Crossing Over

After listening to Sarena Paton on her new CD, La Carissima, meeting the petite singer in person left a dominating first thought: How can such a small person produce such a huge voice? The answer, of course, is a combination of natural gifts and years of training, but it’s a question Paton hears often. Immaculately dressed and coiffed, she looks the part, but her slight frame and ethereal looks don’t exactly convey ‘powerhouse soprano.’ “A lot of people have said to me, ‘You’re so soft spoken and shy, I can’t imagine you onstage and entertaining an audience,’” Paton says. “Then they see me and say ‘I had no idea you could do that.’”

A seasoned pro at 27, Paton has been performing in public since she was three, when a kindergarten teacher recognized her talent and started arranging gigs at nursing homes and other Dundas, Ont. hot spots. She spent an unconventional childhood in and out of auditions, studios and voice booths, which included a five-year run on Mr. Dress-up, from age eight to 13, numerous commercials and a recurring role on Road to Avonlea. “It was an amazing way to grow up,” she says over herbal tea in a Toronto café. “Thinking back now, it was obviously work, but as a kid, how could you spend a better day? And my parents always treated it as an ‘activity,’ not a job.”

In recent years Paton’s musical career has taken her from the role of Christine Daae in the Canadian Phantom Unmasked tour with Peter Karrie, to the 8th International Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria. And in December, she sang the national anthem for an intimate crowd of 16,000 at a World Junior hockey game at Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum. Paton has also sung backup for international acts passing through Ontario, like Paul Anka and Reba McEntire. “One day I could be singing with Michelle Wright, then Sarah Brightman,” she says. “Classical training gives you the freedom to try other genres—you know you have all the tools.”

Today Paton is carving out a career as a classical-crossover artist — a genre popular with live audiences, but one that mainstream broadcasters have yet to embrace. “Most of the women on the radio are altos — that’s what people are used to,” Paton says. “When you have a soprano voice it doesn’t fit most formats — [programmers] don’t know how to categorize it, and it doesn’t quite segue. That’s one of the challenges.”

But despite classical-crossover’s quasi-underground status, there’s no shortage of concert-goers. “It lets people enjoy classical music in a way that’s not intimidating,” Paton says. “It’s also more melody-and-lyric based. Most (pop) music is rhythmic and beat driven — this is much more about connection to the heart.” And while audiences skew a little older, she also sees quite a few younger girls. “A lot of them grew up with American Idol,” Paton says, “but hearing this kind of music I think they realize they can have a career without sounding like Mariah Carey.”

Sarena Paton’s Ontario Tour Dates
March 20 Hamilton The Studio at Hamilton Place (CD Release Concert)
March 21 London First St. Andrews Church
March 22 Kingston Christian Reformed Church
March 27 Toronto College Street United Church
March 29 Cambridge St. James Anglican Church
April 5 Barrie Burton Avenue United Church
April 26 Peterborough Market Hall Performing Arts

La Carissima (which means “dear” in Italian) includes a mix of contemporary and classical works: songs by Bach and Mozart, Schubert’s “Ave Maria” (which Paton first sang at age six), plus contemporary pieces by Mark Portmann (who’s written for Josh Groban), and acclaimed Canadian songwriter Marc Jordan, not to mention two co-written by Paton. But when you’re used to singing Mozart, Paton says it’s more than a little intimidating to put pen to paper. “You have to convince yourself that you have something to say, and people might actually want to hear it.”

One of her first attempts is “Nunca,” a soaring Spanish ballad about “understanding there are things you are powerless to change, [altering] your perspective, and finding someone who helps you see the beautiful things.” And yes—she actually wrote in Spanish, which she speaks fluently, along with some French and Italian. While there is a near endless supply of classical songs to perform, it’s a little trickier for Paton to find contemporary pieces that fit her talents and temperament. She needs to feel some sort of connection with the lyrics, and she looks for melodies with a timeless quality.

“I feel the song is most important and I’m just the messenger. It’s my job to get out of the song’s way,” she says. “Someone might not know the music, but if they come away humming a phrase you know that song is a winner because it reached into a person’s soul.” •

Find songs, video clips and more tour details online at www.sarenapaton.comand www.myspace.com/sarenapaton.

Photo courtesy of Richard Sibbald