Survival songs Opera’s Kyle Briscoe channels life experiences in new pop album By: Alan Small Posted: 4:10 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023

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This article was published 09/08/2023 (852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kyle Briscoe has given Winnipeg a going-away present before he takes the next step in his music career.

The 22-year-old tenor, who’s part in the Little Opera Company of Manitoba’s The Magic Flute: the Trials of Tamino and Pamina in June was the latest of many appearances with Winnipeg choral groups in 2023, has dipped his toe into the pop ocean.

Lessons, a four-song EP, brings Briscoe’s powerful vocals to an audience that might never set foot at a classical-music concert or an opera recital.

It’s a side of his musical personality he’s been eager to reveal. He’s as comfortable talking about Adele, Nirvana or Weezer as he is Puccini, Verdi or Beethoven.

“I think I’ve always wanted to be a pop star, and that’s still the dream today,” Briscoe says, remembering how he sang along with Kelly Clarkson’s hits in the bathtub as a child. “That’s what four-year-old Kyle would want, ‘I want to be a pop star.’”

At the same time, he has a love for opera and classical music that isn’t taking a back seat either. He’s moving to Montreal later this month to attend McGill University, where he’ll study for a master’s degree in voice performance, following up on the bachelor’s degree in music he earned from the University of Manitoba in 2020.

“I love telling people I sing opera. My other mission is to make opera cool,” he says. “I think it’s such an interesting thing to be an opera singer. I think it’s a cool thing to study and have in your life.”

Despite all his vocal skills, Briscoe had to learn the basics of recording from scratch in order for people to hear the other side of his musical ability.

He began making up for lost time after he purchased an audio interface for his smartphone, which allowed him to record singing and playing the piano. His debut single, What a Time, which came out last November, was the result of his work on the high-tech learning curve.

“I have about 50 versions of it there,” he says, laughing about his phone. “I started sharing it with friends, family and co-workers and they were really impacted by it.”

He says he’s written an album of songs since, and four of them are on Lessons, which focuses on the journey he’s taken so far, one that isn’t apparent at first behind his exuberant personality.

“I’ve been through a lot in my life. I’ve climbed a lot of mountains that most people don’t in their entire lives, in terms of taking myself out of a dark place and processing certain traumas that I’ve experienced,” says Briscoe, who along with his family are survivors of domestic violence.

“What I have now because I’ve survived that I have this ability to express the euphoria one feels when you suppress yourself — for me I felt it was like 17 years of my life — so now that I can actually speak from that experience. This album has been birthed from that.”

There are many great singers in pop, but Briscoe’s precise voice, honed by hours of training at the U of M and other lessons — contrasts greatly from the breathy vocals that have dominated the charts in recent years.

“The school of thought where I come from is that classical technique is transferable to all styles,” he says. “Classical music allowed me feel this energy of self-expression. It feels real and honest because it’s athletic. It’s so vulnerable, you have to let go of all the tension in your body to make these beautiful noises.”

It also gives Briscoe a chance to reveal something about himself instead of starstruck romances or sacred oratorios written centuries ago that are the regular fare in the classical or opera world.

“Pop is different for me because I’m actually using my own words,” he says. “I’m writing the stories and I’m getting to express myself and I hope to do it in a way that is relatable to others and it doesn’t tell people how to feel because I can’t stand that.”

He has a story to tell, even if his life and career is just getting started. He has the exuberance of youth but also the experience of a survivor.

“I can talk about it so freely and peacefully now because I’ve found such joy in my life but I don’t think I’d be the person I am today if I hadn’t gone through that,” he says.

“My job in the next two years is to become the best damn opera singer in North America. Or become a pop star.”–Kyle Briscoe

“Being a queer person, having to figure out your identity as a gay man, is its own journey of self-discovery. Both of those things made me grow up really fast and I know exactly who I am and I don’t let myself not live in happiness because life is too short.”

Briscoe and his funky white glasses, which have become his trademark in Winnipeg’s arts scene, hasn’t left Winnipeg for good.

Among his many Winnipeg connections include working for a year with Manitoba Opera, where he helped develop its student ambassador program that links the opera company with the next generation of audiences.

His biggest yet will take place Dec. 15 and 16, when he’ll be one of the soloists for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Handel’s Messiah.

“It’s probably my favourite piece of music and I’ve always wanted to be the soloist, because to be honest with you, it’s easier than the chorus part,” he says of the career stepping stone.

“My job in the next two years is to become the best damn opera singer in North America. Or become a pop star. I’ll settle for that, and if I reach a little lower then I’ll be happy with that, too. But that’s my mission for the next two years and I’m really excited about that.”

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @AlanDSmall