John Riesen is an American tenor who has had quite an incredible year. Prior to quarantine, he was making a name for himself on the operatic stage, but when performances shut down he was faced with a dilemma.
John and his wife Gillian recorded a special album entitled “Christmas at Home” to share joy with isolated music lovers anywhere. The album also led John to try and resolve the complicated relationship of streaming for classical and crossover artists. John set out on a mission to understand the musical algorithms and cracked the code – he has now over 1 million streams on Spotify.
It seems appropriate that his latest release is the single “Believe” from Polar Express.
CCM: Why did you choose this piece – what does it mean to you?
John Riesen: I chose this piece because I love it. I remember when the movie came out and Josh Groban’s rendition came on. It was stunning and instantly became a staple of our Christmas listening. This year with all the advances I’ve made in my recording, I felt like I had to try it. Together with my amazing brother Stevie the Vibe (Stephen Riesen), we made a very cinematic, and powerful rendition.
CCM: What are some of the elements from the original that were important for you to keep and what were some of the new ideas you are most excited about?
John Riesen: Funny you should ask. There is an ICONIC french horn line in the song right before the chorus lands that has always blown my mind. When making the track together I insisted that we have that. I also took great advantage of Stevie’s incredible ability to do background vocals. He did a whole choir of angels throughout the song which are all his voice. It’s magical.
CCM: Were there any challenging moments in this piece?
John Riesen: The hardest part about this is not letting my operatic background kick in too much. I love my training, and I love letting my voice “sing out” but it can be overwhelming into the microphone just inches from my mouth. Believe has a pretty high-sitting chorus and so I had to figure out how not to blast, but still hit the high notes. I think I found a great balance.
CCM: What are some of your goals for the future?
John Riesen: I have some lofty goals, I admit. With my stage career opening back up, I am hoping to bring everything I’ve learned during covid and with recording to the stage. I have some pretty amazing gigs coming up including my Carnegie Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah followed shortly after by a world premiere musical with 4-time GRAMMY award-winning song-writer Marcus Hummon with Nashville Opera. I hope I can ride the momentum of these amazing opportunities and everything I’ve gained via my recordings to really make a difference in the industry. I also hope what I’ve done these past two years (achieving well over 1 million streams from scratch in a niche genre like ours) will inspire more and more stage performers to start making music to post online. It’s the way of the future, and the way to connect with a whole new generation of listeners!
www.johnriesen.com
