How agreeable are you?
I work in the arts, so it’s a question of not only being agreeable, but also getting your point across from an artistic perspective. You may have an artistic vision about something that the director, the conductor or other people around you might not have, so it’s trying to find the middle ground of where I’m comfortable doing what I do as an artist within the framework of what they want. As for me being a parent, I would say I’m agreeable until it comes to a point where I have a solid stance on what I believe in or think.
What’s your middle name and what do you think of it?
My name is Celine Mary Brigid, and I love my middle names because I’m a woman of faith. The middle names mean a lot to me because not only are they the names given to me, but they also fully represent my personality.
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?
I’m not making it up, and I’m not trying to please anyone, but it’s here, it’s home. It’s Co Kildare, it’s Naas, specifically Caragh. I travel abroad a lot with my job, and I don’t really like big places because I grew up in the country. I love where I live because I look at it every morning. I can see two horses down the field that way, and there are cows and the Wicklow Mountains on the other side. That’s why I love sitting in the kitchen even though I have a music room. I love the fact that I can raise my children here as well. I think it’s a privilege to live in the country, to be able to put on your wellies and walk down the fields, swim in the river at the end of the field. It’s a different mindset.
Describe yourself in three words
Determined. Oversensitive. Loving.
When did you last get angry?
Anger is not an emotion that comes to the fore. It normally develops from anxiety, stress or frustration. It’s usually anxiety because I’m worried about not knowing my music completely, inside and out, or concerned that if I go for an audition, they won’t like me.
What have you lost that you would like to have back?
My dad. I lost him five years ago, and I never thought I’d be without him. I’ve changed a lot since he passed away. I would say that I was always very self-aware, but since his passing, I’ve become more guarded, a bit more assertive with myself, a little bit stronger in my personality.
What is your strongest childhood memory?
It may not be my strongest memory, but it’s certainly the most enduring because I did it so frequently – working in the bog every summer haunts me to this day. I hated it. Just to clarify, I loved it when we had the turf in the trailer, because you got to sit on the trailer on the way home. Health and safety? We all would have been in jail! Especially going over the railway bridge, we’d be sitting on the top of the turf on top of the trailer, and if there had been a bump, you’d be gone. How old was I? If you were strong enough to throw a sod of turf, you’d be out there.
Where do you come in your family’s birth order, and has this defined you?
I’m the middle of five siblings, and I would be the typical middle child, the peacekeeper. You know, trying to make sure that everybody’s okay and everybody’s happy, and being very good at masking my feelings for the sake of somebody else.
What do you expect to happen when you die?
I’m going straight to heaven. I try to be a good person. I try to do my best. I do as much as I can for charity and for other people, and I believe that I’ll go to heaven. I’m not here to convince anybody. If I grew up a Buddhist, I’m sure I’d be telling you something different, but I grew up a Catholic, and I definitely think having God and Jesus in my life has helped me. It’s a wonderful feeling to wake up every morning and to know that somebody’s there, always, and loves you unconditionally.
When were you happiest?
I have loads of happy times. The thing with me is I’ve had amazing highs, a lot of which have to do with my career, but I’ve also had devastating lows. I’ve asked myself if I could be without the anxiety and everything like that; would I be happy just coasting somewhere in the middle? I don’t think I would because the highs have been so wonderful. I’ve achieved a lot in my career. I won the Maria Callas Singing Competition, and I’ve sung in Covent Garden, Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall. I’ve done nearly everything that I’ve wanted to do. In my personal life the happiest I’ve been would be having my three babies – they’re all adults, but they’ll be my babies forever – and the happiest I am is when I’m around them. I’m biased, but I think they’re the best children in the world.
Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?
Maybe Angelina Jolie, because she looks like me. No, that’s a joke, she doesn’t! I don’t know if there will ever be a biopic about me because I’m not interesting enough, but if there were, I would love for somebody to get a chance to start on their road, on their career. It would just be nice for somebody to get a gig, wouldn’t it?
What is your biggest career/personal regret?
I don’t have any regrets because you live for the present, and you can’t live in the past. Negative thoughts shouldn’t be engaged in. I made life choices and lost out on things because of the choices I made, but would I have changed those? No.
Do you have any psychological quirks?
I can’t read from an iPad or a tablet. I need to have paper, and the reason I need to have paper is that I have to know where the text is. I work from the music score, from the physical pages, and I have to know what’s on the left page and what’s on the right page. It’s the same with reading. I wouldn’t be able to read on Kindles; I need a book, because I can always go to it and know where to start or know which point on the page I need to refer to. It’s much easier than having a panic attack when you see all this music in front of you on a small screen, and going, “Where am I?!”
Celine Byrne performs with the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland at the NCH, Dublin, on Friday, February 20th. Byrne’s Songs of Inspiration and Hope tour starts on Sunday, May 3rd. celinebyrne.com
In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea