PROVIDENCE – Everyone’s Irish on March 17, but this year’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day can start early. On March 16, Ireland’s own Frank McNamara will present a show at Providence Performing Arts Center that’s guaranteed to turn any music lover into a leprechaun, at least in spirit.
McNamara is internationally known as an arranger, conductor, composer and pianist. He is perhaps best recognized in the United States for helping found The Irish Tenors: he was their music director for five albums and three PBS specials, and toured with them across the country as well as in New Zealand and Australia.
“If You’re Irish...” is a program of dance tunes and ballads performed by well-known artists and supported by a full 60-piece orchestra and two choruses.
Irish tenor Derek Moloney is the top-selling Irish tenor in his native country. Deirdre Shannon is a soprano appearing with Celtic Woman and Lord of the Dance. Fiddler Cora Smyth of Lord of the Dance and Celtic Tiger fame rounds out the trio.
“This is the first North American tour,” McNamara said in a recent interview. “It’s a real family show.”
Along with the 75-member choir, the Southeastern Massachusetts festival chorus will perform. “I like to have local talent involved,” the conductor explained. “I’ll play the piano for a couple of songs, and we have big rousing Irish ballads and dance tunes – a hit list with unique arrangements.”??
Frank McNamara was apparently born musical – he certainly grew up that way.
“When I was three years old, I woke up one morning and there was a piano in the living room,” he said. “It had been delivered after I went to bed. I hardly knew what it was, but within two minutes I was playing a tune.”
McNamara explained that “the whole family was musical, and I knew I had a good ear.”
In St. Seachnaill parish in his home town, McNamara played in a folk group. There were four different Catholic churches where he lived, and he conducted their choirs.
“I used to play for three Masses every Sunday,” he recalled.
When he moved to Dublin, he offered his services for the 11 a.m. Mass. Soon he was involved in the noon Mass, and a folk group that played at evening Mass.
“When the organist left they said, ‘oh, he can do it all,’” McNamara laughed.
And “do it all” seems his lifelong motto. He first appeared on Irish national television at the tender age of 11. He graduated Trinity College in Dublin with music honors, and continued his studies privately.
Irish audiences are familiar with his work as music director on the televised Late Late Show for 20 years. As a composer, his credits include television themes, numerous works for orchestra, including a four-part classical work called Beatlesymphony, based on Beatles melodies.
McNamara was producer and musical director of The Young Messiah-Messiah XXI, an adaptation of Handel’s Messiah available on CD and DVD. He has made albums with The Irish Tenors, The American Tenors, Ronan Tynan, John McDermott, David Agnew, Rebecca Storm and Mary Lowe, among others.
In fact, his credits are too detailed to list, but all can be found on his website, frankmcnamara.com.
The February 16 show “If You’re Irish”? begins at 2 p.m. and runs two hours.
For tickets, call PPAC at 421-2787.
Even better, return the coupon below and enter Rhode Island Catholic’s raffle of tickets – two a week from now until show time.
