He received the most outstanding pupil award at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where he studied composition with James Wilson and piano with Rhonda Marshall.
He has written numerous works for orchestra and has released several albums, which include his orchestral arrangements and original compositions.
He conducted the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra on the final night for the live performances of these entries during the Eurovision Song Contest which was hosted in Ireland in both these years.
McNamara is the composer of a four-part movement classical work entitled Beatlesymphony, which is based on Beatles melodies and has been performed internationally.
His work with John McDermott entitled A Time to Remember was released as a PBS special and on CD and DVD and that album was number one on Billboard's World Music list.
Within the first few weeks of its release, The American Tenors album was at number five on Billboard's Crossover Classical Chart.
[3] In the 2007 Irish general election, McNamara ran for the Progressive Democrats in Dublin South-Central, securing 474 first-preferences (1% of the poll, 6% of a quota).