Pzazz

Last updated

Pzazz
Origin Ireland
Genres Classical
Website Official site

Pzazz are a group of young Irish sopranos.

They have released one single, "Daughter of Connolly", which is to be used as the theme song for the upcoming movie Connolly, a film about James Connolly.

The women are Claire Halligan and Fiona McManus. [1]

Three of the women are classically trained sopranos. They all had performing experience before joining the group. Halligan had toured and performed with numerous orchestras, appearing on TV and singing and acting in a number of stage productions. McManus had appeared on TV's "Popstars" and had obtained a music degree from Trinity College.

Pzazz completed their national tour of Ireland, supporting The Celtic Tenors in late December 2005/January 2006. They received a considerable amount of media attention in Ireland around April/May 2006, when they appeared in many magazines, for example ( The Star , News of the World ), newspapers ( The Irish Times , Irish Independent , Irish Examiner ), national radio (BBC Radio Ulster, RTÉ with Tom McGurk [2] ), and television (RTÉ's "Nationwide", TV3's "Ireland AM") amongst many others.

Related Research Articles

Elvis Costello English singer-songwriter

Declan Patrick MacManus OBE, known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Moya Brennan Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist

Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed the band Clannad. Brennan released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, a successful venture. She has received a Grammy Award from five nominations and has won an Emmy Award. She has recorded music for several soundtracks, including Titanic, To End All Wars and King Arthur.

Steven Van Zandt American musician and actor

Steven Van Zandt, also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor, activist and author. He is best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He is also known for his roles in several television drama series, including as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos (1999–2007) and as Frank Tagliano in Lilyhammer (2012–2014). Van Zandt has his own solo band called Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul, intermittently active since the 1980s. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band. Van Zandt has produced music, written songs, and had his own songs covered by Bruce Springsteen, Meat Loaf, Nancy Sinatra, Pearl Jam, Artists United Against Apartheid, and the Iron City Houserockers, among others.

The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Previous editors were Conor Brady, Vincent Browne, Peter Murtagh, Matt Cooper and Paddy Murray. The Sunday Tribune was founded in 1980, closed in 1982, relaunched in 1983 and entered receivership in February 2011 after which it ceased to trade.

The Dubliners Irish folk band

The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-year career, but the group's success was centred on lead singers Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew. The band garnered international success with their lively Irish folk songs, traditional street ballads and instrumentals. The band were regulars on the folk scenes in both Dublin and London in the early 1960s, and were signed to the Major Minor label in 1965 after backing from Dominic Behan who was paid by Major-Minor to work with the Dubliners and help them to build a better act fit for larger concert hall venues. The Dubliners worked with Behan regularly between 1965 and 1966; Behan wrote numerous songs for this act including the song McAlpine's Fusiliers created specifically to showcase Ronnie Drew's gravel voice. They went on to receive extensive airplay on Radio Caroline which was part owned by Phil Solomon CEO of Major Minor, and eventually appeared on Top of the Pops in 1967 with hits "Seven Drunken Nights" and "The Black Velvet Band". Often performing political songs considered controversial at the time, they drew criticism from some folk purists and Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ had placed an unofficial ban on their music from 1967 to 1971. During this time the band's popularity began to spread across mainland Europe and they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States. The group's success remained steady right through the 1970s and a number of collaborations with The Pogues in 1987 saw them enter the UK Singles Chart on another two occasions.

The Clancy Brothers Irish band

The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popularising Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalising it in Ireland, contributing to an Irish folk boom with groups like the Dubliners and the Wolfe Tones.

Snow Patrol Northern Irish-Scottish rock band

Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, Paul Wilson, Jonny Quinn (drums), and Johnny McDaid. Initially an indie rock band, Snow Patrol rose to prominence in the early– mid-2000s as part of the post-Britpop movement.

Ronnie Drew Musical artist

Joseph Ronald Drew was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners.

Michelle McManus Scottish singer-songwriter, columnist, and actress

Michelle McManus is a Scottish singer, columnist, and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show Pop Idol in 2003.

Liz McClarnon Musical artist

Elizabeth Margaret McClarnon is an English pop singer, songwriter, dancer, television presenter and actress. She is the longest serving member of the girl group Atomic Kitten, with whom she has scored three number-one singles and also two number-one albums. In 2006, she went solo and the group reformed in 2012 as part of The Big Reunion. McClarnon co-wrote several Atomic Kitten songs, including the UK top 10 hits "See Ya", "I Want Your Love" and "Someone Like Me".

Anna Maria Manahan was an Irish stage, film and television actress.

Tom McGurk is an Irish poet, journalist, radio presenter and sportscaster from Brockagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He attended Portadown College. He studied English and Philosophy at Queen's University Belfast. He was involved in the Civil Rights demonstrations while at Queen's.

Aoife Mulholland Irish actress

Aoife Mulholland is an Irish actress and musical theatre performer from Salthill, Galway. Aoife is a successful leading lady in London's West End. She has starred as Roxie Hart (twice) in Chicago, at the Cambridge Theatre and for 18 months as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music at the London Palladium; and as Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre. She has also appeared in concerts, films and several popular TV series.

Eimear Quinn Irish singer and composer (born 1972)

Eimear Mary Rose Quinn is an Irish singer and composer. She is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "The Voice". Since then she has toured and performed extensively internationally and has released four albums of her work, the most recent being Ériu, recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and released in 2020.

Joe Derrane American musician

Joe Derrane was an Irish-American button accordion player, known for re-popularizing the D/C# system diatonic button accordion.

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is one of the two full-time professional radio orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, has grown from a small studio-based recording group to become an active 45-strong orchestra performing over eighty concerts annually. It is part of RTÉ Performing Groups. The orchestra performs classical, popular and big band evening and lunchtime concerts, covering a range of music from baroque to contemporary.

Fight Like Apes Irish alternative rock band

Fight Like Apes were an Irish alternative rock band formed in Dublin in 2006.

Una Healy Irish singer (born 1981)

Una Theresa Imogene Healy is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television presenter. She rose to fame in 2008 as a member of five-piece girl group The Saturdays, who are signed to Fascination and Polydor Records. In 2006, she had represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, where she sang with Brian Kennedy on the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love"; they placed tenth overall. Healy then auditioned for the Saturdays in 2007, after struggling to find success in her native country. Once she had successfully auditioned, she began recording music and releasing a number of hits.

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Irish public service broadcaster

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Donnybrook, Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on 31 December 1961, making it one of the oldest continuously operating public service broadcasters in the world. RTÉ also publishes a weekly listings and lifestyle magazine, the RTÉ Guide.

Events during the year 2015 in Ireland.

References

  1. The Athlone Advertiser Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Today with Pat Kenny", (Tom McGurk interviewing) Archived December 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine