Marcus Nance

The Voice Next Door

“I work at my craft like an Olympian athlete”

Charismatic Marcus Nance is immediately engaging. Besides his laid-back charm, his immense vocal talent has captivated audiences across North America. He has magnetic stage presence overlaid with a lustrous bass-baritone voice.

Vocalist and actor, he is equally at home in theatre, film, opera, concert, oratorio, recital and cabaret. The Toronto Star described him as “a major talent”, and he was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Awared for Most Outstanding Male Performer in a Musical, as Malcolm in the world premiere of Atom Egoyan’s Elsewhereless with Tapestry New Opera Works.

Other awards include a Metropolitan Opera National Council (Regional) Award, a National Opera Association Vocal Competition Award and a Tyrone Guthrie Study Award from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Marcus has performed for the Shaw Festival, at Massey Hall, with the Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Chicago Opera Theatre, the Monterey Opera Association and at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts, as well as many other prominent opera and symphony companies throughout North America. He made his film debut as the Singing Accountant in Mel Brooke’s feature film The Producers (see video, above). And, if you look closely, you might also catch this versatile and talented artist in publicity photos for the Bay, Sears, Tip Top Tailors, Zellers, Canadian Tire, Foot Locker, Toyota or on the runways of Toronto Fashion Week.

All this, and he’s only 46. Admittedly he has been a professional performer since high school, then went on to university to major in music (clarinet), switching to opera in his fourth year – a brave move, considering he hadn’t had any voice training before that. “My music professors fell in love with my voice,” Marcus told Tempo Toronto. “Before that, I had been singing, but only in church.”

Fast forward to the 1990s when California-born Marcus moved to Toronto to be with his partner who is a musical director (piano) at Stratford. He now holds dual citizenship. “I love Toronto,” he said. It’s truly multicultural, and I feel like I belong here.” Marcus lives his performing life moving effortlessly between jazz and opera, and has just released a CD album “Marcus Nance: The Voice Next Door“. In the upcoming months he continues with special appearances around Ontario, including cabaret gigs in Toronto and Stratford.

“There’s something about living, maturing and knowing that’s showing in my face now, and I like that. But more important than that, is the change of perspective that comes with maturity. I went back to my alma mater as a speaker recently, and because of my own experience I was able to tell the students they have to keep an open mind, because there is so much out in the world to experience.”

A lot of people seem to become fixated on doing one thing, but 40 seemed to be a turning point to me. Perhaps it’s the zeroes next to the number; which means I’ll probably make new life decisions when I reach 50 and then again at 60. For myself, when I turned 40 I knew that there were plenty of things I wanted to do still. I decided to add to my music career and did some modeling (for The Bay, Eatons, Sears, and Nike for example) and I put it out there that I wanted to do some TV and film – my appearance in The Producers followed on from that.

Because I have so many different experiences as an artist, they all play into each other. Singers don‘t necessarily have to practice hour a day, but because I majored in clarinet, I got into the habit of practice. I work at my craft like an Olympian athlete. I also do a lot of listening – Johnny Hartman and Billy Eckstein and Sara Vaughan each represent inspiration for me.

There are some stage performers who can ‘turn it on’, and some who really give themselves. Those who do not know me often say after a performance “thank you for being so real”. I tend to want to me – authentic – and sometimes I don’t get a job after an audition because of that. Either the producer wants me or they don’t. As for what I’d want to be remembered for, I want people to know that I tried to be the best person I could be, and that I tried to treat everyone with love and respect, no matter who they were or what they had done.

Marcus’s CD, The Voice Next Door, is available through cdbaby.com, amazon.com, and iTunes. You can also win a copy of his CD through our contest. Read more about Marcus on his website www.marcusnance.com.

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