David Downes

David Downes (* 1975 in Dublin , Ireland ) is an Irish composer, pianist, producer and music director. Downes is the co-founder and music director of the Irish group Celtic Woman .

Career

Downes graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied music and composition.

He has performed at Boston Symphony Hall , Carnegie Hall and Wembley Arena with artists and orchestras such as James Galway and Alan Stivell , the Boyzone group , and the Washington Symphony, Moravian Philharmonic, Hollywood Studio Symphony and National Symphony .

Downes recorded CDs with Moya Brennan , Clannad , Michael Crawford , Lisa Kelly . Michael W. Smith and Bill Whelan . As an orchestrator he worked for Riverdance on Broadway and Secret Garden .

He served as music director on Broadway for Riverdance and on the show's American and European tours. He and Sharon Browne later founded Celtic Woman .

Downes was Music Director at the inauguration of Irish President Mary McAleese in 2004. He also played for US Presidents Bill Clinton , George W. Bush and Barack Obama .

Music graphics

Songs

Downes wrote many songs himself for Celtic Woman like. Among other things, 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 lyrics who worked on the songs were mostly Caitríona Ní Dhúill, Barry McCrea, Shay Healy and Brendan Graham.

Television, film and theater

He produced the opening and closing songs as well as the choir for the Disney film Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure .

Work with other artists

In 2007, Downes recorded The Last Rose of Summer with former Celtic Woman member Hayley Westenra for her album Treasure . The song was recorded as a duet with Westenra and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha another member of Celtic Woman.

Awards

Celtic Woman albums have platinum status in several countries, the DVDs of their concerts are multi-platinum. They are very popular in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Austria and South Africa.

In 2010, Downes was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Musical Direction for a televised musical event category. Other nominations included The Olympic Games-Opening Ceremonies (won the EMMY), In Concert at the White House , The Kennedy Center Honors , and Andrea Bocelli and David Foster in concert .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Celtic Woman official website ( memento of the original dated August 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Official website ( Memento of February 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive )