CitizensVoice.com – The last time JC Fisher and his fellow Texas Tenors hit Wilkes-Barre, they were rookies. The group, which gained fame on “America’s Got Talent,” had just started its first national tour.  “We were really new with the symphonies. The first couple we worked with were just classical,” Fisher said.

So working with Lawrence Loh and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic was a breath of fresh air. Fisher said Loh didn’t mind adding more pop music to the evening. The Texas Tenors — Fisher, Marcus Collins and John Hagen — return at 8 p.m., Friday to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts and Saturday at the Theater at Lackawanna College. Tickets for the shows start at $31.

Now veterans of more than 800 shows, the Tenors will bring a slightly different show to northeast Pennsylvania. They’ve got some new songs from Broadway, country, gospel and opera genres they perform. Fisher said the group’s range is part of its draw.  “Where can you go see that with a Verdi, and a Puccini piece and a John Denver and an Alabama piece,” he asked.

The trio, who met in college, has been on a wild ride. They came to their careers from very different paths. Fisher didn’t take up the mic — other than some church performances — until he sang the National Anthem in high school. Collins and Hagen were singing in groups much earlier.  “We all have totally different upbringings in music,” Fisher said. “… I did sports in high school. That was all I did.”

He said the group enjoys performing and is proud to have taken up some charity causes as well. The singers work with Homes for our Troops, The Mission Project, which works for people with autism, and The Child Fund International. The group’s success continues to grow. In 2014, it made Billboard’s top 10 classical acts list. It’s a different world for the Tenors, from when the band first hit the area in 2010. Fisher still gets up early and checks out the sites in town. He still has pictures from their last visit. And he remembers the meet and greet with patrons.  “Five years is still a baby, but … we’re comfortable and we enjoy it,” he said.

Pops III The Texas Tenors Return

Fri 04/10/15
F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
Wilkes-Barre, PA US

Sat 04/11/15
Theater at Lackawanna College
Scranton, PA US