Paul Austin Kelly (born 1960) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

singer. A former

rock musician Rock is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its ...

who has sung

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, the

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

also writes, records and performs music for children.

Musical beginnings

Kelly attended Rondout Valley High School in

Accord, New York Accord (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Ulster County, New York, United States. Accord is located in the eastern part of the Town of Rochester (not to be confused with the City of Rochester) along US 209. Accord is the ...

, and the Hartt School of Music in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 20 ...

. When he began his music career he fronted bands with names such as Legend, Black Dog and Guilded Spice. Kelly sang an eclectic mix of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. It wasn't until he went to music school that the operatic potential of his voice was discovered.

Opera performances

Kelly has sung with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

, the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, and

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The role of Count Almaviva in Rossini's ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'' has become his signature role. Kelly has also made numerous live performances on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio.

Recording

Kelly is an artist on the

Opera Rara Opera Rara is a London-based opera company and recording label which specialises in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1970 by bel canto enthusiasts Patric Schmid and Don Whi ...

music label, the

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

label and the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

label. In 2003 he launched the Walking Oliver children's music label. The label won the National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) in the children's music category for the CD ''Hello Michael Rosen''. The recording featured the poetry of children's literature icon Michael Rosen set to original music by Kelly. On the Walking Oliver CD titled ''Dreams'', Kelly provided music and vocals for poems composed by primary school children from across the UK who had been chosen as winners of the first Walking Oliver Poetry in Song Contest. In 2008 Kelly recorded the CD "The Song Is You" with British jazz pianist and producer Kenny Clayton. The CD contains popular music from the Great American Songbook by such composers as

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's ...

, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. In 2009 Kelly recorded "Where Did The Dinosaurs Go?" a CD recorded on the Walking Oliver label. The CD won an

iParenting Media iParenting Media was a company and then a unit of Disney Online that operated web sites, provided apps, and gave widely recognized prizes for content related to children and parenting. It was a separate company prior to the Disney acquisition. The ...

Award for Outstanding Audio.

Personal life

Kelly lives in

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

in southern England. It was while performing with the nearby

Glyndebourne Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

early in his career that he became enamored of the local area and decided to settle there with his wife, Carol. He still returns to his native country.

References

External links

*
Walking Oliver website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul Austin American operatic tenors Musicians from Kingston, New York Living people 1960 births University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male opera singers 21st-century American male opera singers American expatriates in England