From singing for the stars on Strictly Come Dancing to supporting music legend Phil Collins on his final tour with Genesis, it has been a busy few years for North Belfast man, Patrick Smyth.
The 37-year-old is an accomplished actor, session singer and voiceover artist and over the last decade Patrick has enjoyed a varied career in the entertainment industry.
Growing up on the Cavehill Road with his parents Pat and Angela and siblings Helen and David, Patrick always had an interest in performing.
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While a pupil at Aquinas Grammar School, he was a member of St Agnes Choral Society and also played the drums for the Down and Connor Folk Group.
"Our whole family have been part of St Agnes Choral Society and my parents are life members as Dad has been there for over 50 years," Patrick told
"Growing up I always had quite an eclectic taste in music as Mum enjoyed pop and folk whereas Dad loves opera. I have inherited his love of Plácido Domingo because he was played a lot in the house."
After studying French and Spanish at Queen's University, Belfast, Patrick trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London and went on to perform in several West End musicals and shows.
"Mum had tried to steer me down the path towards a normal 9-5 job and I made a pact with her that I would if I got my degree but still felt strongly about musical theatre I could maybe pursue that," he explained.
"Thankfully that's what happened and I had only auditioned for one postgraduate course at the Royal Academy and luckily got in."
As a session singer, Patrick has featured as one of the live vocalists on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing and provided vocals on albums for the likes of Il Divo, Robbie Williams, Russell Watson, Alexis Ffrench and The John Wilson Orchestra.
Among his concert credits, Patrick featured as a soloist for Elton John in Concert with Ray Cooper and the BBC Proms' John Wilson Orchestra 10th anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
Patrick has also been a guest artist for Disney Cruise Line and performed several roles in their onboard shows, including puppeteering the role of 'Olaf' in their production of Frozen.
Patrick also toured Australia and Asia as a member of the a cappella group The Magnets, performing on Spicks and Specks (ABC1 Australia), the Adelaide Cabaret festival, and at Glastonbury. He also sings with male vocal harmony group - The 4Tunes.
In 2019, Patrick was the lead vocalist for Strictly Come Dancing 'The Professionals' UK tour, and the following year he joined the Live Arena tour.
"I've done the TV show a few times and then after that the big arena tour, which usually comes to Belfast every other year," he said.
During lockdown, Patrick was back in Northern Ireland with his family when another dream opportunity came along - the chance to perform with Genesis, singing backing vocals for Phil Collins across the UK and Europe for their farewell The Last Domino? tour.
He also featured in The Last Domino? documentary about the tour, which aired on Sky Arts and PBS.
"That was the most brilliant but also the weirdest thing to come out of lockdown," he explained. "I had put my stuff into storage in London, where I've been based for about 12 years, and moved back home to Belfast to stay with my sister and help my family.
"Our dad has a lot on his plate as he cares for our mum who suffers from Alzheimer's disease while our brother has Down's Syndrome. One day I got the phone call and we were rehearsing the tour by late 2020 because at that point it was hoped it would go out the following April.
"It eventually happened last August and the last Genesis show in late March was quite an emotional evening."
The band – made up of Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, along with touring musicians Patrick, Daryl Stuermer, Nic Collins and Daniel Pearce – bowed out with a sold-out show at London’s O2 Arena a few weeks ago.
"It was a real privilege to be part of that and to see the relationship between the guys who have been in this band for 50 years."
In Christmas 2019, Patrick returned home to sing professionally for the first time at St Anne's Cathedral alongside Peter Corry and Barbara Dickson. He returned to Clonard Monastery last December to appear with Malachi Cush and Karl McGuckin.
Patrick hopes to perform more in his home city in the future.
"In truth it's even more nerve wracking to sing in a venue where I know a lot of the faces in the audience including long-time family friends and former teachers who have seen the good, bad and the ugly from day dot.
"It's also so lovely as the audience is always so warm which I think is what everyone remarks upon if they ever do a gig in Belfast - you can't beat a Belfast audience and of course I have to say that Dublin aren't far behind either!"
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