Best known as one of the three Irish Tenors, Anthony Kearns was born in the village of Kiltealy in County Wexford on August 17, 1971. He began playing accordion as a child and started singing lessons at age ten, winning several competitions during his teen years. Kearns' big break came in 1993, when he entered and won the "Search for a Tenor" contest coinciding with the Irish government's introduction of a new ten-pound note. A high-profile TV appearance in the wake of the contest helped win him an audience, and he studied under famed vocal instructor Veronica Dunne (who also trained the other future Irish Tenors). Kearns went on to win the Dermot Troy Trophy for oratorio singing in 1995 and 1996, and also won an award for his performance in The Pirates of Penzance. He performed with numerous orchestras and in late 1998 was invited to join the Irish Tenors, which provided his springboard to international fame through their acclaimed recordings, tours, and TV specials. Kearns has also performed solo in North America and Europe, and made his operatic debut in a 2001 production of Macbeth in Dublin. ~ Steve Huey