Celebrating the Songs of The Legendary Irish Tenor, John McCormack

Come along to what promises to be an enchanting afternoon concert which will celebrate the songs of the legendary Irish Tenor John McCormack, and it will also give you a chance to hear some of Ireland’s best loved old Irish ballads and songs. Among the songs which John will sing for you will be ‘Danny Boy’, ‘The Rose Of Tralee’, ‘She Moved Through the Fair’, ‘Star Of the County Down’, ‘My Lagan Love” and he will also perform his spell-binding rendition of “Take Me Home Again Kathleen”!

John Doherty is of Irish Traveller heritage and he grew up steeped in the Irish song tradition. As a young man John always loved to sing, and possessing a captivating voice he started taking lessons with some of the best singing teacher here in London, among them the late Yohanes Sookoor, John Wardram, Beryl Foster and he currently studies under the acclaimed singing tutor Alan Young.  John won first place in numerous singing competitions, including ones in The North London Music Festival, The Hertfordshire Music Festival and he also won the Percy Gold Cup for Singing. Blessed with a Tenor voice, John can sings in operatic style and in the “Bel Canto’  style, (the Italian vocal style of the 18th and early 19th centuries), just like his hero, the great John McCormack – and so in this concert you’ll hear John pay tribute to McCormack by bringing you his own special renditions of many of McCormack’s best loved songs. John Doherty will be accompanied on the piano by the gifted pianist Geoffrey Whitworth.

Geoffrey Whitworth spent 7 years as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music and was awarded distinction in Piano by Herbert Howells. Three years later he graduated in Music at Gonville And Caius College, Cambridge. He accompanies singers and instrumentalists at concerts and recitals.  He also plays a solo repertoire and he also specialises in  playing the music of Beethoven and Chopin 

Some of the Proceeds from this concert will go to CANCER RESERACH

About John McCormack: John McCormack was an Irish lyric tenor celebrated for his performances of operatic and popular songs. Born in Athlone, County Westmeath in 1884, as a young man McCormack knew that he wanted to sing, and he knew that he had the raw talent, so, he travelled to Italy, where he had singing lessons with the acclaimed Vincenzo Sabatini. McCormack soon proved he had the stuff to be an international star, selling out shows in Ireland, England, the US, and Australia. He became a huge star in both Ireland and the USA, he shattered all box office records, was considered to be one of the world’s first radio megastars and he was the best-paid concert singer in history.