JACK FOLEY

For decades, Joseph Foley worked deep down in the coal mine of Murton, County Durham. A few things kept him going – one was the dream that none of his children would ever have to work underground. Another was music and on Joe’s Sundays off, he would listen to singers such as Frank Sinatra, Matt Monro, Mario Lanza and Stuart Burrows. These were to exert a powerful influence upon his son, Jack. Jack’s natural musical ability was identified by music teacher Mary Penman, who decided to take Jack under her wing and provide him with a solid grounding in classical singing.

It wasn’t long before Jack had transformed into a professional standard tenor, able to sing opera in several languages. A modest and hard-working man, Jack worked for several years as a tree surgeon and an undertaker amongst other occupations. But it was whilst singing in the street to raise money for Cancer Research UK that he was finally ‘discovered’ by Jonathan Brosnan, former manager of the London Palladium. Besides reaching the finals of Channel 4’s award-winning ‘Operatunity’ TV programme, Jack has sang with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Carl Rosa Opera Company and Grange Park Opera. He has appeared in several musicals including as Tony in West Side Story, Billy Crocker in Anything Goes and Frederic in Pirates Of Penzance. A tireless charity volunteer, Jack has a life-long fascination with the positive and uplifting effects that music and singing can have in our lives. He has particularly enjoyed working for the charity Music in Hospitals and visiting residential homes: “Seeing somebody in the later stages of Alzheimer’s remembering the lyrics to a song is really quite beautiful and it reminds me of why I do what I do”.

To book Jack Foley for your event, visit www.jackfoleysinger.com