Member Profiles

'It is incredible to think that these mature vocalists are mere students' The Times

Rupert Scarratt (countertenor)

Rupert is one of two third year counter-tenors in the King's Men this year. Originally a boy at Dulwich Prep School in London he really discovered his love for singing at his secondary school in a pokey little place near Windsor. Yet being a counter-tenor there was never easy for Rupert as he juggled having "a weird high voice" with his passion for rugby. His suggestion of singing the line out calls was sadly declined by his fellow team mates. He is hoping to set up a choral scholar rugby team - an aim shared by absolutely no one else in the group. Besides singing (and of course Theology, the subject he is reading at King's) Rupert is often found surfing down on the South Coast in Polzeath or trying to persuade everyone his hair is not ginger but "strawberry blonde." Of course we all totally believe you…

George Gibbon (countertenor)

Ignoring all popular opinion, George has made a return to the choir five years after everyone hoped they had seen (and more importantly, heard) the last of him. In his spell away from King's, he threw caution to the wind by venturing a long way out of his comfort zone to another Henry VI establishment, where he started singing countertenor by accident. This accident, however, presented him with the great privilege of singing on the same part as some big names such as the Rupert Scarratt, so as soon as he found out that Rupert had nabbed a place on the King's back row, George was desperate to follow in his illustrious footsteps. He occasionally drags himself away from his beloved Classics studies in a feeble attempt to establish himself as one of the top ten countertenors in the choir, but is more often found watching (but very seldom playing) sport and trying to persuade people that his voice "isn't that filthy."

Harry Bradford - Musical Director (tenor)

A washed-up has-been at the tender age of just 14, Harry enjoyed a somewhat illustrious career as a treble in the choir of the Chapel Royal, St James' Palace. He was, in fact, named Young Chorister of the Year, a title which earned him real respect as a ‘top lad’ at school. After wandering for a few years in a murky abyss of questionable viola playing, Harry returned to singing in his sixth form years, stumbling across another of the KM in the choir stalls of Southwark Cathedral. Surprisingly unperturbed by this experience, Harry followed in his footsteps and is now this year’s new tenor recruit. When not singing, conducting choirs or intensely studying for his music degree, Harry enjoys scuba diving, supporting Arsenal FC and fervently asserting that he CAN rap.

Jack Goulder (tenor)

Jack is a second-year HSPS student at King’s. He began his musical career as an enthusiastic if easily distracted treble at Westminster Cathedral. Finding the top line a little too crowded for his liking, he soon slumped to alto where he remained for most of his time there until a broken voice ended his career for good - or so he thought. After years of not doing much musically, an abandoned desire to become the white male Nina Simone, and a brief stint at medical school, the call of Renaissance polyphony proved too much and led him into the welcoming arms of King’s Cambridge, where he is found today struggling to marry his love of dense anthropological theory with a busy chapel timetable.

Stephen Whitford - Manager (baritone)

Stephen is a second year baritone reading Classics. Although he was raised on the mean streets of Cheltenham, he is a man of the world, having lived in three continents. That said, he is an avid supporter of real ale, hash browns and the rain. Stephen never followed the well-trodden path of the chorister, but started singing in earnest only two years ago, in his Sixth Form at Dean Close School. Stephen hopes to pursue singing professionally in the not-too-distant future. His chief interests are opera and Lieder; the Choral Scholarship is just an excuse to have a piano in his room…

Zac Moxon (bass)

Zac is a second year bass at King’s reading music, and is one of the three choral scholars newly promoted from King’s Voices. He started singing seriously aged 17 after realising that academic ability alone wasn’t going to get him in to Cambridge, and hence also decided to apply to King’s. Zac has lived in Birmingham his whole life, but sadly lost his brummie tone (much to the delight of everyone around him) aged 11 when he was sent to ‘Posh School’ down in Sussex. Despite having become more southern over the years he is still an avid fan of lamb baltis, low quality football, and Peaky Blinders. When he’s not singing Zac can usually be found double booking himself, listening to heavy metal and being asked for ID.

Charlie Baigent (bass)

After an unpromising start as a hopeless treble in an Oxford parish church, Charlie disappointed his friends and family by pursuing his singing ambitions, this time as a bass. Years of practice later he decided to try to become the first engineer choral scholar at King's, a seemingly impossible combination. This plan came to fruition after spending his gap year designing bridges and metro systems around the world whilst singing in as many Oxford chapel choirs as time would allow, not something many other people can claim (although who can say how many, given the motley crew you find here on the Cam?). Outside studies and singing, Charlie currently has no free time to find anything to fill it with except deciding whether to support his home or adopted town in the boat race (current thinking is in favour of supporting the winners retrospectively).

Trojan Nakade (bass)

Tokyo-born and London-bred, Trojan is a first year Music undergraduate at King’s. After starting his choral career in Belfast Cathedral, he soon moved to Westminster Abbey where he managed to ‘break’ his voice just in time to miss the Royal Wedding, Papal visit, and First Night of the Proms. Reeling from the injustice, Trojan turned his attention to instrumental music but continued to develop his bass notes from the back rows of chapel stalls. A keen conductor, Trojan’s hobbies include waving at himself in front of a mirror, conducting the Imaginäre Philharmoniker, and dressing up as a waiter. He also likes polo necks and shiny shoes.

Isaac Jarratt-Barnham (countertenor)

After beginning his singing career aged eleven as a fairy in a Royal Opera House production of Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, Isaac continued to sing in the Tiffin Boy’s Choir for a further seven years. Having also been a member of the Thames Youth Choir and Kingston Parish Church Choir during his school years, he is now struggling to come to terms with the rigours of choral life at King’s. A second year studying Philosophy at Fitzwilliam College, he is also currently the only Choral Scholar whose rehearsal punctuality is affected by Cambridge’s frequent road closures and traffic jams.

Daniel Henderson (countertenor)

Daniel is the second current member to have walked the bizarrely well-trodden path of being a Fitzwilliam-dwelling, ex-Tiffin, King's Men countertenor, following in the footsteps of his elder and mentor Isaac. Like Isaac, Daniel spent much of his childhood in the “world-famous” choir of the state-school-but-not-really Tiffin Boys' School in Kingston-upon-Thames, filling in the choral gaps in his life with the occasional service at Kingston Parish Church. As a first-year reading Law “Up The Hill”, Daniel is often found running/cycling up and down said Hill in a state of mild/substantial/overwhelming panic in an attempt to survive his first year without feeling the wrath of the dreaded PINTS system. He also endeavours to remain as far away from the Sports Fields as physically possible.

James Micklethwaite (tenor)

James is a first year tenor reading philosophy at Churchill. He hails from Yorkshire, aka God's Own County, where he spent the first 18 years of his life. His first experience of performing was singing Les Poissons from The Little Mermaid in a school concert aged 7. Since then, he's been hooked. As a child he sang with Opera North, playing, amongst other roles, Miles in The Turn of the Screw and a corpse in Macbeth. Before moving to Cambridge he spent a year as a choral scholar at Norwich Cathedral, where he also worked in the Cathedral Refectory. Aside from singing, he's a keen tennis player and enjoys cross-country running.

Christopher Nehaul (tenor)

Chris is new to the King’s Men and is currently in his first year at King’s, reading for a degree in Music. From the North like many before him, he is busy trying to adapt to the southern culture and he doesn't deny that a gap year in Hereford Cathedral Choir was a life-changing event for him. He had to adapt such radical reforms as the Lord's prayer being different. There is no denying he is in the King's Men with the hope of being a cool kid, there’s nothing like close-harmony singing to increase one’s reputation. Singing tenor, he is attempting to sing high notes on a Sunday morning that don't crack and sound more like someone falling off a cliff (no one hears though)!

James Jenkins - Assistant Musical Director (baritone)

James’s singing career took an early blow when, at the age of ten, he narrowly missed out on the lead role in a school production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, Joseph. Distraught, devastated and broken, James found a comforting home as a chorister, and eventually, choral scholar in the choir stalls of Wakefield Cathedral, where he began his transformation into the fully fledged baritone he is today. A somewhat ‘closet’ Yorkshireman some might say, James was torn away from his rural upbringings at the age of sixteen in order to attend a largely unheard of school near Windsor. Despite this, he still enjoys eating pudding for tea, promoting northern dialect, and wearing t-shirts in December. Away from his studies James can be found gazing fondly into the mirror and avidly supporting Liverpool Football Club.

Seb Johns - Assistant Musical Director (bass)

Sebastian (unfortunately named S.Johns, disastrously similar to another, lesser known, Cambridge establishment) is in fact in the midst of his second foray into the marvellous ranks of King’s Choir, having bulked out (quite literally) the treble section as a chorister many moons ago. Determined to give up singing forever after “peaking”, as he puts it, at the age of 12, he tried to escape all traces of choral tradition, but sadly only made it as far the somewhat choir-happy lands of Oxford, where he attended Abingdon School. During his time there he attempted to become a professional in cello, piano and organ respectively, but having realised (and been frequently assured of) his incompetence in all three, he slunk meekly back to singing, and can now be found desperately trying to convince people that he is, in fact, a choral scholar, despite being shorter and more immature than most of the current choristers…

Barney Wolstenholme (bass)

Barney started singing at age 11 in the Trinity Boys Choir on the mean streets of Croydon. Living in South London prepared him for some of his more prestigious operatic roles, including "Urchin" (Carmen), "Urchin" (Tosca), "Fat Child" (Hänsel und Gretel), "Third boy" (Magic Flute) and "Fairy" (A Midsummer Night's Dream). At the tender age of 18 Barney finally managed to escape the clutches of Croydon, but things have only gone downhill since then. He spent a year learning to drive on the Isle of Wight (often downhill) and has been in Cambridge for the past year learning to read Music.

Will Geeson (bass)

An aspiring world leader, Will is a third year Law undergraduate. Will’s choral career began at Gloucester Cathedral under Andrew Nethsingha and he enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to apply for King’s. Aside from singing, Will also enjoys acting, sometimes even on stage. As part of his “classical education” he once donned his own mother’s dress to take part in a Latin reading competition and was horrified upon his arrival to discover that nobody else had dressed up. Will continued to embarrass himself during his gap year in Gloucester. He does however hope that he will eventually hatch into a beautifully baritonal swan.

Richard Gowers - Treasurer (organ scholar)

Richard comes from Cambridge in eastern England, where he was a chorister in the then world-famous King’s College Choir. During that time he took up the organ with the hope that he could get involved with choirs without having to stand up, and was sympathetically given a music scholarship to his senior school for spotting a consecutive fifth. After closing that school with a swine flu epidemic, he fled to Germany and lived in Leipzig, famously the city where composer C.V.Stanford lived for a brief period. He has played in several countries and page-turned in even more. Having been taught by Nigel Kerry, David Goode and Stefan Engels, he currently learns with Douglas Tang. While not playing the organ, Richard enjoys having fun, travelling, and spending time with his girlfriend, much to the annoyance of his wife.

Henry Websdale (organ scholar)

Although his sterilised accent might be deceiving, Henry hails from Ilkley, West Yorkshire. By attending Winchester College, where he was a music scholar, any evidence of this was removed from his persona, except his fervent passion for real ale. He spent a year before coming to Cambridge as the organ scholar at Salisbury Cathedral, where this passion was tenderly nurtured until he reached maximum saturation just before arriving. He now keeps himself to himself, rarely being seen out in Cambridge but more often being spotted taking early morning walks, dressed more formally than the hour demands. His organ career can be traced closely via the websites of many northern newspapers, where his commitment to playing the organ is made undeniable - “I just love playing the organ.” Telegraph and Argus, 14/9/12. Henry looks forward to being promoted to 'senior organ scholar' in September, when he plans to finally demonstrate to the world his love of Brittney Spears through pre-service improvisations.