world including 63 days a year in Branson at the Starlite Theatre.

The Texas Tenors put on a spectacular show, there is country, gospel, opera, Americana and contemporary music filled with comedy bits and personal revelations sandwiched between each tune. All three are trained in classical music performance. All three have parents that are educators. Marcus, JC and John each have unique color to their voices making them great solo performers but even better when they blend together.

The three friends have careers of their own but have great fun performing together. John writes all of The Three Tenors arrangements, which are magical. He has taught on the college level and has a rich tenor voice reminiscent of Placido Domingo’s tenor/baritone range and fullness of voice. He considers himself “The Tenor.”

JC has several key opera roles under his belt but leans toward his country roots. It was JC’s idea to form The Texas Tenors. JC has a voice in the middle between John’s depth and Marcus’ lightness. I kept being startled by just how good his voice was, I expected him to be the fill between the two more extreme voices but he kept surprising me with his warmth and flexibility. He considers himself the romantic tenor.

Marcus has a light, clear tone with absolutely no vibrato. He brings the contemporary component to the group. Again, you can not pigeon hole any of these guys, Marcus was equally at home with high fill or with more meaty harmonies. Marcus spends the majority of his time acting when away from The Texas Tenors.

What an enchanting evening, I enjoyed every tune from Mountain Music to the finale, My Way. Highlights of the concert were of course The Texas Tenors’ signature song You Should Dream, Nessun Dorma, several Broadway showstoppers and so much more. If you get the opportunity you should be in the Woodlands tonight and tomorrow night to see the Hot Springs Village Concerts’ Association’s presentation of The Texas Tenors. If you can’t get in, don’t despair, The Texas Tenors will be on PBS in March, just look for local air dates.

The Texas Tenors have several CD’s and other concert goodies available in the Woodlands lobby.

Program Note: The final concert of the Hot Springs Village Concert’s Association, Paganini, has rescheduled to 2016 due to last minute problems with travel documents. Ed Pittman has promised the replacement show is something special but he was unable to disclose the upcoming artist until he receives the signed contract. I will give you the scoop as soon as possible.