George Komsky is a Ukrainian-born American

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

. He is best known for his live performances as a solo vocalist, touring internationally with

Chris Botti Christopher Stephen Botti ( ; born October 12, 1962) is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer. In 2013, Botti won the Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, for the album ''Impressions''. He was also nominated in ...

, in the North American tour of the Irish theatrical show ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Je ...

'', and at non-profit concert events. Komsky's performance of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" at the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

NFL game against the New England Patriots was part of a tribute honoring the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, broadcast live to 18 million viewers. Komsky was awarded the Best Operatic Pop Artist Award by Russian American Media in 2014. The award was presented by Rob Tannenbaum, executive director of the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra. Komsky appeared on the first season of '' America's Got Talent'' under the name "George Kelly".

Early life

Komsky was born in Kiev in 1985. His family fled the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1988 and settled in the Bay Area, Northern California. Komsky showed an interest in music at an early age, learning piano and saxophone at age eight. He took formal singing classes during his teenage years. Komsky lived in

Danville, California The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city". The population was 43,582 at the 2020 census ...

, and went to Monte Vista High School where he joined the chamber choir. In 2001, as part of the school's choir, Komsky performed Verdi's ''

Messa da Requiem The ''Messa da Requiem'' is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass ( Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at ...

'' at the Basilica of Saint Paul in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He won a scholarship to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, graduating with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He trained with Seth Riggs, vocal coach of artists including

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Career

''Riverdance''

In 2004, Komsky toured as lead soloist with the North American touring company of the Irish theatrical show ''

''.

''America's Got Talent''

Komsky was a contestant in the first season of '' America's Got Talent'', under the name "George Kelly". He reached the semi-finals, described by Judge

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was ...

as "the best male vocalist in the show".

Performances of the national anthem

Komsky performed "The Star-Spangled Banner",

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

of the United States, at the NFL game between the

and the New England Patriots on December 26, 2012. The performance was part of a memorial honoring the victims of the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

that had occurred two days before. The memorial was broadcast live to approximately 18 million viewers. Komsky has performed the United States national anthem on several sporting events afterwards, including the

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

game between the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

on July 5, 2013.

Touring with Chris Botti

In September 2013, Komsky joined trumpeter Chris Botti's Central Asian tour as a solo vocalist. He performed songs including "Time To Say Goodbye" and Botti's "Italia". Komsky continued touring with Botti over three years in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, the Blue Note Jazz Club, Billboard Live Osaka, the Orchestra Hall Minneapolis and the Uptown Theatre in Napa.

Performances

Komsky's first live solo appearance took place at the Lesher Center for the Arts in

Walnut Creek A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...

on March 19, 2010. He performed pieces including "

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...

", " The Elixir of Love" and "

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

". The proceeds were donated to the Wheelchair Foundation. In November 2010, Komsky performed at the "Police and Fire: The Fallen Heroes" benefit concert at the

Herbst Theatre The Herbst Theatre is an auditorium in the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in the Civic Center, San Francisco. The 928-seat hall hosts programs as diverse as '' City Arts & Lectures'', SF Jazz, and San Francisco Performances. Architect ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. In October 2013, he performed at the fundraising gala concert "Come On, Support New York, New York", dedicated to the victims of

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

. Other live performances include the 3rd Face Forward Gala Festa Coloniale Italiana in San Francisco and the

Bear Valley Music Festival Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

Songwriting

March 20, 2020, China's first male '' bel canto'' quartet, Super Vocal, performed "

Qui Con Me (Ni De Se Cai 你的色彩) Qui Con Me (, "Your Colors") is a song by the Chinese bel canto group Super Vocal, written by Roxanne Seeman, George Komsky and Ivo Moring. The Italian lyrics were written by Saverio Principini with the Chinese lyrics were written by Cheng H ...

" (Your Colors) on the Hunan Satellite TV singing competition '' Singer 2020'', in both Italian and Chinese lyrics. The performance received more than 40 million views in 24 hours. The studio version single of "Ni De Se Cai" was released on March 27, 2020, by Decca China. "Ni De Se Cai" was composed by George Komsky,

Roxanne Seeman Roxanne Joy Seeman is an American songwriter and lyricist. She is best known for her songs by Billie Hughes, Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jacksons, Jacky Cheung, and in ...

, and

Ivo Moring Ivo Moring (born August 27, 1971) is a German music producer, songwriter, and percussionist best known for his work with DJ Otzi as co-producer of “Ein Stern”. He has worked with Heather Nova, Darren Hayes of Savage Garden, Jennifer Paige, Sar ...

with Italian lyrics "Qui Con Me" written by

Saverio Principini Saverio Principini (also known as "Sage") is a certified multi-platinum music producer and songwriter active in the Los Angeles music scene since 1987. Early life and career Sage began his musical career in Italy as a bassist for cult heavy me ...

, and Chinese lyrics "

" written by Cheng He. The song was produced by Nick Patrick and Wu Qinglong.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Komsky, George American tenors Jewish singers Opera crossover singers Torch singers America's Got Talent contestants Italian-language singers Traditional pop music singers American people of Ukrainian descent 1985 births Living people Monte Vista High School (Danville, California) alumni