Famed Irish Tenor headlines CCCS Events

Rochester, NY… Catholic Charities Community Services (CCCS) is pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed Irish Tenor and Paralympian Ronan Tynan will headline two special fundraising events in celebration of its 40th anniversary: An Evening of Irish Song & Dance Featuring Ronan Tynan on Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 7 p.m. at Hochstein Performance Hall, and the ninth annual Breakfast with Friends with Guest Speaker Ronan Tynan on Friday, March 13, 2020, from 8 – 9:30 a.m. at Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

General admission tickets for each pre-St. Patrick’s Day event are $50 – with a limited number of $75 VIP concert tickets that include premium seating and a pre-concert reception with Tynan – and are available beginning Friday, November 29 at 10 a.m. via the CCCS website at cccsrochester.org/bwf. Concert tickets will also be available in person at Northfield Music Studios (50 State Street, Pittsford, NY), Bop Shop Records (1460 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY) and Record Archive (33⅓ Rockwood Street, Rochester, NY).

“Tickets to this wonderful show are a great gift for someone special on your Christmas list,” says Lori VanAuken, CCCS executive director. “And, because this is our major fundraiser of the year, your ticket purchase is also a generous gift of support for our clients.”

An Evening of Irish Song & Dance Featuring Ronan Tynan will begin with performances by two special groups of area young people: Rochester Academy of Irish Dance and Róisín Dubh (pronunciation: Ro-sheen dove, translation: “The Black Rose”), an East Rochester High School music program. The concert event will be emceed by beloved Rochester radio personality, Terry Clifford.

The following morning, the ninth annual Breakfast with Friends will include the presentation of the Catholic Charities Community Services’ annual Community Champion and Heart and Soul Awards. Tynan will inspire attendees with his life story, “Hitting the High Notes: Living Life to the Fullest.”

Born with a lower limb disability that threatened to sideline him throughout his childhood, Tynan was nevertheless a very active child. When he was twenty, however, both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee after an auto accident that caused serious complications. Within a year after his accident, he was winning gold medals in the Paralympics as a multi-talented athlete. Between 1981 and 1984, Tynan amassed eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records, of which he still holds nine. After attending the prestigious Trinity College to become a physician specializing in orthopedic sports injuries, Dr. Tynan tackled the study of voice, ultimately winning the John McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show, Go for It, less than one year after beginning vocal studies. A devout Roman Catholic, Tynan has sung for Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica and Pope Benedict at the Concert of Hope. He accepted the invitation of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan to sing at his installation Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in April 2009. Tynan has performed at several Presidential events including Ronald Reagan’s state funeral, and has sung "God Bless America" for Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. In 1998, he joined Anthony Kearns and John McDermott as The Irish Tenors, an instant worldwide sensation.

All proceeds generated from both events will go to directly support the mission of Catholic Charities Community Services to enhance and strengthen the independence, inclusion, and individuality of persons with disabilities and those who are living with significant health challenges in our community.

Catholic Charities Community Services’ 40th Anniversary Presenting Partner is Rochester Colonial Manufacturing.

About Catholic Charities Community Services: Catholic Charities Community Services (CCCS) began in 1980 with a group home for 12 persons with developmental disabilities in Lyons, NY. CCCS now serves the 12 counties of the Greater Rochester area with 13 certified residential sites. Today, thousands of individuals with developmental disabilities, and those with serious health challenges receive an array of services including housing subsidies, care coordination, employment and community-based behavioral health support.