Saturday 3 May 1997

FRANK McNAMARA

Born: May 8th, 1960, Thurles (Ireland)
Nationality: Irish

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview


BIOGRAPHY

Frank McNamara studied the piano and composition at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, whilst also spending some time at conservatories in London and Canada. In 1981, he successfully finished his music studies at Dublin’s Trinity College. His professional career had already started earlier, when he became the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra´s pianist. From 1979 onwards, he was the musical director of RTÉ’s highly popular Late Late Show

McNamara released solo records, but specialized in arranging and producing for other artists, including the Irish Tenors, LeAnn Rimes, and the American Tenors. In 1999, he was the producer and MD of the musical Messiah XXI, starring Roger Daltrey and Gladys Knight. The orchestras which he conducted as a guest, include the Boston Pops, the Baltimore Symphonic, and the Melbourne Symphonic. In 2007, running for the Progressive Democrats, McNamara tried to get elected for Irish parliament, but he was defeated in his constituency.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 

Frank McNamara can claim that he arranged two Irish winning Eurovision entries in two consecutive years, ‘Why Me?’ (1992) and ‘In Your Eyes’ (1993), sung by Linda Martin and Niamh Kavanagh respectively; as a matter of course, both entries were conducted by Noel Kelehan. In 1994 and 1995, McNamara arranged and conducted the Icelandic entries ‘Nætur’ and ‘Núna’, while he also composed the postcard music in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in collaboration with David Hayes. Moreover, in 1995 he was involved in arranging the Irish entry, 'Dreamin'' by Eddie Friel. 

In 1997, McNamara jumped in as the musical director of the contest final held in Dublin, replacing Noel Kelehan who was ill at that time. Finally, in 2001, McNamara arranged the studio version of 'Without Your Love', with which Gary O'Shaughnessy represented the Emerald Isle in the festival final held in Copenhagen - the contest by then being held without an orchestra present.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

Country – Ireland
Song title – “Why Me?”
Rendition – Linda Martin
Lyrics – Johnny Logan (Seán Sherrard)
Composition – Johnny Logan (Seán Sherrard)
Studio arrangement – Frank McNamara
Live orchestration – Frank McNamara
Conductor – Noel Kelehan
Score – 1st place (155 votes)

Country – Ireland
Song title – “In Your Eyes”
Rendition – Niamh Kavanagh
Lyrics – Jimmy Walsh
Composition – Jimmy Walsh
Studio arrangement – Frank McNamara
Live orchestration – Frank McNamara
Conductor – Noel Kelehan (MD)
Score – 1st place (187 votes)

Country – Iceland
Song title – “Nætur”
Rendition – Sigga (Sigriður Beinteinsdóttir)
Lyrics – Stefán Hilmarsson
Composition – Friðrik Karlsson
Studio arrangement – Friðrik Karlsson / Frank McNamara
Live orchestration – Frank McNamara
Conductor – Frank McNamara
Score – 12th place (49 votes)

Country – Ireland
Song title – “Dreamin'”
Rendition – Eddie Friel
Lyrics – Richard Abbott / Barry Woods
Composition – Richard Abbott / Barry Woods
Studio arrangement – Frank McNamara
Live orchestration – Frank McNamara
Conductor – Noel Kelehan (MD)
Score – 14th place (44 votes)

Country – Iceland
Song title – “Núna”
Rendition – Bo Haldórsson
Lyrics – Jón Örn Marinósson
Composition – Björgvin Haldórsson / Ed Welch
Studio arrangement – Björgvin Haldórsson / Frank McNamara
Live orchestration – Frank McNamara
Conductor – Frank McNamara
Score – 15th place (31 votes)

Musical director - no entries conducted

2001 Copenhagen
Country – Ireland
Song title – “Without Your Love”
Rendition – Gary O'Shaughnessy
Lyrics – Pat Sheridan
Composition – Pat Sheridan
Studio arrangement – Frank McNamara
Live orchestration – none
Conductor – none
Score – 21st place (6 votes) 

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