ABERDEEN, Sask. – When Henri Loiselle goes to work most mornings, he’s not just sitting in front of a baby grand piano.
He is also sitting down in front of a symbol marking the end of one life and the beginning of another.
Loiselle bought the piano in the fall of 1999 after he and his wife Marion decided to quit farming so that he could pursue a full-time singing career. Their equipment auction was planned for the next spring and the man who sold him the piano told him he could pay for it then.
Read Also
Europe holds promise for Canadian lentils
Pulse Canada is trying to help boost lentil consumption in Europe, which is already the fourth largest market.
“I was committed,” he said.
Loiselle, now 52, discovered he could sing when he was 17 while attending high school at St. Peter’s College in Muenster, Sask. He gives the credit to teacher Al Gerwing.
“I wasn’t going to be doing any singing, but I mean, you had no choice because he was such a force to deal with. He auditioned everyone and I had no choice. He found out I could sing. Well that was that. There was no holding him back. He got me involved in two glee clubs and all the different productions we had.”
Thirty years later, the former teacher was still influencing Loiselle’s career. By then, Gerwing was involved in Change for Children, an organization dedicated to helping Brazil’s homeless children. In 1995 he asked Loiselle to do a series of concerts in Germany to raise money for the organization.
Loiselle said it was unnerving to sing Beethoven in German and see audience members’ lips moving as they sang along, as if he were singing from the hit parade and not 200-year-old songs.
“It’s a little intimidating when you see that.”
Loiselle’s career was taking off. He had studied opera performance at the University of Toronto and at the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy. He had toured with the Canadian Opera Company and was singing at concerts as much as he could.
But he was also farming 14 quarter sections and the double life was exhausting him.
It came to a head in 1996.
The machinery was wearing out and he needed to spend the winter fixing it. But the winter was when he sang. It was also the year that he had to leave his combine in the snow for a month because he was touring. Farming had also forced him to give up singing opportunities, such as operas in Banff, Alta.
“I just remember thinking that I couldn’t do both any more. I remember thinking, ‘Well, I won’t have this for that much longer. I’m singing better than I’ve ever sung in my life, and I really should do something more with it because it is so temporary.’ “
In 1997 he and Marion gave up their rented land, farming only the nine quarters they owned. In 1998 they sold a half section and rented all but three quarters. The growing season of 1999 was their last.
Loiselle said he was amazed by how quickly farming left his system.
He said farming used to consume him. He spent most of his time wondering about new ways to apply fertilizer and was constantly looking at new machinery.
“Suddenly I don’t give a damn. It just drops over a cliff. Suddenly I want more time to study and I want more time to work on my craft of singing.”
The decision didn’t come without pain.
“Everything they say about auction sales is true,” Marion said.
“It was almost like somebody passed away, it was so traumatic,” Henri added.
“We actually both got very sick afterwards,” Marion said.
But the grieving was followed by work.
Loiselle figures he performed 30 concerts in the first four months of this year. He toured Nova Scotia, performed an opera in Edmonton in July and recorded a Christmas musical called Little Red Wagon for the United Church, which he will perform live in Edmonton in late December. He is preparing for an opera that he will perform in Saskatoon next May.
There’s more to his new career than just singing. Marketing is crucial, which is done through telephone calls, press packages and showcases, where local arts council representatives gather to hear performers and make hiring decisions. His four recordings also help.
He is also trying to bring together senior citizens’ homes into an organization that could apply for funding to make it easier for musicians to perform at these homes.
The Loiselles’ four children are now grown and living away from home, which makes the travel easier. Marion comes with him now because Loiselle said he couldn’t bear to return home to tell her how much fun he had without her.
When they’re not touring, they live in their farmhouse north of Aberdeen. They still own seven quarters, which they plan to keep as security.
Loiselle said his career is right where he wants it.
“Now, I don’t have the risks that I had. I can afford to do this.”
