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  • "KCET PRESENTS TENORS, TENORS, TENORS" WITH THE IRISH TENORS AND THREE MO' TENORS AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
  • Jul. 11, 2003
  • Concert Kicks off Weekend Spectacular Series for
    Bowl's 2003 Summer Season

    FRIDAY, JULY 11 AND SATURDAY, JULY 12 AT 8:30 PM

    The Hollywood Bowl's 2003 Weekend Spectacular series kicks off with "KCET Presents TENORS, TENORS, TENORS: The Irish Tenors and Three Mo' Tenors," a vocal spectacular featuring these two acclaimed groups performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12, at 8:30 pm. The acclaimed tenors - Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan, and Finbar Wright, who comprise The Irish Tenors, and African-American opera stars Victor Trent Cook, Rodrick Dixon, and Thomas Young of Three Mo' Tenors - perform their own repertoire with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and join forces - and voices - in a finale that marks the two groups' first-ever collaboration. This concert includes the Bowl debuts of all six artists.

    Weekend Spectaculars provide a mix of musical styles and performers, each program enhanced by one of the Hollywood Bowl's two resident ensembles - the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

    ANTHONY KEARNS is a true lyric tenor with a very agile and flexible voice. Born in 1971 in a small Irish village in Wexford County, Kearns became interested in music at age four when he found his mother's button accordion and began experimenting with it. Now a self-taught accordionist, Kearns began singing at age 10. As an adult, he has won several competitions. Kearns reached a turning point in his career in 1993, when he entered the "Ireland's Search for a Tenor" contest. After winning the competition (the only untrained singer competing), he studied with Veronica Dunne at the Leinster School of Music for three years. Later, while studying in Wales with Gerald Wragg, he was asked to join The Irish Tenors and has since toured Germany, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Canada, and the United States as a member. With The Irish Tenors, Kearns has produced six CDs, selling millions of copies.

    Tenor RONAN TYNAN hails from Kilkenny, Ireland. Afflicted with lower leg problems in his early years followed by an amputation of his lower limbs at the age of 20, Tynan has since lived a life of determination and resilience. Within 12 months of his amputation, Tynan began winning medals at disabled games. In a three-year span (1981-1984), he amassed 18 gold medals and 14 world records in international track and field events. He then went on to become the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education in Limerick, followed by training in medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. It wasn't until Tynan was 30 that he started taking voice lessons. In 1992, he won the John McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice which helped lead to master classes with the famous Italian tenor Ugo Benelli in Genoa. While still a student in medicine in 1994, Tynan shot to stardom after winning the BBC talent competition and in 1996, he won the prestigious "Marmande" singing competition in France and was invited to be a part of the Pavarotti School. This rapid rise to prominence led to Sony Music offering him a recording deal and ultimately, a place with the Irish Tenors.

    FINBAR WRIGHT has emerged as one of Ireland's great romantic singers, destined to follow in that fine tradition. Already, he has enjoyed unqualified success and rapid rise to stardom. He has hosted his own highly rated television series for RTE, "Music of the Night," and appeared in major concert tours of Australia, Canada, and the USA. His first domestic album in 1991, "Because," went platinum; his second, "Whatever You Believe," reached number one and achieved triple platinum status within weeks of its release. "A Tribute to John McCormack," "Lift the Wings," and "I Give My Heart" have all followed the same platinum success. He has sold over 300,000 records in Ireland. Wright has given a recital for President Clinton at the state banquet held in his honor at Dublin Castle, and he has also sung before Pope John Paul II. He has appeared with Kiri Te Kanawa and sung with some of the world's leading orchestras. He has also been hailed as one of Ireland's finest musicians and picked up the award as "Best Irish Male Artist of the Year" at the Irish IRMA Awards. Wright is an accomplished pianist.

    VICTOR TRENT COOK, a native New Yorker, began singing at the age of three in his neighborhood church. Still a youngster, he was enrolled in the Brooklyn Boys Chorus School of Musical Training, under the direction of James McCarthy, moving less than two weeks later to the Concert Choir group. The concert choir enabled Cook to travel throughout the United States and Europe. His first professional endeavor, marking the beginning of his career, was singing a solo in Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with the New York Philharmonic, directed by Zubin Mehta. This soloist journey has continued, allowing Cook to perform under renowned conductors in some of the best concert halls in America. Cook's Broadway and television credits are also extensive.

    RODRICK DIXON's artistry combines a beautiful voice with a flair for acting and dancing. He has appeared on stage and in concert, throughout the United States and Europe, in a variety of dramatic roles that encompass the repertoire of opera, musical theater, operetta, and contemporary works. In addition, for three consecutive years, Dixon has been the tenor soloist for the popular "Do It Yourself" Messiah at Chicago's Orchestra Hall. Other notable operatic and Broadway performances include Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Kern's Show Boat. His television appearances include The Tony Awards, Good Morning America, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. Dixon was a 1991 winner of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant and won the "Tenor of the Year" award from the Mary Dawson Art Guild. He has also been the recipient of several scholarships and grants.

    Lyric tenor THOMAS YOUNG has appeared as a principal soloist in the major concert halls and opera houses of more than 20 countries, under the baton of several notable conductors. One of today's foremost interpreters of tenor roles in contemporary opera, Young made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the world premiere of Anthony Davis' Amistad. Marking another milestone for the tenor, The Trickster God was written for him by Davis and showcases the uniqueness of his voice.

    One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A hit from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 35th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12, 8:30 PM

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL (2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood)

    KCET Presents Tenors, Tenors, Tenors

    THREE IRISH TENORS (Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan, and Finbar Wright)

    THREE MO' TENORS (Victor Trent Cook, Rodrick Dixon, and Thomas Young)

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Tickets ($3 - $105) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley, 323.850.2047; Rachelle Roe, 323.850.2032; Laura Segal Stegman, 310.645.1755