David to tour USA with tenors
DUNDALK tenor David Martin took time out from his rehearsal for a concert with the Number One Army Band in the TLT Drogheda, to talk about his plans for a forthcoming tour of the United States as part of the Five Irish Tenors and of taking his solo career to another level.
David, a member of the Defence Forces, has been singing for most of his life.
He started singing as an eight year old at the Redeemer School, and by the time he was eleven, he was singing for the elderly residents in the Carroll Mead hall.
He did this regularly until he went to the Christian Brothers School (now Colaiste Ris) in 1978, as he became very much involved in sport and other activities. Singing was put on the back burner, with performances limited to birthday parties and weddings.
His interest in music blossomed again when he was encouraged to go on stage and he began performing with the Dundalk Musical Society.
He started voice training with Geraldine McGee and in the years following, he competed in various Feis Ceoil around the country with great success. In 1999, after winning both The Tenor Solo and the Joseph O’ Mara Memorial Cup for Operatic Aria in Dublin, he began his studies with Dr Veronica Dunne and Jeannie Reddin in the Leinster College of Music and Drama.
He has featured on radio and television and has appeared in the National Concert Hall as well as venues throughout Ireland, the UK, and Europe.
Now, he is getting ready for a major tour three month of north America with fellow tenors Alan Leech, George Hutton, Morgan Crowley and Ciaran Kelly.
‘We will be doing 48 concerts in all and will have two grand pianos on stage,’ said David, who is very much looking forward to the tour, despite the fact that they will be living out of suitcases for most of the time.
They begin the tour in Florida on January 14 and then work their way up the east coast before criss crossing the country to the west.
Featuring both famously beloved Irish song and opera arias in combinations of tenor solos, duets, trios, quartets, quintets and tutti, the programme will see them singing, among others, ‘Down by the Sally Gardens,’ Verdi’s ‘ O Mio Rimorso’ from La Traviata, Mozart’s ‘Il Mio Tesoro,’ ‘She Moves Through the Fair,’ ‘Will You Go Lassie Go,’ and ‘ Danny Boy’.
He is very grateful to the Defence Forces for allowing him to take a sabbatical to embark on this major tour, which is being promoted by Columbia Artists’ Management.
It’s also hoped that this, their first international tour, will be followed by a tour of China in 2018.
In the meantime, David is also concentrating on establishing his name as a soloist.
‘My first concert will be in The Spirit Store on January 8, just before we set off for the United States,’ he says.
For this he will be joined by a quintet featuring Jillian Saunders on piano, Blaithin Cahill Gregg on violin, Eimear Heeney on second violin, Gerri Dunne on cello, and Derek Bolger of the Army Number 1 Band on percussion.
‘We will be performing a mixed programme including works by Puccini, Mozart, Verdi and Donizetti as well as contemporary musicals, Irish ballads and seasonal classics.’
His second local performance on his return from the American tour, will see him perform during the revived Maytime Festival.