For Brian Mulligan, whose parents hail from Leitrim, becoming a singer on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera is not a pipe dream, it's about to become reality. A rising star in a notoriously competitive field, Mulligan tells CAHIR O'DOHERTY that he is as at home singing "Danny Boy" as he is singing Puccini.

WHEN Brian Mulligan was a teenager it was by no means certain that he would end up singing on the main stage of New York's Metropolitan Opera. Although he enjoyed performing well known roles in high school musicals in his hometown of Endicott, New York, at the time he wasn't seriously thinking of singing as a career.

And, he admits, his Irish-born parents had already decided it was probably just a phase he was going through. They were more than cautious about where all this might be headed.

"My parents were concerned but they trusted me. All the way through high school I was an honors student and very serious about my academic study, with singing in the background," Mulligan told the Irish Voice during a recent interview.

"It turned out that I had earned the money to pay for college through my talent so I wasn't asking them to pay for anything; I had that taken care of. They were very respectful, but just the same it's taken me years to let them know that this is my profession and that I make money doing this."

Long before he even thought about singing as a career Mulligan, 30, wisely wanted to make sure he had a college degree. While making his applications it occurred to him that it would look better if he let the examiners know that he could sing.

He realized that it would probably help him to get scholarships, a way to get a foot in the door to do what he really wanted, which at that time was an English degree. Meanwhile, he continued to attend his weekly vocal training classes and, encouraged by his teacher's support, he also applied to a series of prestigious conservatories, every one of which accepted him to their programs right away.

Their enthusiastic responses slowly began to convince him that he had real talent, and that his path might be leading in another direction.

"It dawned upon me that every one of these conservatories were giving me full scholarships, literally every one I applied to. I figured that I must have been doing something right. That was the biggest influence that I should pursue singing further," he says.

Ten years later Mulligan is now appearing nightly at the New York City Opera in the role of Marcello in one of the composer Giacomo Puccini's most beloved operas, La Boheme. Next month he'll appear in Madam Butterfly at the world famous Met.

Not bad for a first generation Irish American kid who just sort of fell into it one day. It's a powerful vindication of Mulligan's talent and a reminder to his parents that he made the right choice after all.

"I had played this role (Marcello) for the first time in school during a summer festival. That's really a wonderful way to get the role on its feet in a low-pressure situation," he says.

"It was very helpful that the City Opera performance was not my first time doing it. For me it has to start with knowing the story and the character and trying to take it at face value, trying not to make too many judgments first. In learning the music and working with the director you also learn so many facets of the character that the composer has indicated with the music.

"If something very is written very joyfully you know that he's a happy guy, you use the music to help you figure out who the character is going to be. That helps me make the decision of how I'm going to play it and how to react. The music feeds me the energy I want to give out. It comes though my performance, and that's my objective."

A baritone, which means that he has a singing range lower than a tenor but higher than a bass singer, Mulligan's gift is especially prized when it come to grand operas like Puccini. It's no surprise than in the next two months he will star in two of the composer's best-known works. It also helps that he loves them both.

"If I had to chose two operas that fit me very well, these would be the two. Luckily they also happen to be the most popular operas of all time," Mulligan says.

"What is so great about La Boheme is that the characters are very normal relatable people. Everyone's been young and maybe a little irresponsible and carefree at some point in our lives. We're zooming in on that particular moment of these people's lives.

"When we first meet them they only care about having a meal and a warm place to stay. They're regular people just like you and me, until they meet tough circumstances and they have to grow up really fast. They're struggling young artists in the big city, strapped for cash all the time. Can I relate to that? You bet!"

And what about the young opera singers living in New York City in 2008? Is it a romantic and bohemian life, or is it considerably harder to get gigs and make ends meet? What are the daily realities for the majority of them?

"It's very difficult. There are so many talented trained opera singers of all ages that are living in New York but not singing. They're waiting for an opportunity and working in offices or waiting tables like the actors and the models," he says.

"These are people with masters degrees or doctorates. I don't know of another profession where you can be so highly educated and yet not qualified to anything other than perform. That job is by no means guaranteed to you and people have to make ends meet. It's a very tough business and you have got to have a lot of talent and be smart.

"The truth is that there's not that many opportunities. When you do get one the trick is to focus on doing the best that you can to make sure your performance is as strong as it can be."

Luckily, Mulligan grew up in a typical Irish family where music was handed on from generation to generation. It taught him versatility and it showed him that there's more than one way to carry a tune.

"In my family there was always music. My grandfather played the fiddle and he taught me when I was a boy. And I grew up with songs like "Danny Boy, " and the music of the Clancy Brothers, the Wolfe Tones and the Chieftains. These were very regular things for me. These are very dear to my heart.

"Like most Irish singers I would be willing to sing "Danny Boy" at the drop of a hat, to be honest. I hope someone reading this will take me up on the offer. I may sing at the Met but I'm an Irish American. These songs are my heritage too."

(This week's performance of La Boheme featuring Mulligan performs at the City Opera, Lincoln Center on Thursday and Saturday at 8 p.m.. For tickets call 800-451-9930.)