Mark's star rises as he gets NCH booking
A young Mullingar singer has been chosen as the tenor soloist in a major event at the National Concert Hall, which officially marks the start of the Christmas season.For the talented Mark Irwin, from Clonmore, who has been singing since he was 7, his date in front of The Lassus Scholars in The âGreatâ Christmas Concert on December 8, is his most prestigious engagement to date.âWhen the conductor rang and asked me to sing, I thought she meant in the choir, but she said:âNo: you are in front of the choir!â says Mark, who believes that the invitation came on foot of his success earlier this year in winning the Feis Ceoil tenor solo competition in Dublin.Son of Tony and Patricia Irwin - and nephew of Johnny Irwin, known around Mullingar as âthe singing postmanâ, Mark's own career in singing began at an early stage.âI started in St. Kenny NS and that is where I got going: I got the practice for the choristers out there with Anna Caulfield.âBy âthe choristersâ, Mark means the Cathedral Choristers in Mullingar. He joined at 7 and became their longest-serving member, singing as a chorister for eight years.During this time, he also began singing lessons with Mrs. Dervilla Conlon-Maloney, and has progressed to Grade 5. As a hobby, Mark has also sung in Scór na nÓg with the Mullingar Shamrocks ballad group, which, in 2006. won the All-Ireland title.He has also participated with local groups such as the Energy Plus School of Dance musical production, the Mullingar Student Players, and Mullingar Panto Group, where he took on leading roles in many of their fantastic shows, most significantly, Aladdin in their 2008 production.During the past two years, he has been singing in the Mullingar Adult Cathedral choir under the direction of Mr. Gerard Lillis. Recently, he also joined the Mullingar Choral Society and the Mullingar Charity Variety Group.Also a keen guitarist, Mark's ambition is to forge a career in An Garda Síochána.Mark's big date in Dublin on December 8 will see him sing âThe Holy Cityâ, which he has been practising with Mrs. Conlon-Maloney, and also, a verse of âIn The Bleak Midwinterâ. He will have just two rehearsals with the choir before the concert itself.