Meet Michael Londra

I’m Michael.

I grew up in Wexford, a small coastal town in the southeast of Ireland. It’s called the Opera Capital of Ireland, which sounds impressive, but really just means that people sang everywhere. They sang at home, in pubs, and at the Opera House down the road. I joined in early and never stopped.

Somehow, that turned into a life in music. I’ve spent years on stages and on the road, and eventually back home again, sharing Ireland the only way I know how. I do this through music, conversation, and by taking the long way around whenever I can. Ireland With Michael grew from that instinct.

The television series, the journeys, and now this space all come from the same desire: to slow things down, listen carefully, and let Ireland reveal itself in its own time. This blog is a place for stories, reflections, travel notes, and some music now and then. There’s no rush here and no agenda. Just Ireland, as I’ve come to know it.

Questions about me or my TV show? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll pop in from time to time to answer when I can.

About Michael Londra

Michael Londra is an Emmy®-nominated, internationally acclaimed Irish singer, theatre producer, and TV host of the hit Travel and Music series Ireland with Michael currently airing on Public Television stations across the United States and Canada.

He is originally from Wexford, a small coastal town in Ireland’s Sunny Southeast renowned as its Opera Capital, hosting as it does an international Opera Festival every year in the month of October. It’s no wonder Michael was immersed in music from an early age, at home and indeed at performances in the Opera House and in many of Wexford’s famous singing pubs.

His own big break came in 1998 when he was cast as the lead tenor in Riverdance on Broadway and subsequently on the U.S. National tour of the same show, which he toured for another year.  

Michael’s first solo album “Celt” was produced by acclaimed producer, Steve Skinner, who co-produced the Grammy-nominated soundtrack of RENT. The album was released in 15 countries worldwide, selling particularly well in Korea, where it reached Number 1 in the World Music Charts. 

In 2011, Michael produced a concert special for PBS® called Beyond Celtic, which he co-produced with Mindfox Productions. The special aired on stations across the United States in 2011 and earned him two Emmy® nominations. 

As a concert performer, Michael is highly sought after worldwide. He sang the role of Jesus in the world premiere of The Passion of the Christ Symphony written by John Debney, and has sung as concert soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Over the past few years alone he has toured his shows in 20 countries, as both producer and lead singer. 

He has been a featured guest singer with Irish supergroups De Dannan and Téada. 

In 2013 he performed with Judy Collins for the Kennedy family at the JFK 50 celebrations to honor President John F. Kennedy’s trip to Ireland in 1963. His version of “Danny Boy” is described as “one of the best recordings of the piece in history” and has been viewed 11 million times on YouTube. 

His company VenuWorks Theatricals, formed with Tony™ nominated producer Steve Peters, produced the US tour of NOËL the Musical in 2018, and they developed Summer Stock for Broadway, the stage version of the beloved MGM classic featuring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. The show opened to rave reviews in 2023 at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. Michael will be a lead producer, fulfilling a life long dream, when it opens on Broadway in 2025.

In 2021, Michael’s latest project, a PBS® travel and music show called Ireland with Michael first aired on Public Television. Michael is both host and producer on the show which visits different towns, regions, and counties in Ireland. The show follows the singer on his travels around the Emerald Isle showing off the country he loves the only way he knows how, through music. 

The TV show combines glorious footage from the vistas of the Emerald Isle, fascinating travel destinations, exciting cultural experiences, and performances from popular Irish artists and rising stars. Ireland with Michael explores the hidden treasures and majestic beauty of the breathtaking Irish countryside. From the pulsating city of Dublin to the rolling hills of Kerry, viewers can take in all the wonder and beauty of this magical place from the comfort of their own homes. 

Ireland with Michael has been a breakaway success, airing over 65,000 times on PBS® stations across the country, into 97% of all U.S. households. Season #6 is scheduled to air in January 2026. Over the past 12 years, Michael built an annual hosted tour of Ireland for fans, which led to the current PBS® series. The TV show’s popularity has exploded - Ireland with Michael is becoming a nationally known travel brand.

Michael is a proud advocate of the charity Concern Worldwide, which through several CD releases and his high-profile visits to Haiti, Michael has raised considerable awareness for and helped bring the issue of poverty and hunger to the attention of the public. He is a board member for Happy Doggo, a sterilization, feeding, and emergency medical care for street dogs in Asia.

He, along with authors Colm Toibin, Eoin Colfer and TV presenter Dermot O Leary is an official ambassador of his home county, Wexford.