Two years ago, tenor Ken Lavigne spoke at an artists' convention about how he made it from Vancouver Island to the Big Apple to play Carnegie Hall.
That talk - told in part through song - resulted in a successful tour, which the Canadian Tenor co-founder will bring to Coquitlam on Sunday night.
For his show, Lavigne relates the story of how he came to sing on the world's most famous concert stage with the New York Pops.
And he believes he has told the tale enough times that his narrative has evolved to be "as smooth and seamless as it can be" without the audience having to ask questions afterward.
"Of course, I'm always glad they followed along, didn't fall asleep and were interested to learn more," he said with a laugh.
Lavigne uses musical examples to relive the journey by singing Neapolitan opera hits, popular pieces by Leonard Cohen such as Hallelujah and his own compositions. With each piece, he tries to highlight the versatility of the tenor voice, he said.
His performance will be accompanied by musicians on the piano, double bass, violin and guitar.
Since his Carnegie Hall debut, Lavigne has performed with fellow Victoria native David Foster, sung for Prince Charles and, last spring, was at Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre as part of pianist Sarah Hagen's Musical Mornings concert series.
"That was a great show," he said of the March 6, 2013, gig. "Of course, it's always easier for a pianist to play in the morning. For vocalists, we need a bit of time to warm things up."
Tickets for The Road to Carnegie Hall on Feb. 16 are $35/$30/$15 and available through the Evergreen box office at 604-927-6555 or online at evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
