Ken Lavigne is an accomplished operatic tenor singer from Victoria who has performed all around the world and for notable people such as Oprah Winfrey, Prince Charles and David Foster.
Before achieving his success in the music business, Lavigne used to supplement his income with construction work.
“What I realized was no one gives you a standing ovation after you finish drywalling their basement,” Lavigne said.
Career-wise, Lavigne now focuses solely on music and the energy he gets from performing.
“I enjoy every aspect of it,” Lavigne said.
In 2009, he checked an item off his bucket list when he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Lavigne raised $250,000 to rent the iconic hall, where he performed for 1,200 people.
“I just had fallen in love with the space and the idea of becoming part of the great history of performances gone on at Carnegie Hall,” said Lavigne.
Lavigne’s new goal is to rent and perform at the iconic Sydney Opera House in Australia next fall.
“I remember at the end of the Carnegie Hall experience saying I’m never doing this again,” Lavigne said, adding all of the business and paperwork involved was outside his area of expertise. However, this has not stopped him from pursuing the Sydney Opera House.
“I realized if I did it once, maybe I can do it again,” he said. “I realized in this journey, maybe it’s not supposed to be easy. Maybe you’re supposed to have to work as hard as you possibly can and harder still to put the effort in to make your dreams come true.”
Since accomplishing his Carnegie Hall dream, Lavigne has been touring North America singing and talking about his journey.
“It’s a concert with a few personal vignettes of my story and what I’ve done,” Lavigne said. “There were many twists and turns and unexpected events. And I found that when I tell the story, I’m not just reliving it for myself, but I think it’s an inspiring journey for many people who maybe were a little too afraid to take things on themselves.”
He said helping others gain the courage to go after their dreams.
Besides inspiring the public, Lavigne has also had an influence on his own children. His two eldest children of three, Grace, 10, and Lucy, 9, are also singers and will be featured on Lavigne’s upcoming Christmas album, Comfort and Joy.
“They put me to shame, because I step up to the microphone and I’m over-prepared and … I’m hypercritical, and they just come up and sing on the mark and they just nail it. It’s incredible.”
Comfort and Joy comes out Nov. 1.
Lavigne will be performing songs from his new album on Dec. 8 at the Royal Theatre. The show is at 7:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at rmts.bc.ca/events/ken-lavigne-royal-theatre.
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