SIBLINGS: Deirdre Masterson (29) from Co Wexford is one-third of The Irish Sopranos, the singing group which this year launched in the US, with a tour that included a date in New York's Carnegie Hall.
The group, also featuring Kay Lynch from Co Kerry and Wendy Dwyer from Co Cork, is booked up to perform in the US until 2007 and is in negotiations to tour Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
Deirdre's sister, Kelly Ann (11), is the youngest in the musical Masterson family and is following in her older sibling's footsteps. She is down to the last 24 - with thousands entered - to perform on the Late Late Toy Show and is waiting to hear if she has been successful with her audition piece, Walking In The Air. The Irish Sopranos will perform in the National Concert Hall on November 11th.
DEIRDRE
I am the oldest in the family and I was there when Kelly Ann was born. My Mum had been in slow labour for a week and didn't know it, and Kelly Ann was born two-and-a-half minutes after we got her to the hospital. I remember my Dad didn't think he could cope with witnessing the birth but I pushed him into the room and Kelly was born. We didn't speak for about an hour afterwards because of the shock. I was 18 and I remember thinking, this is such a fascinating thing, a miracle, and couldn't work out why the world hadn't stopped turning.
At the time I had left our home outside Gorey, Co Wexford, to study music and Mum always joked she had Kelly Ann to replace me - my mother and I are very close, like sisters. Between the age of 18 and 26, I was away a lot, either touring or living in England, and so even though I made it down to the house whenever I could, I missed a lot of Kelly Ann's early years. When I came back to settle in Dublin a few years ago and set up a stage school, my younger sister Aisling, who had been a kind of mother figure to Kelly Ann, left to live in England. So while she lost one mother figure, she gained another.
I set up a stage school here and while I didn't want to shove music or drama down her throat, Kelly Ann loved it and didn't need any encouragement. I think my parents were thinking "Oh no, not another one. Will someone please get a proper job?" because at the time the rest of us were all pursuing music careers.
She is one of those children who goes on stage and just lights up. It's where she is most comfortable and happiest. We try to expose her to as many different influences as possible in music and drama and it's hard to say what she will end up doing.
She is thoughtful, caring, sensitive and a good leader; I think maybe because my bond with her is so strong I find it hard to see anything wrong with her. When I go away, she is the first person I want to see, more than anyone else. I want to be around her and see what she has been up to. I think because I was away for the early years, I don't want to miss anything else.
KELLY ANN
Deirdre is a brilliant sister. She is also my singing teacher but she never gets cross. Sometimes she tries to get me to practise and I don't want to so I say no or that I will do some later, but we don't argue about it. I love singing anyway.
She really helped me with my audition. She made me a warm-up tape with her voice on it and I use that; it gives me confidence. It's very handy to have her there when you want to do a warm-up and I like that she came with me to the audition.
When she comes home we go for walks together in the field beside our house with my two dogs, Chance and Charlie. We watch the hurling or football on the TV together or we go swimming or just have a girly night in. When she goes away she brings me back all these pressies, souvenirs from the different countries she tours. She brought me back a little angel from New York. I saw her in Carnegie Hall and it was amazing. I even got my picture taken on the stage. With her, my sister Aisling and my mum, it's like having three mothers, which is great.
I look at Deirdre and I think I would like to do what she does when I am older. I love her group because the way their voices blend together is beautiful. I want to perform like that. I love the cameras, the lights, the music and the applause.
In conversation with Róisín Ingle