The Celtic Tenors return to Savannah to prep you for St. Patrick's Day
Maybe you caught The Celtic Tenors last time they were in town on a double bill with Celtic Woman. If you did, you experienced the mighty entertainment dynamics that Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson, and Daryl Simpson pack into a lively evening of song and story. They are witty, affable and exceptionally versatile singers.
After six years The Celtic Tenors return mid-week just in time to kick-off Savannah’s iconic St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The talented trio headlines two nights of performances at District Live at Plant Riverside District that feature traditional Irish music, opera classics and contemporary hits along with their signature storytelling.
For Gilsenan, Nelson and Simpson, 2023 stands significant, marking 20 years officially performing together as The Celtic Tenors. In the mid-1990s, the friends met while working in an opera in Dublin. They hit it off instantly, enjoying each other’s company and different approaches to music.
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“It was then that we sort of joked ‘wouldn’t it be fun to do our twist on The Three Tenors,’ and we ran with the idea,” said Daryl Simpson. “By 1999, we were signed to EMI classics and kept working to build our performances for broader touring. One thing many people say the first time they hear us is they can’t get their heads around the variety and range of styles we do. We are much more than opera tenors.”
Each of the men hails from rigorous training in diverse arrays of musical styles. Simpson, with degrees from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Royal Scottish Academy, also has an extensive background in American jazz and blues. James Nelson is the opera aficionado of the trio with years of operatic training and performance in Ireland, Sweden, Germany and the UK. Matthew Gilsenan, who stepped away from a successful engineering career to join Ireland’s National Chamber Choir, is rooted in a rural Irish family that instilled in him a love of traditional and contemporary Irish music.
Together, they blend their varied musical backgrounds into the wide-ranging sonic romp that is The Celtic Tenors.
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“Both nights will heavily feature Irish music. I mean, you can’t do a proper two nights before St. Patrick’s Day without “Danny Boy,”” chuckled Simpson. “But we’ll weave in our take on songs we really like. We’ve worked up a version of Dolly Parton’s “From Here to the Moon and Back,” and we have a take on Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” with really nice harmony arrangements. These are just fundamentally good songs, and that’s what we like. Good songs transcend genre and can be performed and interpreted in many different ways.”
With more than 20 years working together, the trio has released six albums, and toured through Europe, North America and the Middle East. For the past 17 years, they’ve regularly returned to the United States in March because of how much Americans are enamored of St. Patrick’s Day. But it was a recent series of performances in Asia in which the tenors were reminded of the connective power of music.
“We toured China with a symphony orchestra, something we’d never done before,” recalled Simpson. “And it was incredible to realize that though Irish and Chinese culture is very, very different, tonally Irish music relates to and has strong similarity with traditional Chinese music. We had brilliant moments on that tour recognizing the commonality shared between our different music traditions.”
This month, The Celtic Tenors have a non-stop run of gigs in the U.S. — from Florida to Pennsylvania, Kansas, Georgia and New York before going back home in early April. But they are really looking forward to returning to the Hostess City.
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“Our travels across the world have broadened our understanding of musical traditions, and that’s a really important part of our journey,” emphasized Simpson. “Another part is sharing Irish music and culture and how we blend our music within different cultures and genres. If people are looking for a fun night of entertaining music, this is it, with lots of storytelling like three goofy brothers joking and encouraging everyone to have the best time.”
IF YOU GO
What: The Celtic Tenors
When: Wednesday, March 15, 8 p.m.; Thursday, March 16, 8 p.m.
Where: District Live, 400 West River Street, Savannah
Cost: $50 general admission
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 2023 Savannah St. Patrick's Day: The Celtic Tenors at District Live
