Vivace’s super-voices rang through Prince Rupert

Vivace, Canada’s homegrown super-powered group of song, raised their melodic voices into the rafters of the Lester Centre on Jan. 18. The classical cross-over group, performed a blended harmony set of 18 modern pop hits and classical operatic style arias known as the “popera” genre.

“Vivace is full of delights and delectation,” said Michael Gurney, general manager at the Lester Centre of the Arts. “To read their biographies would take a whole show. Each one is an individual recording artist.”

The powerhouse quartet accompanied, by a pianist and violinist on this tour, merged their individual talents in 2010. The Vancouver-based group has recorded and toured extensively all over Canada and the U.S.A. and was a chosen act for the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Their new album “Diamonds” was released in 2019.

With ties to Prince Rupert from a visit 15 years ago, tenor/baritone Joey Niceforo, who hails from Sudbury, told audience members that he first came to the area when he toured with the Canadian Tenors. Tiffany Derosier’s soprano voice has also familiarly wafted through the streets of P.R. when she would fly to the north to work with a voice coach who lived in the city.

“My voice teacher was quite renowned, so I would come to Prince Rupert to train for competitions,” said Derosiers. The Prince Rupert voice coaching paid off for Derosier with her extensive musical repertoire and even a U.K. Top 10 pop chart club arrangement of When I see you smile, originally released in 1989 by Bad English.

The two male voices, Niceforo and Joel Ros and two female voices of the group, Derosier and Taylor Pardell, have shared the stage and billed events with artists such as Katy Perry, Loverboy, David Foster, Ben Harper, Jackson Browne, and Colin James. The group was also featured at the TEDxVancouver conference in 2012.

Derosier said the tour of the north was offered to Vivace and the group was excited to embark on the road from Fort St. John, Quesnel, Burns Lake, Kitimat, and closing out with Prince Rupert to cheers and applause.

“We drove all the way. We loved the tour. The scenery is exquisite. Everyone has been so hospitable. It has been absolutely stunning,” Desrosier said.