Irish tenor Ronan Tynan has special rapport with America’s injured veterans and said he feels honored to participate in the Maryland Public Television musical tribute to all veterans.
The musical tribute scheduled for PBS airing on Veterans Day in November will be taped in the Music Center at Strathmore Wednesday.
The free, ticketed event open to all on a first-come, first-served basis boasts a powerhouse cast backed by the United States Air Force Symphony Orchestra and the Singing Sergeants led by Col. Dennis M. Layendecker. Joining Tynan on stage will be pianist and Great American Songbook raconteur Michael Feinstein, blues diva Shemekia Copland and actor Louis Gossett Jr.
“I’m looking forward to this event because I just visited the veterans at Bethesda,” Tynan says. “I’ve sung with the Air Force musicians in the past and I know Michael very well, so while I’m not at liberty to talk about the program, I can say that the music is triumphant and uplifting and the entire evening will be very positive. You can also be sure that I won’t let the opportunity pass without singing an Irish song.”
Tynan’s own life exemplifies all that is positive and uplifting. While in college, he lost both legs following an automobile accident, but that did not deter him from pursuing athletics. After winning 18 gold medals and 14 world records in the Paralympics, he attended Trinity College and became a medical doctor specializing in orthopedic injuries.
Although music was an integral pleasure of his life, he never studied voice until he was 33. The hobby exploded into fame when he won both the BBC talent show “Go For It” and the John McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice. In rapid succession, he won the International Operatic Singing Competition in France, made his operatic debut and joined The Irish Tenors. Thrust into the international limelight with the trio, he discovered that he could do great good for others as a singer, just as he had as a physician.
The positive feedback inspired him to launch a solo career. His self-titled debut album was a hit on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart right behind Josh Groban and reached No. 2 on the World Chart. His latest CD, “Sing Me an Irish Song,” will be followed by a recording of contemporary songs. Tynan’s compassion for others is reflected in “A Mother’s Plea,” the song he sings for the Smile Train project to repair cleft palates, and in “This is the Hour,” the number he wrote and performed for the Special Olympics held in Ireland.
“That song performed with the kids raised a lot of money for them,” he says. “It’s rewarding to watch people compete under trying conditions and put so much effort into it. My father always said if you change one person’s life, you’ve succeeded.”
Tynan heeded his father’s words many times over in his efforts to heal the survivors of Sept. 11 in their grief. His fondness for this country is reflected wherever he sings “God Bless America” and encourages others to pursue their own impossible dreams with his popular motivational speeches.
“I love this country for its people,” he says. “They enjoy your success and give three times back what you give them. Like America, every part of Ireland is beautiful and the nation we know and love today would not have been possible without the men who sacrificed their lives for it.”
