David Downes is a composer, pianist, producer, and music director who is known for both contemporary composition as well as work in the commercial field, particularly with Riverdance and as founder of

Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...

Career

David Downes was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland. He graduated from

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

where he studied Music and Composition. He has performed at venues around the world, including

Boston Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1900. Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, it was built for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the h ...

, Carnegie Hall and

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-se ...

, appearing with soloists

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstan ...

and

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specificall ...

, the group

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Step ...

, and the Washington Symphony,

Moravian Philharmonic The Moravian Philharmonic (''Moravská filharmonie Olomouc'') is a Czech classical orchestra founded in 1945. Its resident venue is the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc. The current director is conductor Petr Vronský. Notable collaborators include ...

Hollywood Studio Symphony The Hollywood Studio Symphony (sometimes the Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony) is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', ''Suck ...

and

National Symphony National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

orchestras. He has made recordings with

Moya Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' a ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

and

Bill Whelan Bill Whelan (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, '' Riverdance'', was a seven-minute display of tr ...

. He has acted as orchestrator for ''Riverdance on Broadway'' and ''Secret Garden'' most notably. He joined

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions ...

where he was Music Director on Broadway, as well as for the American and European touring companies. Later he and Sharon Browne formed '

', which has toured across the world with platinum recordings in the US, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and major following in Asia, Europe and South America. He acted as musical director for Irish President

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

's Inauguration in 2004. He has performed for U.S. Presidents

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

. He recently composed a new contemporary work for piano, cello and spoken word in collaboration with poet Adam Wyeth, entitled ''there will be no silence'', which was performed and recorded by Rolf Hind, Adrian Mantu and actors Aisling O'Sullivan and

Owen Roe Owen Roe O'Neill (Irish: ''Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill;'' – 1649) was a Gaelic Irish soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster. O'Neill left Ireland at a young age and spent most of his life as a mercenary in the Spanish A ...

Musicography

Original songs

Downes has written many original songs for Celtic Woman, including: ''The Soft Goodbye'', ''Send Me a Song'', ''One World'', ''The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun'', ''At the Céili'', ''Sing Out!'', ''Granuaile's Dance'', ''The Lost Rose Fantasia'', ''The Blessing'', ''The Call'', ''Green the Whole Year Round'', ''Walking The Night'' and ''Tabhair Dom Do Lamh''. The lyricists with whom he has collaborated most frequently are Caitríona Ní Dhúill,

Barry McCrea Barry McCrea (born 15 October 1974) is an Irish writer and academic. He grew up in Dalkey, County Dublin, and was educated at the Jesuit Gonzaga College, and Trinity College, Dublin (1993–1997) where he studied French and Spanish literature. ...

Shay Healy Shay Healy (29 March 1943 – 9 April 2021) was an Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of ''Nighthawks'', a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for composing "What's ...

and

Brendan Graham Brendan Graham (born 1945) is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and " The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and " You ...

Television, film and theatre

His credits include ''Thou Shalt Not Kill'', ''The Enemy Within'', ''The Hunt For Red Willie at the Peacock Theatre'',

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and playwright, known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accol ...

's ''

Escanaba in da Moonlight ''Escanaba in da Moonlight'' is a 2001 American comedy film written, directed, and starring Jeff Daniels. It is a comedy about hunting and hunting traditions and is set (and filmed) in the Escanaba, Michigan area. The film uses Upper Peninsula ...

'' and ''

The Shaughraun ''The Shaughraun'' () is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was first performed at Wallack's Theatre, New York, on 14 November 1874. Dion Boucicault played Conn in the original production. The play was a hu ...

'' at the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

in Dublin and London's West End. He produced opening and closing songs, as well as acting as choral arranger for the Disney movie '' Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure''. Also, he has been working on a drama, which is based on the

Easter Rising of 1916 The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, featuring

Lisa Lambe Lisa Lambe is an Irish singer, actress,songwriter and folklorist. Acting career Lisa graduated with a degree in acting from Trinity College Dublin. She was nominated for a Best Actress Award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards for her performan ...

and Malcolm Sinclair, known as ''The Bloody Irish''. He recently composed the music for the Irish Repertory Theatre New York's staging of Marina Carr's ''The Cordelia Dream'' and worked as performer, arranger and orchestrator on the recent ''Riverdance: An Animated Adventure'' movie.

Work with other artists

In 2007, Downes helped former Celtic Woman member

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, '' Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million ...

to record ''The Last Rose of Summer'' for her album ''Treasure''. The song was sung as a duet by Westenra and another member of Celtic Woman,

Méav Ní Mhaolchatha Méav Ní Mhaolchatha ( , ), mononymously known as Méav, is an Irish singer, songwriter and recording artist specialising in the traditional music of her homeland. She was one of the original soloists in the musical ensemble Celtic Woman, whic ...

, while Downes led the orchestra. He has worked with singer Bryan Adams through his foundation.

Awards

Celtic Woman albums have been credited platinum in many countries, and the DVDs of their TV concerts multi-platinum, in some cases, with notable popularity in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Austria and South Africa. In 2010 Downes was nominated for an EMMY award for Outstanding Musical Direction for a televised musical event. Other nominees included The Olympic Games-Opening Ceremonies (which won the EMMY), In Concert at the White House, The Kennedy Center Honours, and

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

and

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

in concert.

References

External links

David Downes official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downes, David 1975 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish male songwriters Irish pianists Musicians from County Dublin 21st-century pianists