Frank Patterson, who died on June 10th in New York, was born in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, on October 5th, 1938. He attained the pinnacle of his profession. He was an outstanding Irish tenor of his generation with artistry in oratorio, in classical song and in the Irish and international repertoire.
His father, Seamus Patterson, was maintenance foreman in Kickham barracks, Clonmel until he died in 1975. His mother, still living in Clonmel, was May Slater, a member of the well-known Tipperary printing family. When the Slater brothers started their own printing business they recruited Frank who worked there until he moved to Dublin in 1961. He went to St Peter and Paul's Primary School and the High School, Clonmel, and always remembered his first music teacher, the late Nellie Reidy.
He gave his first public performance as a boy soprano in Clonmel and sang at midnight Masses and school concerts. He received special mention from Clonmel's famous radio presenter, Tommy O'Brien, for his performance as Lazarello in a school production of Maritana. He also appeared with his parents in the St Mary's Choral Society production of The Pirates of Penzance.
From an early age he was a keen and accomplished sportsman. He played hurling for Marlfield, home of the legendary Tipperary hurler Theo English. He was also a leading light of Hillview Tennis Club and the King Willow Cricket Club. He continued to play tennis throughout his life and became a single-figure golfer. He was a member of Lake Isle Golf Club of New York and Milltown Golf Club, Dublin.
In 1962 he began vocal studies with Dr Hans Waldemar Rosen in Dublin, pursuing at the same time a course of acting at the National Academy of Theatre and Allied Arts. Two years later he won all the major vocal awards at the Feis Ceoil. The adjudicator, Roy Hickman, said of the young tenor: "it was seldom a voice of such splendid musical integrity was heard. The singer has such poise that his mind and heart were in very close contact with his singing."
Scholarships to London and Holland followed and he finally went to Paris where he studied for four years with the French soprano, Janine Micheau.
Early in 1966 he went on an extensive tour of the US with a group of Irish singers and dancers. The musical director was Eily O'Grady. They married later the same year. Their son Eanan was born in 1977.
To help finance his studies in Paris, he gave frequent concerts along with radio and television performances. Charles Acton, long-time music critic of The Irish Times, said of his performance of songs by Henry Purcell: "His rhythmic stylishness was exciting and elegant, his diction splendid and his phrasing a joy." It was a broadcast of Purcell songs on BBC radio that brought him to the attention of Philips Record Company. He recorded 36 albums in six languages, including opera, oratorio and songs by Purcell, Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Berlioz. His world-wide popularity was due to the success of his crossover albums of inspirational songs, modern international standards and the rich storehouse of Ireland's ballads. He won platinum, gold and silver discs and two of his American releases were million dollar sellers. A recent Philips classic compilation featured Frank Patterson singing Handel arias and Wolf songs with Herman Prey, Elly Ameling, Kiri te Kanawa and Jose Carreras.
After completing his studies in Paris, Frank Patterson was in great demand for concert recitals, radio and television broadcasts and oratorio performances throughout Europe. His performances as the Evangelist in the Bach Passions won particular praise.
Charles Acton wrote: "Frank Patterson as the Evangelist gave a performance of real international standard - fit to be judged with those of Erb or Wilson or any of them."
He was one of the team involved in the original Bach Cantata Concerts under John Beckett at St Ann's, Dawson Street, Dublin and recorded all the Bach cantatas for BBC. He was a regular soloist with the Guinness Choir and the Goethe Institute Choir and also performed Messiah many times with Our Lady's Choral Society. He performed at many of the great music festivals including the Aix-en-Provence Festival, where he sang Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under the baton of Karl Richter.
He appeared as soloist with many of the leading European orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, RAI Symphony Rome, Basle Kammerorchester, Switzerland, Irish National Symphony and in America with The National Symphony, Washington DC and the Colorado, St Louis, Hartford, Syracuse, Utah and Seattle symphony orchestras. Conductors with whom he worked included Sir Colin Davis, Sir Charles Groves, Paul Sacher, Jean Fournet, Michael Lankester, Hugh Woolf, Tibor Paul and Christopher Seaman.
Frank Patterson played a feature role as the fictional tenor Bartell D'Arcy in John Huston's last film, The Dead. The New Yorker wrote of his performance: "The whole world seems still while he sings, and for a few seconds after."
He was the first Irish artist to have his own show in New York's Radio City Music Hall (6,000 seats) and had sell-out performances for six consecutive years. His greatest outdoor performance in the US was on the steps of the Capitol in Washington DC, when he performed with the National Symphony before an audience of 60,000. Along with his wife, Eily O'Grady, he performed at the White House for President and Mrs Reagan and they were joined by their son Eanan in 1995, when they performed for President and Mrs Clinton. However, he considered the highlight of his career was singing at the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, before a congregation of 1.3 million people on the occasion of the historic visit to Ireland of Pope John Paul II.
He was also chosen as soloist in St Patrick's Cathedral when the Pope visited New York in 1996. On that occasion he sang Schubert's Ave Maria. Frank Patterson's TV specials, Ireland's Golden Tenor - Ireland in Song and Frank Patterson, Songs of Inspiration, have been shown on PBS Television in America. The shows were taken by 300 stations and have been seen by an estimated six million viewers. His latest TV special, God Bless America, is currently showing on PBS Television. His RTE TV series For your Pleasure was a great favourite for many years.
In 1984, he was conferred with the Knighthood of St Gregory by Pope John Paul II. He was also a Knight of Malta and a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
In 1990 he received an honorary doctorate in music from Salve Regina University Newport RI, and in 1996 was given an honorary doctorate of fine arts by Manhattan College, New York. He was awarded the gold medal of the Eire Society of Boston in 1998 and his last performance was close to Boston at Regis College, Weston, Massachusetts, on June 4th, where he performed with his wife Eily and son Eanan.
Frank Patterson is survived by his wife, Dr Eily O'Grady; son Eanan; mother May; brothers Maurice and Noel; and his sister Imelda.
Frank Patterson: born 1938; died, June 2000