Member Profiles

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

Altos

Felix Blake - Musical Director

Felix hails from the sunny climes of Warrington in the northwest of England, although his time in Cambridge has eroded any sign of this in his accent! Having completed a master’s degree in music at Selwyn College, Felix splits his time between singing alto in King’s College Chapel and researching at the intersection of popular music and anthropology. The King’s Men, therefore, suits his tastes nicely by offering something of a musical bridge between the classical and the popular. Felix is now in his second year in the choir, but had his choral birth down the road with the Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he was a bass choral scholar alongside pursuing a music undergraduate degree. Felix discovered his alto voice when he stubbed his toe coming out of the shower. The resounding yelp was more harmonious than any of his previous bass tones, and he has been nurturing his countertenor voice ever since. In what little free time he has away from the Choir, Felix keeps himself busy by watching true crime documentaries and informing everyone in earshot that he, in fact, has perfect pitch.

William Rodgers

William is currently in his third year at King’s, singing as a choral scholar and studying Classics. Music began to take its hold on William’s life at the age of six, when he began to learn the piano. A few years later he took up the organ, hoping to gain an organ scholarship to university. However, on realising that multitasking was not exactly his greatest skill, he decided to give singing a try instead. Having attended Christ’s Hospital School and therefore been forced to wear long yellow socks and a Tudor dress almost every day of his secondary education, William found little discomfort in the idea of singing alto. He regards his choral scholarship at King’s as a great opportunity for several different reasons. Not only does he get to sing some stunning pieces of music, while all the time working to improve his vocal ability, but, due to the zeal of his choral colleagues for football, he has also finally been given the chance to play football matches, something which has curiously passed him by since his demotion to the non-squad in his first term at school. William’s other interests include German literature, photography, and, most importantly, pudding.

Daniel Blaze

Bio incoming soon!

Josh Dennis

Joshua first discovered the joys of the alto voice involuntarily, when he was placed on the part “temporarily” in his school choir when his voice began to break. Unfortunately, his bass range didn’t quite develop in the way he’d hoped, and so he was forced to make this strange new world his new home. This somehow landed him behind the stalls at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he completed his undergraduate degree (a detail which we have told him to be very embarrassed about). It is rumoured that the ghost of Magdalen’s previous musical director, who has since taken up residence in King’s, still haunts the place today. Having always been a fan of the paranormal, Joshua, armed with a camera, a notepad and a copy of Hahn’s “A Chloris”, set off to Cambridge to investigate the matter further. When he arrived, there just so happened to be a Lay Clerk vacancy which nobody had gone for yet (something to do with a “lack of male altos”, of which there is apparently no easy solution). So, abandoning his previous plans, he decided to settle here for the time being. The scarves are pretty nice, after all.

Tenors

Hugo Williamson

Hugo first discovered singing while attempting to imitate his family’s radio. After a few years with the radio firmly switched off, he spent a decade with the National Youth Choir before a blissful ‘gap year’ at Sherborne Abbey under the watchful eye of the Jack-of-all-trades Mr Daniel Blaze.

At Cambridge, Hugo read Music at Robinson College and sang next-door-but-one with Caius. A former member of Genesis Sixteen, he now divides his time between life as a lay clerk at King’s, a Voces8 Scholar, and occasional work for an exceedingly niche podcast company.

Tad Davies

Tad’s musical journey began at 5 years old when he had his first piano lesson, a memory which he still remembers 18 years later. With two parents from a choral background (one of whom sang in King’s himself), it was not long until Tad found himself in a choristership at Norwich Cathedral at the age of 7 alongside which he began his flute lessons. Here, he went from strength-to-strength and was even involved in the recording of a rock opera (something which has thankfully never surfaced). Suitably equipped for a life of choral singing and having enjoyed Norwich so much, Tad spent his gap year in the exotic city of Norwich as a choral scholar at the Cathedral and a Music Gap Student at Norwich High School for Girls. This was then swiftly followed by a choral scholarship at Durham Cathedral alongside his degree where he also played flute in the University Orchestra. When Tad is not singing chorally or talking about Norwich, he can be found in front of a computer recording and producing music or making strange sounds with synthesisers–his big break could be just around the corner. Tad hopes that his time at King’s will prepare him for professional music and looks forward to creating high quality music both in the choir and The King's Men

Robbie Anson

Hailing from the hallowed hills of West Cumbria, Robbie (a first year music student) was simultaneously enamoured by the number of people willing to discuss Gregorian chant in Cambridge and disappointed by the lack of a Gregg's within a five minute walk of his accommodation. Robbie first started singing as a chorister in Carlisle Cathedral where he learned to enjoy romping through Victorian choral music as a treble, a habit which (unfortunately) hasn't died moving into tenorhood. He looks forward to singing new varieties of music, and perhaps even doing so with a hint of good taste, as well as playing football with the choir despite his evident lack of coordination, skill or even knowledge of the rules.

Harry Gant

Harry is a tenor in his second year, studying for a degree in music. He began singing as chorister in Oxford (a town which he’s unfortunate enough to call his home), at Magdalen College. After leaving the choir, Harry spent 5 years playing percussion in various orchestras, and cracking his way through hymns at his local parish church, before deciding to apply for a choral scholarship at King’s. Alongside his love of choral music, Harry is well-versed in close harmony singing, having founded an almost-award-winning barbershop quartet at school. Outside of music, Harry is a keen footballer, having been converted to a goalkeeper at a young age due to his inability to get to grips with the handball rule.

Baritones

Tom Pickard - Manager

Tom, one of our baritones, read Modern Languages at King’s. Born in the Isle of Man, Tom has a long connection with King’s, having won a place to be a chorister here aged 8. Seeing the King’s Men perform as a chorister was a part of the reason he wanted to come back as a choral scholar, so it is real pleasure to be a part of the group now. Having spent his year abroad in Leipzig, teaching English at the Thomasschule (home to the choir boys of Bach’s Thomaskirche), Tom is delighted to be back, although misses the beer and sausage. He is now a Lay Clerk in the choir, and works at King's College School alongside his choir commitments. A fan of cold-water swimming, Tom can often be found in the Jesus Green Lido, or any body of water that he can find.

Fergus McKie

Fergus is a first year history and politics student. Fergus’ musical career started at a young age when his parents decided to move to a house where their room could be further away from his to prevent them from having to listen to his singing. However, not to be deterred from this minor setback he subsequently became a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, where highlights include almost being set on fire and thrown up on, both in services (although he claims that both of these incidents were strictly not personal). Fergus joins The King’s Men in a bid to recreate some of this excitement in a musical sense - that is provided Take That’s Relight My Fire is not added to the KM programme at any point in the future!! Outside of singing Fergus can often be found working in a vineyard (although his attempts to convey the merits of beer over wine to the other members of KM have been unsuccessful thus far), getting annoyed at politics and crying over Manchester United footballing performances. Fergus hopes to build on previous close-harmony singing experience as he embarks upon this new exciting time in his life with The King’s Men.

Basses

Jacob Robinson

Jacob was 5 years old when he announced to his parents that he would be learning the double bass. This was not up for discussion. Though he sang for pleasure from early years, Jacob’s vocal career really began when his voice dropped, suddenly equipping him with a vocal range almost as low his instrument. Jacob began to sing and play as much as he could, including starting a barbershop quartet and an acapella group at his school that he later went on to direct as part of a gap-year job there. On starting at Cambridge, Jacob discovered that his voice was much easier to transport by bicycle than his 6’6 instrument, and after a couple of years singing almost every day with a different choir or vocal group to the day before, he has now settled in as a lay clerk at King’s. Rumour has it that he also just finished a BA in philosophy at Girton College and has ambitions to become a voice artist.

John-Ellis Wallace - Assistant Musical Director

Arriving from sunny St Albans, John-Ellis intends to immerse himself in the modern (15th century!) architecture of King’s College Chapel. As a second year Classicist, he naturally enjoys singing in Latin and studying the Vestry tablets ahead of big services - just to get in the zone. His choral career began at age 7, as a boy treble in St Albans Cathedral Choir, later inspiring his love of composition and early music. John-Ellis continued to study both Composition and Singing at the Junior Royal Academy of Music, where he worked with both the Chamber Choir and Eighteenth Century Orchestra on productions of Handel and his own compositions.

Outside of choir, he enjoys going to the theatre, as well as the occasional Pizza Quiz Night - a tradition which he hopes to introduce to KM.

Alex Winnifrith

Much to her annoyance, Alex has followed his older sister to King’s - though, as she heads abroad for the year, he won’t have too many opportunities to embarrass her (yet). He’s ashamed to call Oxford his home, having been a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral from 2015 to 2020. As if five Christmases in a cassock weren’t enough, he’s now embarked on a three-year Classics degree at King’s. When not lurking behind the choir stalls, Alex can be found in the stands at the Emirates, playing the trumpet, or ranting about football on YouTube (though he keeps that bit under wraps!).

Ben Thurlow

Ben joins King’s during the carefree time in which he attempts to juggle 7 services a week alongside the final weeks of his PhD, while also starting another job - an experience he has found easy, relaxing, and deeply restorative. Once the PhD is submitted, he is looking forward to re-acquainting himself with the world outside of his office and the choir stalls, and to opening himself up to the possibility of actually spending some time with the other King’s men. Coming to King’s after singing in a different college choir, he’s still in shock at how the queues for evensong are undeterred even by the coldest and rainiest of Tuesdays, and by how many people have already requested Christmas tickets.