Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Presents Priests in Concert, 4/29

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will present Father Eugene O'Hagan, Father Martin O'Hagan, and Father David Delargy who will perform at the Byham Theater on Sunday, April 29, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.  For over 20 years, these three Catholic priests have cared for the needs of their congregations and parishioners, but since 2008, they have also worked together to form "The Priests," a highly successful classical crossover vocalist trio. The concert is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents Series.
 
The three clergymen began singing together as children while attending boarding school in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Brothers Eugene and Martin O'Hagan and Delargy, their childhood friend, sang together in school, church, and the community, and continued to perform in their seminary in Rome and locally after becoming ordained as priests.
 
In February 2008, the three priests recorded a demo in Belfast and sent it to various labels, expecting nothing to come from it.  However, they were almost immediately offered a $2 million contract with Sony BMG records.  Their debut album on this label,The Priests was released in 2008 and featured a blend of traditional religious songs and Irish folksongs.  It sold over 2 million records, topping the Billboard 200 charts and earning the three a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest-selling UK debut for a classical act.
 
The Priests released their second album, Harmony, in 2009, which was met with critical and commercial success.  In September 2010, The Priests had the honor of sharing a stage with the Pope before a crowd of 80,000 people in Hyde Park, England while millions watched on television.  Later that year, they released a traditional Christmas album, Noël, which reached #3 on the US Top Classical Album charts.
 
The Priests have graced the pages of Time Magazine and every newspaper in the land, sharing sofa space with Regis and Kelly, featured on CBS News Sunday Morning, and more upright chairs with Sir Trevor McDonald in the U.K. "They sing like angels: their powerful voices blend effortlessly to create harmonies rich with emotion. "   - William Lee Adams,Time Magazine
 
They have sung all across the world, and to audiences that included the British Royal Family and the Irish President, and, more recently, been nominated for two Classical Brit Awards. The Priests also shared a stage with the Pope before a crowd of 80,000 people in Hyde Park, England in September 2010 and millions watched on television at home.

"We enjoy singing enormously, and we would very much like to continue doing this forever. I certainly know that Martin, David and I will continue to sing, whatever comes, because it gives us such pleasure to do so. Our fervent hope is that it continues to bring pleasure to everybody else," said Eugene.

Tickets ($29.00-$49.00) for the Sunday, April 29, 2012 performance of The Priests at the Byham Theater may be purchased at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, online at www.TrustArts.org, or by calling (412) 456-6666. To purchase group tickets at special discounted rates, please call (412) 471-6930. 

To post a comment, you must register and login.