'It is incredible to think that these mature vocalists are mere students' The Times
Altos
Felix Blake - ManagerFelix 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.
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William Rodgers
William is currently in his first year at King’s, singing as a choral scholar and studying Classics (although that does not necessarily mean he understands what he’s singing about any more than other members of the choir). 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.
Jacob PartingtonArriving as the second member of his family to join King’s College Choir, Jacob came determined to challenge all pre-conceived ideas about his character. Almost immediately, he announced that his superb sense of style was a result of experiencing a short spell as a L'Oréal hair model, in an effort to demonstrate how truly cool and alternative he was. Having sung at Gloucester Cathedral as a chorister, Jacob is no alien to the English choral tradition and has found, despite his voice breaking, that he can now sing higher than ever before. He spent his early school years struggling with an under-developed tenor voice, only to discover, by accident, that he could also sing countertenor. The 'Eureka moment', of course, came when reciting 'The hills are alive' on a mountain somewhere in Northern Spain. Jacob is often found in Chapel, keen and ready to annoy whomever stands next to him. He hopes to leave Cambridge as a well-rounded musician with his masculinity intact.
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Alex AustinHaving abandoned any hope for the improvement of his ‘functional’ baritone, a thrilling (though perhaps raucous) brush with alto singing on an organists’ course prompted Alexander to further experiment with the idiosyncrasies of his head voice. Years later, having occupied himself with only the most studious attention to the countertenorial arts, it is safe to say that Alexander’s singing is still very much a trial-and-error affair.
Due to his occasionally stormy vocal temperament, Alexander finds himself drawn to the harpsichord as he pursues a passion for the music of the Baroque and period instruments more broadly. Once he’s further developed his craft, he dreams of a masters at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague and a future as an EU citizen. |
Tenors
Matt Supramaniam - Musical DirectorAfter a string of high-profile performances in his native Singapore, rumour has it that Matt was uncomfortable with the celebrity lifestyle and fled to 'the other place' for a fresh start as a chorister there away from media coverage. Since leaving school, Matt spent time foraging in jungles, had a buzz cut, started wearing khaki clothing, lost a third of his body weight, reached fighting fitness, “sustained an injury”, scaled down his fitness regime, and regained his former waistline. Having completed his undergraduate degree in History, Matt's attempts to cling onto the vestiges of student life range from wearing a variety of dubious colour combinations to altering his hair in ways no one thought possible or desirable. (He is also allegedly pursuing a master's in Film Studies.) Despite being able to partially clear a room of 4 and a half armed men with "a bent spoon", Matt now spends most of his time frightening locals with drawings of Homer Simpson and falling over on astroturf.
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Tad DaviesTad’s musical journey began at 5 years old when he had his first piano lesson, a memory which he still remembers 18years 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.
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Matthew ChanMatthew could perhaps be classified as locao produce, having spent his whole life (so far) in Cambridge. He recently graduated with an Economics degree from Jesus College, where he was also a Choral Scholar.
Matthew has been singing ever since he could talk, much to his family's and friends' annoyance. He occasionally also makes a racket around the house on piano and cello, but he enjoys singing because it usually requires the least practice and can be done in the shower. Despite starting his choral scholarship as a baritone, during his second year, the lack of tenors at Jesus necessitated a permanent upwards shift. Since then, because tenors are in short supply, he has been in high demand (that's the degree talking). He is very much looking forward to joining the King's Men this year to sing some schmoozy music! In his free time, he can be found staying up late watching Grey's Anatomy or NBA basketball (which may explain the sounds coming from Chapel on Sunday mornings...) |
Harry GantHarry 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.
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Baritones
Tom PickardTom, one of our baritones, is in his final year as an undergraduate at King’s, studying Modern Languages. 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 last year 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.
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Jack HarrisScotland’s third greatest musical export (behind only Susan Boyle and the bagpipes), Jack has returned to The King’s Men for a fourth year, alongside a Lay Clerkship in the Choir. He has found the switch from student life to ‘the real world’ turbulent, to say the least: his degree in Music has left him virtually unemployable and, worse still, he can no longer rely on student prices at the college bar… Previously, Jack spent his early musical career singing with the National Youth Choir of Scotland, followed by a three-year tenure as a Choral Scholar at Morningside Parish Church, before making the voyage down South to take up a Choral Scholarship at King’s. There, a sample of Jack’s musical highlights include a regular Michael Bublé tribute act and performing, in his pyjamas, with a treasured childhood teddy-bear in a production of Semele.
Outside of the choir stalls, Jack is a keen (read: awful) footballer and will happily recount that goal he scored in a 14-3 loss to St John’s College at the interval (Don't worry, we beat them 2-1 the year after!). He is an almost-too-passionate supporter of his beloved Valencia, whilst also supporting his family team – Hibernian FC – in an effort to convince his colleagues that he is, indeed, Scottish. They still don’t believe him. |
Basses
Jacob RobinsonJacob 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 he now spends almost every day singing with a different choir or vocal group to the day before. Rumour has it that he is also at Girton College studying for a BA in philosophy on the side and has ambitions to become a professional musician and/or voice artist.
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Paul Greally - Musical DirectorCuriously, despite his early musical training in drumming and jazz piano, Paul eventually decided that only by learning the organ would he finally become cool. He is now studying for the Master's in Music, and is in his 4th year as the organ scholar at King's. In this role he aspires to become the first organist in the choir's 500-year history to obtain a social life, and to help reach such lofty heights he joined the King's Men in his second year. In his spare time, he enjoys markedly non-strenuous cycling, writing wacky new arrangements for the ensemble, and reminding people that he is six foot four.
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Max TodesWhen Max is asked why he is singing at Kings college Cambridge, he often struggles to give a response. He might answer that it is to aid his pursuit of a career in conducting, for which he hopes to apply to conservatoire in the coming year, but that wouldn’t make a lot of sense. He might also reply, that given he did his undergraduate degree and choral scholarship at St Johns, college Cambridge, this seemed an obvious next step in his vocal journey. Sadly, neither of these answers make particular sense, and so Max greatly looks forward to finding exactly why this has happened, and in the meantime will delight in turning the conversation to his recent exploits in fencing, wine that he simply can’t afford, and some very obscure French philosophy, in the hope of boring people enough that they can’t remember their original question
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Michael TuftAfter serving as a Probationer at Southwark Cathedral, and as a Chorister at 'the place down the road', Mike has finally come to realise that King's is the place to be, and is one of the Bass Lay Clerks. During his time studying Biomedical Science at Anglia Ruskin, Mike worked as a Microbiology Analyst for SGS. One day he may return to a serious profession, but finding this wasn't for him (for the moment at least), he has swapped the lab coat for sunglasses, working as a Lifeguard at the Jesus Green Lido during the day alongside singing at King's. When he's not swimming or playing hockey, Mike is keeping up to date with Southern Hemisphere Rugby League and Rugby Union.
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