David Downes was born in
Dublin, Ireland. He graduated from
Trinity College, Dublin where he studied Music and Composition. He has performed at venues around the world, including
Boston Symphony Hall,
Carnegie Hall and
Wembley Arena, appearing with soloists
James Galway and
Alan Stivell, the group
Boyzone, and the Washington Symphony,
Moravian Philharmonic,
Hollywood Studio Symphony and
National Symphony orchestras. He has made recordings with
Moya Brennan,
Clannad,
Michael Crawford,
Michael W. Smith and
Bill Whelan. He has acted as orchestrator for
Riverdance on Broadway and
Secret Garden most notably. He joined
Riverdance where he was Music Director on Broadway, as well as for the American and European touring companies. Later he and Sharon Browne formed '
Celtic Woman', which has toured across the world with platinum recordings in the US, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and major following in Asia, Europe and South America. He acted as musical director for Irish President
Mary McAleese's Inauguration in 2004. He has performed for U.S. Presidents
Bill Clinton,
George W. Bush and
Barack Obama. He recently composed a new contemporary work for piano, cello and spoken word in collaboration with poet Adam Wyeth, entitled
there will be no silence, which was performed and recorded by Rolf Hind, Adrian Mantu and actors Aisling O'Sullivan and
Owen Roe. ==Musicography==