Scott Douglas MacIntyre (born June 22, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist, and the eighth place finalist on the eighth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''. MacIntyre is visually impaired, and while not completely blind, he has

tunnel vision Tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision. Causes Tunnel vision can be caused by: Eyeglass users Eyeglass users experience tunnel vision ...

and has only a two-percent field of vision, both due to

Leber's congenital amaurosis Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life. It affects about 1 in 40,000 newborns. LCA was first described by Theodor Leber in the 19th century. It should not be ...

Personal Life

MacIntyre was born in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

to Douglas R. and Carole C. (Williams) MacIntyre and has a younger brother, Todd (born 1988) and a younger sister, Katelyn (born 1991). MacIntyre started playing the piano by ear when he was three years old. He was taught by a neighborhood piano teacher near their home in

. At six years of age, he began training in classical music. When Scott turned 10, the family moved to

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. They lived there for four years, and in that time Scott studied at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edwar ...

. The MacIntyre family then relocated to Arizona and Scott studied under Walter Cosand, a university professor of

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. He was home-schooled until the age of 14, when he was admitted into Arizona State University's Barrett Honors College and Herberger College of the Arts. Scott won the 2004 Arizona Young Artists Competition at Herberger Theater in the vocal division. In 2005, ''USA Today'' named him one of its twenty College Academic All-Stars and he was offered Marshall and Fulbright scholarships. Also in 2005, MacIntyre performed as a guest soloist with the

Phoenix Symphony The Phoenix Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Phoenix, Arizona. The orchestra performs primarily at Phoenix Symphony Hall, and is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the state of Arizona. History Founded in 1947, th ...

. The same year, MacIntyre was diagnosed with kidney disease and in November 2006, he had to spend ten months undergoing dialysis, severely hampering his capacity to perform and travel. In 2007 on August 22, Walter Cosand's wife Patricia donated her kidney to MacIntyre, which saved his life. He graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Piano Performance in 2005, and he was received in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

by Laura Bush as one of the RFB&D (Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic) scholarship winners in 2006. He obtained his master's degree of Performance Studies at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, where he studied on the

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarsh ...

, one of the most competitive scholarships in the United States, awarded to only 40 American students each year. After his successful run on ''American Idol,'' he began dating childhood friend Christina Teich at the end of 2009. In February 2011, the two announced their engagement in People magazine and were married on August 18, 2011, in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2014, MacIntyre was put back on the waiting list for a second kidney transplant, and the following year he received a kidney from an anonymous living-donor. After the successful surgery, he met his kidney donor, Misty, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

''American Idol''

Overview

MacIntyre auditioned for the eighth season of ''

'' in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. He is the first visually impaired finalist on the show. MacIntyre was eliminated on April 8, 2009, and came in eighth place. MacIntyre was scheduled to perform during the Season 8 Finale with special guest Billy Joel, but the performance was scrapped after Joel unexpectedly cancelled. He performed on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 featuring the Top 10 finalists.

Performances and results

* MacIntyre was saved first from elimination.

Career

MacIntyre released many albums before becoming a finalist of American Idol. He produced his first CD when he was eleven, and he has recorded several more CDs since then spanning genres from classical to pop. In 2000, at the age of 15, he made his orchestral debut performing with the Phoenix Symphony as a guest piano soloist. In 2002 he competed in, and won, the Butterfield Young Artist Competition at ASU. He also won the VSA Arts 2008 Young Soloists Award. MacIntyre released a post-Idol Christmas EP "Christmas Angel" to iTunes in 2009, and the title track became a top indie holiday radio single in the US. His first full-length post-Idol album, ''Heartstrings'' was released on March 11, 2010, to MacIntyre's web site and to digital retailers. Scott performed on American Idol on March 11 to promote his album. This album was re-released in 2012 with new original bonus tracks including "I Am Hope" which became an anthem for the organ donation community and one of MacIntyre's most popular songs. In April 2012 MacIntyre released his first book, ''By Faith, Not By Sight,'' with Nashville-based publisher Thomas Nelson. The memoir chronicles the challenges of growing up blind, learning to play the piano, and dealing with an unexpected illness that almost took his life before he ever competed on the popular reality show. The book is available on Amazon, Walmart, and Barnes and Noble. In August 2013 Scott launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised almost 40k for his album, "Lighthouse," which would release the following year. In November 2013 Scott released his first full-length Christmas album, ''Christmas in Paris.'' The album features twelve tracks including ten arrangements of traditional holiday songs and two original songs, "Christmas Angel," written by MacIntyre and "Christmas in Paris," written by MacIntyre, Aaron Steenhoven and Ryan Hydro. Following the release of "Lighthouse," MacIntyre wrote the theme song for the feature film, "If I Had Wings," about a blind teen who wants to run track and field. The music video for the song features footage from the film. In 2020, MacIntyre and his wife produced a television special entitled "Enduring Hope" which aired internationally and surpassed 1 million viewers in 2023. The couple also launched a companion devotional podcast of the same name.

Discography

Classical albums

*1997 – ''Seeing Through Sound at Eleven'' *1999 – ''Brothers for all Seasons'' *2000 – ''Grand Classics''

Pop albums

*2003 – ''My Guarantee'' *2006 – ''Somewhere Else'' *2010 – ''Heartstrings'' *2012 – ''Heartstrings'' w/ bonus tracks *2013 – ''Christmas in Paris'' *2014 – ''Lighthouse'' *2021 – ''Enduring Hope''

Collaborations

*2005 – ''MacIntyre Family Singers'' (with the MacIntyre family) *2008 – ''Ripped'' (with brother Todd in the band "The Glutes")

EPs

*2009 – ''View From Above''View from Above: Scott Douglas MacIntyre: MP3 Downloads
Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2012-03-10. *2009 – ''Christmas Angel'' *2017 – ''Hope Is Rising''

Singles

*2011 – ''I Wanna Be There'' *2016 – ''Emmanuel'' *2018 – ''Look Up!''

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Scott MacIntyre – Season 8 Contestants
at the ''American Idol'' website (owned by Fox Interactive Media)
Scott Douglas MacIntyre Official Website''The Glutes''
Scott and Todd's band {{DEFAULTSORT:Macintyre, Scott 1985 births Living people 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the Royal College of Music American expatriates in Canada American Idol participants American pop keyboardists American male singer-songwriters American multi-instrumentalists Arizona State University alumni Blind musicians Guitarists from Arizona Guitarists from California Marshall Scholars Musicians from Redondo Beach, California Musicians from Scottsdale, Arizona The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Singer-songwriters from Arizona Singer-songwriters from California 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century American pianists American male pianists American male guitarists 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers American blind people American musicians with disabilities Rock musicians from Arizona