This CD is "Popera" in style and could also be described as adult contemporary/easy listening.

10 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Classical Pop, POP: Folky Pop

Show all album songs: Page One Songs


Details:
Derrick was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick and started out mainly as a step dancer beginning lessons at the age of 4. This is where his journey as a performer began. Derrick entered numerous dance competitions in the Maritimes, any place that had a summer festival which involved a step dancing competition. He eventually expanded to Jazz and Tap dancing with the Bonnie Kilburn School of Dance at the Frederiction YM/YWCA. He danced there for 3 years until joining Character's Incorporated- a high energy song and dance troupe out of Fredericton, NB. He had been doing some singing previous to this, but it was at this time that he really found his voice.
After touring the country and the world with Character's for 3 years, Derrick attended Acadia University where he began his formal studies in singing. It was there that Derrick's instructors thought a career in opera may be where he was headed because of his voice type (Tenor) and physical stature. Derrick then moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia for 2 years to study at the Maritime Conservatory of Music, winning awards in Opera, Operetta, and Musical Theatre in the Kiwanis Music Festival. He also performed at the Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre. Derrick then left Halifax to pursue a graduate degree in voice at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. Upon completion of his studies there, a few very important things happened:
> he was hired to sing in a production of Rough Crossing by Tom Stoppard at the Tony award winning Hartford Stage Company
> he worked as a lead vocalist on a cruise ship for 7 months cruising from Copenhagen to Hong Kong
> he worked at the Merry Go Round Playhouse for a season in up-state New York in La Cage aux Folles, Camelot, and Cabaret
> he was hired to perform in the U.S. National Tour of the musical Funny Girl, which toured the mid-West and Western United States
> in 2002 Derrick moved to Toronto, and after a year and half of auditions and very hard work, finally got hired by the Canadian Opera Company to perform with their Chorus of professional singers
> since then, Derrick has become a member of Canadian Actors Equity Association, has performed in film/commercials/and TV, has just started his 5th season with the Canadian Opera Company, has performed in The Sound of Music with Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, ON, and in The Taming of the Shrew with Shakespeareworks in Toronto. This past Spring, Derrick teamed up with Toronto-based producer Flavio Monopoli and recorded his debut CD, Page One. This album is âpoperaâ in style and features popular cover tunes, as well as 4 original songs by Canadian songwriters Jeff Straker, Harry Lewis, and Adam Kozak, 2 Irish Ballads, and a duet with acclaimed Soprano and fellow Frederictonian Measha Brueggergosman. Derrick spent this past summer as a soloist along with Brueggergosman at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, and touring the Maritimes in promotion of his new CD. Up-coming engagements include The Canadian Opera Company 2007/8 season, concerts in Toronto, Halifax, and Fredericton, and The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo 2008 next summer.