Karaoke Lounge

Bernard Lachance, making his own luck

Performing June 6th, 2009 at the prestigious Chicago Theatre, Bernard Lachance, the Canadian pop-opera singer, recently got the “chance” to promote his show on Oprah. But it’s more than chance, he worked hard for it without an agent, producer or record company backing him.

Bernard Lachance is not just another 34-year old pop singer who wants to make it. He is making it and he is making it by pounding the pavement.  Like other independent recording artists, he sells his own CDs (via itunes and record stores as well as on the street),  and he books and promotes his own shows.  However, Bernard has taken self-promotion to a higher level. He hasn’t chosen the small clubs down the street from where he lives. In 2003, he rented the Montreal Bell Centre to  perform with a choir of 700, to a sell-out crowd of 5,000, for which he sold the tickets one by one.   In 2007, he did it again when he rented Massey Hall in Toronto and performed with a choir of 250.

He wanted to rent Radio City Music Hall in New York City next but the price was prohibitively high and the operators weren’t offering it. They did offer the prestigious Chicago Theatre which Bernard accepted and paid for with his personal savings of $18,000 Cdn. He recruited the choir by putting out a call for singers who “want a chance to sing at the Chicago Theatre” and got them to help with ticket sales.

Wearing a tshirt with the theatre seating plan on it, he sells tickets to his shows on the street in front of the theatres by stopping people and getting them to listen to his CDs. When they buy the tickets, they get to blacken out their seats on his tshirt.

Billed as his American debut performance, Bernard will perform tomorrow evening at the Chicago Theatre with 10 musicians and a choir of 300. But he has already hit the American airwaves by appearing on the Internet in a self-promotional YouTube video in which he invites Oprah Winfrey to his show.

Oprah noticed and sent Gayle to invite Bernard to her show instead.  Bernard appeared on Oprah on May 5th, where the studio audience and the millions who tuned in to watch,  were treated to Bernard’s inspirational, bilingual performance of The Impossible Dream, which earned him a standing ovation.

Bernard’s determination has paid off, since performing on the Oprah show, Bernard has been offered a record deal with Isba Music.

If you’re in Chicago tomorrow, why not go see Bernard for yourself!

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