Spring Tour 2003

February 2003 ©All Rights Reserved
Irish Tenors laud US role in preserving Irish music heritage Finbar Wright says Americans get credit for great reception, love of Irish Music; looks forward to March 2 visit to St. Louis and The Fox Theater by Daniel Hines Publisher America’s Seniors/TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com
When The Irish Tenors take the stage at The Fabulous Fox in St. Louis, March 2, we will be among the large audience anxiously awaiting an opportunity to see the trio that has become the purveyors of the Irish singing heritage to a growing number of fans. Finbar Wright, one of the Tenors, says that this is a reflection of the role that Americans have played in the preservation of the Irish musical heritage. We caught up with Finbar, via telephone, at his home in County Cork. As might be expected, when an authentic Irishman such as Finbar and someone with an Irish heritage (County Gallway) such as myself start talking, it comes quicky and easily. "When the immigrants left Ireland, often their only possessions were their language, their traditions and their music," explains Finabar. "Today, with more than 40 million people such as yourself having a claim to Irish heritage, there is a vast audience for Irish music. Also, Americans have done a great deal to preserve the Irish heritage, and, I maintain that the treasure of Irish music is better preserved in the US than perhaps even in Ireland."
	Finbar admits that the group--consisting of himself, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan, have been ‘surprised’ by the tremendous reception they have received. They have topped 1.5 million in total album sales and spent more than two years at the top of the Billboard Music Charts. "The idea came from the ‘Italian’ tenors (Pavarotti, Dominigo and Harris), " Finbar says. (He is quick to add that he does know that the famed trio is not truly ‘Italian’ with Harris being Spanish)
At the time, only Finbar had an established career, having spent a decade as a solo artist. Ronan is a doctor and Anthony was just starting his professional career. But, realizing that they were the beneficiaries of one of the richest musical heritages around, ‘the boys’, as their pubicist refers to them, decided to give it a try. The rest was musical history, as the genuine friendship and affection that the three share for each other translated into some of the best performances ever heard of Irish music. One of the reasons is the staging. This is not the Irish Pub-like singing that so many associate with music from Irreland. The Tenors are backed by a full, 60 piece orchestra. "The result is that the orchestra presented a new dimension to the richness of the melodies and the lyrics,’ Finbar says. "It enriches and provides a ‘whack’ to the tunes". Finbar notes that the Irish Celtic language is rich. Also, the Irish have a tradition of being wonderful story tellers. "These two heritages have been carried over into the music we perform," he says. "It is two great traditions coming together, and we have the luxury and privilege of singing it for our audiences." Commenting further on the richness of the Irish tradition, Finbar reflects how Ireland has provided the literary world with a host of great writers. Now, while his modesty may prevent him from saying so, it is obvious that a new chapter in this tradition is being written by The Irish Tenors and their unforgettable presentations and interpretations of wonderful Irish music.
Top \| Home \| Photographs \| Concert Schedule \| Recordings \| Archives \| Press Articles \| Links *Contributions or comments please write to the Webmaster* "The Little Yellow Bus" Tenors Tour Site! © Marie L.Collins 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday 18th February 2003
© All Rights Reserved

Irish tenors singing stories
WILLIAM LITTLER NEW YORK

Next to the shamrocks and the whisky, Ireland is probably best known for its tenors, a breed as lucky as the former and as potent as the latter. Just ask the phenomenally successful Irish Tenors, who will be emptying their lungs from the stage of Roy Thomson Hall Friday night.

Why all the fuss about tenors? Why hasn't Ireland produced equally popular sopranos or basses?

The question clearly flummoxed the amiable Ronan Tynan the other day, as one of the founding voices in the threesome submitted to a pre-tour interview on a snowy afternoon.

"I can't really answer that," he admitted. "I've never known my own voice to be anything but high. I was a treble at 12, I was (still) a treble at 16 and my voice never really broke. So I don't know what it is to have a low voice.

"I do know that there is an element of sweetness in the Irish tenor that makes it especially effective in conveying emotion. You are naked when you sing and the kind of person you are will inevitably come through. If you are a phoney, the audience will be able to tell.

"Each one of the Irish Tenors is different. Finbar (Wright) has a lovely, lilting Irish sound, a lyric tenor sound that would suit Mozart or Donizetti.

"Anthony (Kearns) has a deeper sound, with all the range in the world. He loves opera and has done (Verdi's) La Traviata and Macbeth. "Actually, we're all classically trained. We even had the same teacher. But aside from singing at home with my father, I didn't start seriously until 1993. I had been a doctor first. My father always said, `Sing with beauty, not with loudness.'

Our audiences want to hear the Irish songs but they also want to hear them sung with a classical touch. The most important thing is the words. Don't sacrifice words for technique. The songs are a kind of storytelling. Every word has to be clear. And sincere.

"When you are singing Irish lyrics, you must feel. Singing is about feeling, and understanding how the note feels. If you make a `bags' of it, the audience will know.

"The biggest danger for tenors? We all sit on the edge of our seats waiting for the top C. Now isn't that a crime? We become prisoners of our voices. Take to the bottle and the next day you feel like garbage. I can't drink and sing.

" No, but Tynan did try to fly and sing when he entered the Luciano Pavarotti International Vocal Competition during his pre-Irish Tenors period in 1995, arriving in Paris in the morning and turning up at the Bastille Opera a mere 10 minutes before having to go on.

"After I sang, (a judge) Tito Cappobianco said, `Can I give you a piece of advice? Never arrive on the day of an audition.' I couldn't believe it when I made it into the finals in Modena. Of course I didn't make the mistake of arriving there at the last minute and after I had sung, Cappobianco said, `I am very proud of you.'

"Pavarotti said, `You have a pure voice but must produce a bigger sound.' I took that to heart and started working with a heldentenor. I went on to sing Pinkerton (in Puccini's Madama Butterfly) but I wasn't really ready. I'd like to do Cavaradossi (in Puccini's Tosca) but you need to be a spinto (combining lyrical and dramatic qualities). Now I have an offer from Detroit to sing (Lionel) in (Flotow's) Martha.

" An Irish tenor on the way to becoming an operatic tenor? Not entirely. "I remember my father saying there are 12,000 of us in Ireland who love opera and 3 milllion who love the rest

." Tynan and his two colleagues are not about to abandon the rest. They nonetheless owe their collective identity to the successful example of three operatic counterparts, the celebrated Three Tenors: Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras.

The Irish trio was brought together by Dutch and Irish record companies and launched in Dublin in 1998. When his mother died, one of the original three, John McDermott, bowed out and was replaced by Wright. The lineup has been constant ever since, with a series of CDs attesting to its popularity.

"We all have independent musical lives," said Tynan. "I do motivational speaking, my own PBS specials and solo albums. But we love working together. Life isn't a solo flight. The people who work with you hold the matches that light the candles of your dreams."

Contributions or comments please write to the Webmaster
"The Little Yellow Bus" Tenors Tour Site! © Marie L.Collins 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH

Friday 21th February 2003
©All Rights Reserved Star-Telegraph

Irish guys are smilin' The Three Tenors have talent -- for making music and for making music fun
By Dave Ferman Star-Telegram Pop Music Critic

If Ronan Tynan's story weren't true, it would be too amazing for credible fiction.

Irish kid grows up with deformed legs, and both are amputated below the knee when he is 20. But he goes on to be a record-breaking para-athlete, setting numerous world records. Then he goes on to become a doctor, graduating from Ireland's ultra-prestigious Trinity College.

And then, at age 32 -- 32, mind you -- he starts taking singing seriously. And within a few years becomes one of the most famous tenors in the world, hooking up with two other Irishmen, Anthony Kearns and John McDermott, to form one of the most famous groups to emerge from the Emerald Isle since U2.

All this really happened, and Tynan knows why.

"Here's my view on that," he says. "I was blessed to be born into a family that knew nothing about stopping a person from going ahead. My dad loved me and my mom was determined that I'd live a full life and was independent. My father has died, and sometimes I wish I could talk to him and say, 'Dad, it's really gone into the clouds.'

" And it has. Over the course of five years and several CDs and DVDs, the Tenors (Finbar Wright replaced McDermott in 2000) have become favorites in both Europe and America. Their CDs have sold millions of copies and they've sold out Madison Square Garden.

But in all that time, the Tenors have never played Texas, until now.

"I believe Texans believe they're the capital of America," says Tynan with a chuckle, noting that his two performances in our state were charity functions in Houston. "And we want to make Texans aware that we're fully aware that they feel that way. And we want them to enjoy the culture and beauty of Ireland. I'm sure Irish Texans will come in their volume-loads

." All three Tenors have their own solo careers. Tynan's includes appearing as a motivational speaker, writing his autobiography, Halfway Home, in 2001, and late last year releasing his latest solo CD, The Impossible Dream. A PBS special of the same name aired over the holidays. This summer he will be singing a song he wrote, This Is the Hour, to kick off the Special Olympics in Dublin.

"It's always great to have things running on different channels," he says. "The Tenors do three tours per year. For me, the thing is that when I sing solo . . . I make it personal because I want people to feel we're having a chat in the living room. In the Tenors we have the power of three voices and it's a special ingredient -- and we have a great bit of craic (that's Gaelic for "fun"). We have a great deal of fun together."

Contributions or comments please write to the Webmaster
"The Little Yellow Bus" Tenors Tour Site! © Marie L.Collins 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Thursday 27th February 2003
© All rights Reserved

The Irish Tenors are coming to Fox
BY CHRISTIAN C. RIX

More than 10 years ago, what started as a bit of a stunt turned out to be a fabulous financial success. The music world is still intoxicated with the success of the original Three Tenors - Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. And, like all successful acts, success has bred imitations. One of the most popular and distinctive groups inspired by this tenor phenomenon has been the Irish Tenors.

The group was formed in 1998. By 1999, the Irishmen had launched their first U.S. tour, filling arenas across the country, and their initial album sales would top 2 million in the first two years of their existence. The original members were Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan and John McDermott. But by February 2000, McDermott had to drop out. Finbar Wright joined, and the group became what it is today.

The history and tradition of tenor song in Ireland may be as rich as the history of tenors in grand opera, but it has a distinctly different flavor.

What distinguishes Irish tenors from all the other kinds?

Kearns concludes that it is fundamentally the repertory. "I suppose we Irish tend to be lyrical tenors," he says. "We have no dramatic or spinto tenors. It is a very romantic sound." And this remains true whether it is a funny song or a sentimental one.

When it comes to repertory, the tenors pick their own, though they do keep an eye to what a given producer might want - for example in the case of a PBS special.

"You have to be happy and comfortable with what you are singing," he says. "I think we are fairly smart about our selections."

Kearns, who has sung since he was 10 years old, has been with the Tenors for more than four years - a rather long time to be associated with a group. But he has no plans to change in the near future. He hopes the group will able to continue and, if the members look after their voices properly, he feels there is no reason this should not be possible.

"I'm constantly striving to better my vocal quality," he notes.

Being a singer is like being an athlete - the body must be exercised. "Like a good wine it will mature. Around 40 you will be in full bloom," says Kearns, 31.

Of all Irish tenors, John McCormack is the name that would first come to the minds of most music lovers. Kearns himself draws inspiration from a number of sources and likes a wide array of singers and genres, including McCormack. "He had an unusual way of approaching a song. He drew from the depths of his feelings."

The dynamic among the tenors is a finely balanced one. When asked to comment on that relationship Kearns chuckles. "I could offend the other members," he says.

But he observed that Ronan Tynan's success in overcoming the disadvantage of a double amputation with his indomitable will lends a profoundly human element to the group. "Finbar Wright came from the priesthood and brings a certain calm and spirituality."

And Kearns himself?

I'm the young wild one," he says, then adds: "We all keep a watchful eye on each other."

When doing their road show, the tenors don't skimp on sentiment or accompaniment; they perform with a 47-piece orchestra when doing their classic songs. When recording their albums they sometimes perform with ensembles of 60-70 musicians.

Kearns finds their fans are a fantastic bunch. There are people who follow the Irish Tenors around from city to city as they tour the states. Some of them have even made the trip to Ireland.

The Irish Tenors are coming to St. Louis as part an eight-city tour. Kearns is enthusiastic and emphatic about what the audience can expect in performance. The "bottom line is two-and-a-half hours of full-blooded entertainment from all the old favorites with full arrangements and three full-blooded singers. The show is balanced between the traditional and the upbeat."

Songs to be performed will be from all of the group's recordings. So, for the group's fans, "It's a trip down memory lane."

Contributions or comments please write to the Webmaster
"The Little Yellow Bus" Tenors Tour Site! © Marie L.Collins 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH

Friday 28th February 2003
©All Rights Reserved Star-Telegraph

Irish tenors paint the town green
By Dave Ferman Pop Music Critic

For years, local fans of the Irish Tenors have watched enviously as the celebrated trio performed -- over and over and over -- at halls on the East Coast.

The wait ended Thursday night as Ronan Tynan, Anthony Kearns and Finbar Wright made their Fort Worth debut at Bass Performance Hall -- and, yes, it was as sweet an evening as had been anticipated.

The sound of a tenor singing sentimental, melodramatic tunes about the Emerald Isle, lost love and misty memories is central to the Irish musical experience. The Tenors upheld the tradition. Alone or as a trio, the three did sweeping versions of old favorites such as The Spanish Lady and I'll Tell Me Ma, as well as The Stone Outside Dan Murphy's Door, Only Our Rivers Run Free and their signature immigration song, Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears.

Tynan was the most animated of the three, making the largest gestures and, at times, mugging just enough to inject humor without detracting from the proceedings.

The solo pieces, too, were done with aplomb. Wright's takes on When You and I Were Young, Maggie and Forty Shades of Green had just the right understated tones; Kearns handled the difficult My Lagan Love gracefully. But it was Tynan who shone most brightly alone on The Town I Loved So Well, My Old Man or Scorn Not His Simplicity.

Tynan is the most recognizable face and name among the trio -- and the one with the most successful solo career. But it would be a shame if he split off to record and tour alone full time, because the balance the three achieved together was the most enjoyable aspect of the evening.

Contributions or comments please write to the Webmaster
"The Little Yellow Bus" Tenors Tour Site! © Marie L.Collins 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Friday 28th February 2003
©All Rights Reserved

Irish Tenors still hitting all right notes with audience
By ALAN K. STOUT

Anthony Kearns doesn't understand the question. When talking about the dynamics of his renowned group, the Irish Tenors, he's asked to describe the sense of harmony within the trio and how it affects the music.

"We get on very well together and work well together, and that makes it an easy job to do," Kearns says from his home in Ireland, his thick accent filling the phone line.

Nice answer, but we were really talking about the vocal harmony.

Kearns chuckles when the question is rephrased. The vocal harmony's just fine, too, he says, and obviously key to the trio's success.

In 1998, representatives from two management companies, one Dutch and the other Irish, conceived the idea for the group after realizing the success of the original Three Tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. They also knew the history of tenor singing in Ireland was as rich as that of high opera.

Soon, they gathered three giants of that school - Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan and John McDermott - and the Irish Tenors were born. The trio debuted with a 60-piece orchestra at the Royal Dublin Society.

When the concert later was broadcast on PBS, the Tenors' popularity in the United States grew. The trio played some of the nation's largest arenas, including Madison Square Garden, and the group's first two albums sold more than 2 million copies. In early 2000, after the death of his mother, McDermott left the group and was replaced by Finbar Wright. In 2001, the group released "Ellis Island," a concept project based on the history of immigration into the United States.

The Irish Tenors have plenty of music to show for only five years on the job.

"We've taken Irish songs from the pubs and elevated them to the concert platform, where I think they rightly deserve to be," Kearns says, adding that Wednesday's show at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre likely will clock in at more than two hours."We have a broad canvas to work from and a wealth of repertoire to choose from."

The concert will offer a balanced mix of traditional Irish songs and modern Irish music, Kearns says.

"It's a fun show from start to finish," he says. "We're revisiting some songs that we did in the very first show in 1999 - songs that the crowd loves and are constantly asking for, so we said we'd refresh them and bring them back out again. They'll get a selection from all the shows that we've recorded, but there will also be new repertoire.

"We believe in moving forward." The Irish Tenors will perform at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

Irish Tenors
By CHRISTIAN C. RIX

The Irish Tenors served up a well-balanced two hours of singing, with songs veering from funny to sentimental, on Sunday evening at the Fox.

The tenors made their rousing one-night appearance in St. Louis as part of an eight-city road tour.

With St. Patrick's day in the offing, it's an obvious time to book the popular group. One might expect their followers to be dyed-in-the-wool Irish-Americans.

And, while it's true that many patrons could manage a passable brogue, the sentimental appeal of the group extends beyond ethnic limits. The Tenors' chosen repertory transcends those limits as well.

The trio - Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan and Finbar Wright - appears with a nearly 50-piece orchestra, an ensemble used to good purpose.

The instrumentalists provide a warm-up sequence to shepherd in the inevitable late-comers and cover some strategic breaks for the singers. The arrangements used were usually tasteful, even though they sometimes partake of a "John Williams visits the Emerald Isle" aesthetic.

Kearns, Tynan and Wright each own a pleasing tenor instrument of the traditional lyric variety. Kearns seemed a trifle stiff vocally at the outset, but gradually relaxed. Wright has a handsome voice and a handsome face, but remained physically stiff for the whole show. The jaunty, avuncular Tynan appeared at ease, vocally and physically, throughout.

Pacing was the key to their success in keeping the audience eating out of their hands.

Early in the program they charmed the crowd with some songs in Gaelic and touched a sentimental note with their popular "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears."

Generally, sentimental solos by each singer were interspersed with funny and serious group numbers. During the evening, Tynan showed a special partiality for songs by Phil Coulter.

But the program was not all traditional, and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "God Bless America" made appearances as well.

As the program closed, three encore numbers attested to the approval of their fans.

With this enthusiastic support, the Irish Tenors are likely to be on the scene in concert and recording for some time to come.

Irish Tenors bring culture and talent to the Kirby Considering his group has sold more than 1.5 million albums in the global marketplace since 1998, Irish Tenor member Anthony Kearns agreed that, whether or not he wants to be, he is a de-facto ambassador of both his group's style of music and his nation's culture.

"You are representing your country in cities around the world by singing the music that you love," Kearns said from his homeland. He and his fellow tenors, Ronan Tynan and Finbar Wright, who joined the group after John McDermott departed for a solo career in 2000, will bring the musical message to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre tonight.

"I feel that our music helps get Americans and all people, into the Irish spirit and makes them want to join in the fun. All that applause at the end of shows just lets us know we're doing something right," Kearns said with a laugh.

The tenors are returning to North America for a shorter series of dates, which serve as an encore presentation of last year's tour that played to many well attended theater venues.

Kearns noted that he has a sincere passion for his craft and a respect for the challenge that opera and orchestral arrangements present to a vocalist.

"I have a big love of opera and Irish music. Performing it the way we do gives a singer the opportunity to show off the voice. It's a bigger challenge, I feel, for an artist to project the way we have to on stage.

" With dates around St. Patrick's Day, the tour comes at a time when there is increased awareness in America to the Irish themes and scenes that are very prevalent in the act's operatically delivered songs. Kearns noted that recreating those scenes via his booming voice is something in which he takes a great amount of pride.

"Very much so. The characters we sing about- Percy French, the countryside lasses, and recorded events in history- a lot of those sites and people that would look as if they stepped right from the song are still around in Ireland.

Even today you can still see an old fella with a pipe in his mouth meandering through the green fields. I'm proud to be a part of continuing that culture and spreading its influence," Kearns said with humility.

Kearns acknowledged that certain facets of Irish culture have translated better than others.

"For some people it means Guinness and whiskey and St. Patrick's Day," Kearns joked, but added that there is a far more serious side to the influence that Irish culture has had in developing the American civilization.

In 2001 the Tenors recorded the album "Ellis Island," with actor Martin Sheen as emceeing the project. The album addressed in song and spoken word the history of immigration to America.

"The stories of immigration and the struggles of the common people -those are wonderful, powerful songs. They're timeless and a real joy to sing," Kearns said.

"You can feel the history and it means a lot to tell that story".

The tenors have spent St.Patrick's Day in both Ireland and the U.S. The talented Kearns noted that there is a marked difference in how each nation celebrates the holiday.

"It's much more of a party (in the U.S.). It's a bigger affair. In Ireland although people are aware of the holiday, it's more about going to mass and more of time at home. They have the national parade in Dublin of course, but no one ever thinks about turning the water green (as they do in Chicago) or anything like that," Kerns said adding that not everyone celebrates accurately.

"Every now and again you'll see someone (in the States) walking around with clover on their coat instead of a shamrock, but their heart's in the right place. It's great to see it.

" With five albums worth of music to choose from, Kearns admitted that sometimes putting a condensed, cohesive set list can be difficult.

"It's a good problem to have. We select what works best. This tour will be a mixture of all of the previous shows sampling from all of the music the Tenors have recorded- a sort-of mixed bag. It will have a lot of fun elements that allow us to be a bit theatrical and jump around, which people seem to like. And of course we'll have the 47-piece orchestra. It will be an interesting trip down memory lane."