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Edward Finbar Wright (born 26 September 1957), known popularly as Finbar Wright,〔Section #W, No. 50〕 is a popular music singer, songwriter, and poet from County Cork, Ireland. Finbar Wright is a classically trained tenor〔 para.3〕 who emerged during the 1990s in Ireland and has become one of that country's "most popular singers",〔Pg.1〕 concentrating on romantic, jazz and pop standards for the adult contemporary audience. Referred to as one of Ireland's great romantic singers,〔Finbar Wright〕〔Finbar Wright〕〔 para.7〕 his first album, ''Because'' in 1991 reached the top of the Irish music charts. Wright's second recording, "Whatever You Believe", also reached the top of the Irish charts with triple platinum certification and produced the number 1 hit single, ''Whatever You Believe'', now a Christmas favourite in Ireland. His subsequent recordings have also received gold and/or platinum status. The two-time IRMA "Male Entertainer of the Year" and BBC Cardiff "Singer of the World"〔 Finbar Wright, Ireland, 1989〕 is best known outside of Europe as one of the Irish Tenors from their PBS specials and recordings. ==Early life== Born in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland in 1957, Finbar Wright was the youngest of eight children in a Roman Catholic farming household. Finbar's paternal grandfather, whose family tree includes 7th President of the United States Andrew Jackson, was the son of a Presbyterian farmer living in County Monaghan where he met his future bride, a Catholic from County Cork. The couple married and moved to Cork to begin a family. Grandfather Wright started up his own hackney service which became the family business until one son, Robert, decided to go into farming. Robert later met and married Julia O'Donovan and together raised their eight children on their Ballinspittle farm. Three years after the arrival of their seventh child, Julia gave birth to "Finbar" on 26 September, one day after the feast-day of Saint Finbarr, the Patron Saint of Cork. Robert and Julia both enjoyed singing and, subsequently, made it a priority that all eight of the Wright children were taught an appreciation for music, in one form or another. At age 6 young Finbar began studying piano with Ms. Maura Hourihane and singing on local stages with one of his four brothers. At age 11 Finbar, having shown a keen interest and, more importantly, an ability for athletics, was sent to Farranferris College, a diocesan preparatory school known for its hurling tradition. While there, Wright impressed academically as well, and at 16 was sent to university in Palencia, Spain to study for the priesthood. While studying in Spain, Finbar developed his lasting appreciation and love for the Spanish culture and music. He returned to Ireland to take a Bachelor of Divinity Degree at National University of Ireland Maynooth, in County Kildare, where he joined the choir and became senior cantor in charge of liturgical singing. In 1978 Wright, at age 21, was the youngest man ever to be ordained a Catholic priest, a distinction which required special dispensation by the Pope. 1979 saw the (historic first visit ) by a Pontiff to the island nation of Ireland. On 29 September 1979 in Phoenix Park, in Dublin, John Paul II celebrated an open-air Papal Mass to an assembled congregation of 1.25 million, at that time roughly one-third of the population of Ireland. Wright was appointed deacon〔Finbar Wright Biography, para.1〕 for that Mass and, beneath the commemorative steel cross, read the Gospel (and sang the Responsories) to the largest gathering of Irish people ever recorded in one place.〔Phoenix Park〕 As a priest, Fr. Finbar returned to Farranferris College to teach Spanish and Latin. In 1987, following the deaths of his eldest brother and his father, and citing philosophical differences with the Church, Wright, at age 30, made the decision to leave the priesthood and was laicised. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Finbar Wright」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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