Sydney MacEwan a Catholic priest famous for his tenor voice talks about his life.
Canon Sydney Alfred MacEwan is a guest on 'Face To Face' and talks about his life as a singer and a priest.
When you praise God in song, it's the highest praise you can give him.
The interview opens with a recording of Canon MacEwan performing 'I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair’, a song written by Stephen Foster.
While Sydney MacEwan has a voice that recognised across the world, people have been intrigued that he is a priest.
Sydney MacEwan is currently living in a small mountain parish and is the Catholic representative for the Scottish highland region on the education committee. Despite the remoteness of where he lives fans still arrive at his door. He will make time for them if they are from Ireland or Australia, two countries with which he has a tremendous connection. His mother was Irish, from Portadown in County Armagh.
Sydney MacEwan was born on 19 October 1908 in a tenement in Glasgow. While his childhood was one of poverty, he was warm and happy.
We were all poor but we were happy.
His parents separated when he was quite young leaving the job of bringing him up to his mother. He never met his father but would have liked to. His father later made contact with him having read a newspaper article that he was dead, to confirm that he was still very much alive.
Sydney MacEwan first realised that he had a voice while at university. On the last day of term before Christmas, known as Daft Friday, he performed at a concert. When he started singing, the entire audience fell silent and listened. It was at this point that he realised that he was not a bad singer.
This episode of ‘Face to Face’ was broadcast on 6 August 1975. The presenter is Nodlaig McCarthy.
