A full evening of symphonic fun with an option of fine dining is how the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra will kick off the season of Dynamic Contrasts.  To begin the evening, patrons may reserve a table seat for a Gala dinner served by Portofino's fitting the theme of a Tour of Italy.   Dessert will be furnished by Arturo's Baked Goods and More!  Then a concert of great orchestral music combined with the talented guest artists The Other 3 Tenors, sponsored by Centier Bank, will round out the evening.  As part of the mission of the symphony to inspire young musicians, they have invited the La Porte High School Orchestra to participate in a side by side performance of Bizet's Carmen Suite.  Expect to hear selections from Romberg, Puccini, Berlioz, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more.

About The Other 3 Tenors

When Warren Moulton, Franco Martorana and Simon Kyung Lee first appeared together on a gala concert in 2001, they had no idea that they would still be performing as a trio a decade later.  "We were all studying with the same teacher," recalls Martorana, a bearded Sicilian of substantial build, "and he thought it would be fun to put us together on a recital of his students".  The trio was jokingly dubbed The Other 3 Tenors in obvious deference to the original tenorial trio of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras.  "We truly enjoyed singing together...it was very special", adds Lee, the ensemble's affable Korean tenor. 

Although all three tenors had sung separately with various trios of tenors during the 1990s, none of those combinations managed to capture the magic of Moulton, Martorana and Lee.  "Something just clicked, you might say", explains Moulton, the trio's ebullient emcee.  Twirling the tip of his handlebar mustache, he continues, "Simon, Franco and I discovered that we loved all of the same music and that we really had a ball playing off one another on stage.  We still get a bit goofy up there sometimes, but the audience doesn't seem to mind a great deal."

Indeed, The Other 3 Tenors has set itself apart from other trios by adopting a free for all approach to every performance.  The group has been described as "The 3 Tenors meet the 3 Stooges" and the tenors' performances always provide plenty of laughs along with soaring high notes.  "We like to have fun, keep it light...we tease each other, try to outdo the other guy," says Martorana.  Lee quickly cuts in, explaining in his own charming brand of English that, "We take the singing very seriously.  We treat the arias and songs with respect...but we still like to be funny when we are not singing!" 

The trio went through a few temporary personnel changes during the past decade.  They even experimented with adding a fourth member to become "3 Tenors Plus 1".  "That was just a bad idea," Moulton admits.  He continues, "The fourth tenor was superfluous...a bit like Zeppo in the old Marx Brothers movies.  What we do works better with three."  "And the money goes farther!" jokes Martorana. 

The Other 3 Tenors will be bringing their own unique program to the La Porte Civic Auditorium on Saturday November 13^th.  Joining forces with the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Philip Bauman, the trio presents Sing, Sing, Sing, a celebration of opera and song.  Included in this program will be songs associated with tenors of the past, including Mario Lanza standards "Because", "The Desert Song" and "The Drinking Song" from The Student Prince.  Also slated for the program is a pair of songs written for the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, "Core 'ngrato" and "Mattinata", as well as beloved Neapolitan melodies such as "Torna a Surriento" and the rousing "Funiculì, funiculà".  The tenors will raise their voices with international favorites like "Granada", "Mamma", "Music of the Night" and "Non ti scordar di me".  Audience members will also be treated to such operatic arias as "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca and, of course, the late Luciano Pavarotti's signature piece, "Nessun dorma" from Turandot.

Is the busy trio nervous to be appearing with LCSO for the first time?  "If we don't get nervous," explains Lee, "it will probably not be a good performance!"  "Sure, we get a little nervous before a show", Martorana relates, "but those nerves can be a good thing to get us going".  Moulton adds, "Of course, it's exciting to sing in a new theater."  He concludes, "We just hope that the audience has as much fun as we do!"