Ronan Tynan is
truly a modern day “Renaissance Man.” Faced with numerous challenges
throughout his well documented life, he has persevered with enormous passion
and zest. He attributes his success to his faith and the knowledge that the
Man Above guides him through every door he opens. Introduced to
international audiences as a member of the Irish Tenors, Tynan quickly
became known for his unique voice and irresistible appeal. Following his
mother’s advice to always follow your dreams, Tynan decided to launch a solo
career, and has achieved the fame and adoration that could have existed only
in the farthest reaches of his dreams.
Tynan’s singing offered
the gentlest consolation at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in the
summer of 2004, when an international TV audience of more than 35 million
heard him sing “Amazing Grace” and Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” at the personal
invitation of Nancy Reagan. Ronan is also famous for being the voice of the
New York Yankees; his performances of “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium
during the seventh-inning stretch have been nothing short of unforgettable.
Ronan’s ability to
simultaneously console and inspire is well-documented. In the wake of 9/11,
the men and women of the New York Police Department and New York Fire
Department and their families have been able to count on Ronan Tynan’s
abiding concern and beautiful voice. Ronan has performed at benefits and
memorial services for New York’s Finest and Bravest, and his singing
softened the sorrow of many in the wake of the tragedy.
Though Ronan
enjoyed singing as a boy, he did not seriously consider formal voice study
until he was 33, when he was well into his residency as a physician. His
quick success is a typical development in a life of extraordinary
achievement. Born with lower limb disability that threatened to sideline him
throughout his childhood, Tynan was still “as wild as a March hare” when he
was a growing boy, riding horses and racing motorcycles. When he was
twenty, his legs had to be amputated below the knee after an auto accident
caused serious complications. Just weeks after the operation, he was
climbing up the steps of his college dorm, and within a year, he was winning
gold medals in the Paralympics as a multitalented athlete. Between 1981 and
1984, Tynan amassed eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records of which
he still holds nine.
The determination
instilled in Ronan by his parents, a diminutive couple with gigantic
ambitions for their son, soon propelled him to conquer a whole new field.
Tynan became the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College
of Physical Education. He later became a full-fledged medical doctor,
specializing in orthopedic sports injuries, with a degree from prestigious
Trinity College.
Ronan won both the John
McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go For It
less than one year after beginning the study of voice. The following year,
he won the International Operatic Singing Competition in Maumarde, France.
He made his operatic debut as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly,
and cut his teeth on the concert repertoire in performances of Verdi’s
Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah,
Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. In
1998, Tynan joined Anthony Kearns and John McDermott (later Finbar Wright)
as The Irish Tenors, an instant worldwide sensation. His autobiography
Halfway Home was published in February of 2002.
The big Irishman
has a special relationship with American audiences now, and he considers New
York his home away from home. “New York is powerful and intense, and it begs
you to take it on,” Tynan marvels. “If you do that and do it right, it will
give you absolutely everything you want. The thing I love about New York and
the states is that there are so many people who want you to do well. They
will you to do well. They encourage you, and they rejoice in your success.
That’s a great virtue.