Australian Tenors member Murray Mayday spent his early years in Taree and returns this Sunday as the group perform its The Spirit of Australia concert at the Manning Entertainment Centre at 2pm.
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"We like the venue," he said.
Growing up, Murray and his family lived on Bays Hill. "My dad was the local urologist for the Mid North Coast back then. Mum started off in nursing and then she was a mum but she also worked in the surgery.
Murray was a student of Taree West Public School and Taree High School before leaving for boarding school in Sydney at 13.
Music was in his life from an early age. He started learning piano when he was young but said he mustn't have been too keen. "There was too much cricket and football to be played. I wasn't a very good student, which I regret today."
His first singing lessons were with retired tenor Kevin Mills in Taree, and he continued when he moved to Sydney, as Kevin travelled down to the city once a week.
When Kevin stepped back from travelling, Murray connected with another retired tenor, Raymond McDonald, training with him for 15 years.
His first engagement with Opera Australia was in 1993, and Murray went on to spend 10 years with them as a casual chorister." He was then "head hunted", and moved into the corporate area, performing as a soloist.
He has been with the Australian Tenors for eight years and along with the other talented members Lorenzo Rositano, Martin Buckingham, David McKenzie, John Donohoe, is looking forward to the show. They will be backed by the Southern Cross Orchestra under the direction of musical director and conductor Joseph Macri, and joined by guest soprano, Opera Australia's Giuseppina Grech.
"Not too many operatic groups tour regional and rural areas," said Murray. "We enjoy that we can take the opera out of the Opera House and people can experience that kind of singing. The audience will enjoy a diverse range of music from musical theatre to operatic, sacred and Australiana. They are our four main genres."
The Australian Tenors encourage audience participation and will be in the foyer afterwards to meet the crowd and sign copies of their CD.
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