B i o g r a p h y
Donal Donnelly - one of many contemporary musicians to emerge from the Leeds College of Music.
Originally from Portrush, Co Antrim in Northern Ireland, Donal graduated from Leeds College of Music in 1995 after serving in the Royal Navy as a Physical Training Instructor (PTI) with a Graduate Diploma in Jazz, Pop and Contemporary Music, studying saxophone with Phil Chapman and Al Wood.
In 2015 Donal graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a BA (Hons) in music production.
Since then, Donal's career has gone from strength to strength, from entertaining at dances and weddings and playing in big bands, to providing back-up to major recording artists and touring in well known theatre productions.
Multi-instrumental, he plays flute, clarinet, piano and, of course, his main instrument saxophone - including soprano, alto, tenor and baritone.
His many credits include;
· Touring with the theatre production Rave On under the direction of producer John Redgrave, featuring Jeff Turton (2 number 1 UK hits with the Rockin' Berries) and Terry Webster (Jive Bunny, Who Do You Do, Rockin' Berries)
· Featured saxophonist on the UK touring show The Berries Connection (Terry Webster and Jeff Turton)
· As a sideman he has worked with;
o The legendary Roy Wood (I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday, Blackberry Way and too many others to mention)
o John Shepard and Fred White from the Grammy-nominated band Acoustic Alchemy
o Tim Woodcock aka Tim Daniel – song-writer and producer (Blue, Steps, Billy Piper)
o James Russel, saxophonist, composer and producer (Jason Donovan)
o Richard Blanchard, arranger and band leader (Peter Grant, Joe Longthorne, The Cat Pack)
O Jim Whitley Ex Manchester City and Northern Ireland International Footballer turned singer and a fine artist see www.jimwhitley.com
o The Rat Pack Boys
o … and many, many more!
Donal is currently working with New York Brass Band (http://www.newyorkbrassband.co.uk ), the UK’s leading Brass Band.
He toured with The Cat Pack the UKs leading rhythm and blues orchestra who supported among many artists Chuck Berry and Little Richard, playing tenor sax the band recorded two albums for Raucous Records.
Donal completed a six year tour with The Rat Pack Show 2006-2011 .
Donal is a busy music teacher, tutoring students privately and for thirteen years tutored at Leeds College of Music.
Current schools include:
Lawnswood School Leeds
Benton Park Leeds
Ralph Thoresby Leeds
Yorkshire College of Music and Drama Leeds
Selby Music Rooms Selby
A list of all the ensembles taught can be found on the education page.
In 2005, Donal also featured in the BBC’s Honey, We’re Killing the Kids tutoring a young student from an under privileged background.
Donal is also busy running his own studio – Enfused Records – writing/composting, arranging, producing and performing his first album Heartfelt, released in 2008 it has sold copies as far as Tokyo, Australia and the USA.
In 2009 Donal entered two of his songs into the UK Songwriting Contest finishing in the semi finals in both categories, and reaching the final in 2010 and 2011.
In 2011 Donal produced a song written by singer songwriter Alex Parker-Nicholls that reached the semi finals .
Donal also has many duet books and saxophone arrangements for sale from his online store.
In 2020 Donal released his first album of songs, Disconnected is available to buy on all major platforms.
To see a list of recordings, conducting credits, discography and other details visit the other pages on this site.