The King's Singers

15 / 01 / 2010

Chris

The learning curve of being a new parent is steep and fast. Today is the first day of term, and the first KS rehearsal/meeting/travel day of 2010 for most of us, and I'm about to leave home to travel across London to Heathrow Airport for the first of many times this year. I leave behind a jetlagged baby who has no idea whatsoever what time it is, whether she should be eating, sleeping or playing, and after a month of solid nights has regressed to waking every hour or so in total confusion! I feel guilty to leave Stephanie to deal with re-acclimatising Bella after a month in the US, but it's also taught me a lesson about flying with a baby: even if she sleeps for an entire flight (which she did) and makes you feel as though she's dealing with travel very well (which she is) there's no way she's going to slot straight back into UK time no matter how many times you explain time zones to her!

So, as I make my way slowly through the London traffic I'll be feeling a mixture of heightened senses. Sadness because I'm leaving my girls again but thankful that they are so supportive and encouraging of what I do, excitement at another wonderful year of concerts and touring is about to begin, contemplation of the important process of finding a new bass, determination to keep our standards as high as ever, but most of all anticipation of the unexpected. No matter how well-planned our life may be (and we have a wonderful team of people around the world that is dedicated to making sure it's VERY well-planned indeed!) there are always twists and turns, and that's what makes this life so fascinating and means my love for the group remains as strong as ever.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at a concert this year; Happy New Year, and happy listening!

16 / 01 / 2010

Stephen

Great to be in Holland at the start of the season and this tour. We are in Haarlem where we have sung a number of times before. Singing and being on the road in Holland has three distinct advantages 1. They appreciate good choral singing 2. It is very flat here so never uphill walking to or from the concert venue and 3. We get BBC on the TV over here. So close to home! Till soon Stephen

18 / 01 / 2010

David

As Stephen wrote on Saturday, it is good to be back on tour in the Netherlands. Yesterday afternoon we performed in Enschede, giving me a moment's panic when I realised shortly before the concert that the usual greeting in a Dutch concert of "Goede Avond" ("Good Evening") might be a bit premature at 2.30 pm (1430). Armed with a revised greeting of "Goede Middag" I struggled my way through a full five words of Dutch (the other three being "Dames en Heren" - "Ladies and Gentlemen"). Stephen did highlight some of the joys of touring in Holland, but he omitted one - the Dutch speak such good English that we are best understood if we announce in our mother tongue. In fact I have met two Dutch people over the weekend who sound completely English. There was not a trace of an accent, yet neither has lived in an English speaking country. After I had complimented their English, they had the courtesy to comment favourably on my mastery of the Dutch language (ha ha!).

Today we are driving through the murk and mist for a concert this evening in Mouscron in Belgium, the land of fine cooking and fine chocolate, amongst other things. As in the Netherlands, there is a very keen interest in singing in Belgium, with many community choirs. Tomorrow we head to Paris for a concert in the Salle Gaveau. What a hard life!

19 / 01 / 2010

Tim

Happy 2010 everybody!! Well our first tour of this year is going at quite a pace! Today we travelled to Paris by train from Mouscron in Belgium. We performed in the magnificent Eglise du Christ-Roi last night and although it was so cold that our breath was condensing on stage, the audience (luckily wrapped up in scarves and gloves) seemed to thoroughly enjoy our Pater Noster programme!! Tonight's concert in the Salle Gaveau, includes an entire second half from memory, so sadly I will have to leave you now to scan through all the music in my mind.............!

20 / 01 / 2010

Paul

What a pleasure it was to wake up this morning in a very smart hotel room in the centre of Paris, after last night's very enjoyable and successful concert in the 'Salle Gaveau', our Parisian concert 'home'.

It's been an intense start to 2010 for the KS, with four concerts in as many days, culminating in last night's show which was broadcast live on France's national 'Radio Classique'. (No pressure there then!!) I found the second half particularly challenging as I had decided to do the introductions to all of the songs, 'off the cuff' in French. It's amazing how much vocabulary you can dig out of the darkest recesses of your mind when there's an expectant audience in front of you and you can just catch sight of a radio microphone out of the corner of your eye! The rest of today is now going to be taken up with meetings and another radio interview, this time for 'Radio France', so more schoolboy French required for later today!'

23 / 01 / 2010

Stephen

An interesting evening awaits us tonight when we make a return visit to Maaseik in Belgium. The interesting part of evening is the participation in our concert, or rather the sharing of tonight's concert with a Tuba choir from the local music academy. I am quite excited to experience a choir made up of Tubas. We have in the past shared the platform with musicians and instruments of all shapes and sizes - but I think the sight and sounds generated by a gathering of Tuba players on stage this evening is going to be rather spectacular. So much looking forward to it.

Tomorrow we are back once again to The Hague for a matinee performance, allowing us that occasional luxury of being able fly home that very same evening from Amsterdam...ears still gently vibrating with the sounds of tubas, no doubt.

Till soon

Stephen

25 / 01 / 2010

David

We have now completed our first tour of the year with a Sunday afternoon concert in Den Haag (The Hague). It took place in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) opposite our normal performance venue, the Anton Philips Saal. The church is now used as a chamber music hall complementing the larger halls across the road. It seats around 450 people, and see-through acoustics panel help dampen the echo. The result is a lovely concert venue. The audience love the clarity of the sound, and no-one is too far from the stage. We were treated to one of those wonderful moments in the concert; at the end of the first piece, Camille Saint-Saens' "Calme des nuits", the audience held a long and absolute silence for some time after the end of the singing. This is always a lovely thing when it happens.

As Stephen wrote in his blog on Saturday, one of the bonuses of an afternoon concert at the end of a trip is that we are able to travel back home on the same day. We are now waiting for our flight to London from Schipol airport. Travelling from Den Haag towards Amsterdam reminded me that I have learnt at least one thing on our trip. At school I was taught that The Hague was the capital of the Netherlands. Apparently this is not so (according to some Dutch people I met after Friday's concert). The Hague is the home of the Queen and the Government, but Amsterdam is the nation's capital. So much for my expensive education!

26 / 01 / 2010

Tim

I have to say that when I woke up this morning in my own bedroom, I had absolutely no idea where I was! The novelty of sleeping in my own bed was wonderful but the shock I got when I opened my eyes to realise that I was not in a hotel room somewhere around the world was immense!

We have a day at home today before we travel to Cannes tomorrow to attend the MIDEM Classical Awards. Here, the group will pick up the Best Concert DVD award for the 2008 release 'Live at the BBC Proms'. Although, this was recorded before my time in the group, I will be very proud to represent my predecessor, Robin, at the ceremony and hopefully keep up his high standard in the live sing! It is such an honour to be a part of something which has such prestige and continues, even after 41 years, to entertain people all over the globe.

The rest of today will be spent learning more repertoire for the US tour which starts next week, and this evening I might even be able to fit in a tiny bit of a social life as well! What a novelty!!

27 / 01 / 2010

Paul

What a pleasure it was to wake up this morning to the distant sound of the waves crashing against the rocks here in Cannes. We are about to return home, having picked up a 'Midem Classical Award' here last night, and sung at the celebration concert. We are very honoured to have been recognised by our colleagues in the music industry, and really enjoyed meeting so many of our supporters from all over the world. Once I get home today, its back to reality, and I'll be preparing for 'Tough Guy' which takes place on Sunday. I've trained hard, and I'm ready for it, but nothing can take away the anxiety of anticipation! If you want to get a glimpse of how crazy I am for entering, why not visit the TG website: www.toughguy.co.uk.

I'll write about my experience next week!

31 / 01 / 2010

David

I have just checked out the K'S website, and have been reminded by Paul's most recent blog that today (Sunday) was the day he took part in 'Tough Guy'. I logged on to the link posted on Paul's message to check on him, but they have not listed the timings of the competitors. However I noted the description of the event;

"The original and ultimate challenge. Run on the last Sunday of January and offering brain freeze like you've never experienced before!"

 I have to admit that my reaction is simply “rather him than me”.

My day has been altogether more relaxed. I am currently enjoying a weekend at home, which is something treasured by all of us. I went to church this morning, and the choir's repertoire included two masterpieces of the renaissance, both of which The King’s Singers perform from time to time - William Byrd's motet Ave verum corpus and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. The latter is one of the most significant works of choral music. It was written in the mid 16th Century in honour of Pope Marcellus II whose reign as Pontiff lasted just three weeks. At this time, the Council of Trent was discussing the future of the Catholic Church, and included in the debates was the question of polyphonic music in worship. It is thought that hearing Palestrina’s sublime music changed the views of Cardinal Borromeo, causing him to support the continued use of polyphony in church services. It is difficult to imagine how different music would be if the ban had been instigated.

Looking ahead to the coming week, I have three more days at home to prepare for our trip to the US. We leave on Thursday afternoon, travelling to Schenectady for the first concert on Friday. Highlights of the tour include the recording of works written for the King’s Singers and chorus in our 40th anniversary year by Eric Whitacre and Bob Chilcott. For this we will join with the choir of Concordia College under their director, René Clausen. Later on in the tour we will give the first performance of Tres Mitos de mi Tierra by Gabriela Lena Frank. We are greatly enjoying learning this interesting work, and look forward to incorporating it into our regular programming in the future. The piece is rather tricky, to say the least, and it has been providing its own type of brain freeze to all of us, but we hope we are tough enough to meet the challenge.

02 / 02 / 2010

Stephen

A belated blog here for you all. I remember Saturday happening but it passed by with such speed- as did the rest of the weekend, that it was only today that I realised I had not written of our doings over the weekend. Well here I am tp say that Friday saw us in the studio listening and putting together our final comments and ideas into the Swimming Over London tracks ready for its release later this year. It has been nice to have this weekend at home before our three week trip to the US at the end of the week. Till soon, Stephen

02 / 02 / 2010

Tim

I returned to London today from spending a couple of days back in sunny Chelmsford, catching up with mum. Sadly, this 'catching up' was only done at dinner time as the rest of the time was spent in the dining room with the trusty piano learning repertoire for the upcoming American tour! This job is amazing for brain training - constant memorisation of pieces, sometimes at incredibly short notice! Even after doing this job for only a year, I am definitely noticing that I can absorb pieces far quicker than 12 months ago. It really keeps the brain ticking over nicely!!

I've got a set of new close harmony pieces to learn now from the new album which we'll introduce into some programmes on this next US tour. So better run back to the piano and reapply my iPod to my ears, but will leave you with a wonderful photo from the MIDEM awards - me and my date Yanthé enjoying time together at the Gala Dinner!!

03 / 02 / 2010

Paul

As many of you will know, on Sunday I took part in Tough Guy 2010, in Perton, Staffordshire, not far from Birmingham. Well, the fact that I'm writing this now, must mean that I survived, but what a day it was! The air temperature was +1 Celsius, and the water temperature was around 'freezing' -- you could tell that from the amount of thick ice that was floating around when you leapt in!  I'm delighted to tell you that I completed the course, much quicker than last year, in around 2 hours and five minutes, and that apart from a few scrapes and aches, I am unscathed!  I have to tell you that the water obstacles were the most brutal parts of the course - once you jumped into chest-deep frozen water, it really froze your brain and took your breath away, but equally challenging was conquering your fear of total darkness, as you crawled through water-filled tunnels, or braved the 'jellyfish' - a series of dangling wires designed to give the unwary competitor an electric shock. I also wasn't too crazy about the rope-climbing, the running up almost vertical mud-covered slopes, and dangling precariously above frozen lakes!  Nevertheless together with a bunch of local, Cambridgeshire, like-minded lunatics, we really enjoyed a grand day out!  I'd like to thank Fiona Clifton and Mark Smee, two of our KS 'vip' fans, who attended the event, and who shouted much-needed encouragement as I ran the course. I couldn't have done it without their support, and sorry Fiona for being so muddy when I gave you a hug!!  Fiona has very kindly written a short piece about 'TG' which you can read,  here.

Below, Paul during the event, and Fiona Clifton and Mark Smee.

05 / 02 / 2010

Philip

I should really be in bed. We've just arrived in the charmingly-named town of Schenectady in New York State, after a long bout of  travel - I left home 18 hours ago. Jetlag is something I've come to respect over the years. In the UK right now it's 5.45 in the morning and I've had about an hour's sleep, sitting virtually upright in  a couple of aircraft. If I were in the UK I'd be completely exhausted. As it is I'm, well, completely exhausted, but able to stay up for another half an hour to write this and check emails. My brain is saying "hey what's going on? You're usually in bed at this time", but it has obligingly responded to the stimulus of light and is staying awake enough for me to write these words without really thinking about them too much. I suppose you do get used to jetlag over the years. The first time I ever went to the USA in 1983, I awoke at something like 3three o'clock in the morning, wide awake, thinking that my bedside clock was wrong, unable in my naivety to believe the time. And when I got home I made the mistake of going to bed in the afternoon (pre-kids of course) and entering a deep sleep, instead of trying to stay awake to train my mind back into the new time. I guess most of you have travelled enough to know all this and so I'm preaching to the converted and should stop rambling and go to bed. It wouldn't matter if we didn't have to work - in the evenings. As we step out onto the stage of the old Proctor Theatre next door to the hotel the lights will go up in our faces and the people will erupt in applause (assuming anyone comes) and in England it will be... THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Coffee anyone?

05 / 02 / 2010

Chris

The first morning of a US tour is all about acclimatisation, and depends greatly on the night before! Yesterday we had a helpful schedule as by arriving here in Schenectady NY after midnight it forced us to stay awake late and beat the jetlag, so this morning we're all feeling refreshed and ready to start singing. Proctors Theatre here in town is a beautiful old venue that has been lovingly restored and taken care of over the years, unlike so many historic theatres, so it's a real pleasure to be starting off here. This trip takes us from the east coast to the west (San Francisco) and from North Dakota to Texas, so it really does give us a snapshot of what this great country's all about. We can be sure that wherever we go we'll get a warm welcome, which we'll appreciate most of all up in Minnesota where apparently it's freezing cold!!! For me I'm looking forward to the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's piece, "Tres Mitos de Mi Tierra", which we'll do in San Francisco next week and which is sure to become a staple in our repertoire, and also to recording with Rene Clausen's wonderful choir of Concordia College, Moorhead. I can remember on my first US tour in February 2004 that we went to Concordia and walked into a choir practice whereupon Rene stopped the choir and struck up with Eric Whitacre's "With a Lily in Your Hand." It was the first time I'd heard such a great American college choir, and the first time I'd heard music by Eric. Ever since I've wanted to get a piece written for us by him - and we did, in 2008, when he wrote "The Stolen Child" for us and the NYC of Great Britain. Once we'd performed it there was only one place to record it, for me, along with Bob Chilcott's commissions for our anniversary ("High Flight" and "A Thanksgiving") so I've looked on this recording as one of my little projects ever since, and am so pleased it's all been worked out through the hard work of our wonderful team in the UK and US.

06 / 02 / 2010

Stephen

We had a wonderful start last night to this latest tour of North America with a return visit to upstate New York and to the historic town of Schenectady NY. The town has one of those real delights of a concert Hall - in that turn of the century, vaudeville style - and seats a staggering number of people. We were fortunate to play to a pretty close to full auditorium as we featured and opened the show with former tenor Bob Chilcott's American folk song arrangements called Simple Gifts (sounds like a Grammy winning album I know!) - after the shaker hymn and final piece of the set by the same name. I remember Bob arranging these pieces towards the end of 1987 for a concert we were preparing to singing in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the following January. At the start of each calendar year we would give a concert at this prestigious venue in London's South bank to premiere and showcase new repertoire, programme ideas etc. This particular concert at the start of January 1988 saw the premiere of these arrangements and still to this day have the singing line up of the time written alongside the voice parts in the original handwritten arrangements. It was nice to see so many friends at last night's concert including long time K's supporters Solange and Anne-Marie Rousseau who made their way down from Canada to see the show - their support of the group has been amazing over many years. When they told my how far they had travelled that day, I told them that at least it was all downhill from Canada...  till Soon Stephen

08 / 02 / 2010

David

This morning we head to MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) to appear on "Performance Today". We have visited MPR many times over the years. It ran a marvellous live music show for many years called "St Paul Sunday Morning". Later we head to Moorhead to begin our three day visit to Concordia College. We will give a concert tomorrow night, for which we will be joined by the College's marvellous choir, under their director, Rene Clausen, to perform three works written for us in our 40th anniversary year; Eric Whitacre's "The Stolen Child" and Bob Chilcott's "High Flight" and "A Thanksgiving". On the following day we will record the works for an album on Signum that will be released next year. The producer of the recording is an old friend of the K'S, Steve Barnett, with whom we have worked on many occasions at MPR. Yesterday afternoon we sang in a lovely old theatre in St Cloud. We were able, during the show, to mark a significant birthday for Doug Anderson, our good friend and US tour sales representative. Doug travels to all our American concerts selling CDs and other great merchandise. He is a retired high school music director, and it is always great to have him along on the tours. We wish him many happy returns, and hope he enjoyed his birthday celebrations watching the Superbowl in a sports bar in St Cloud. Sadly we had leave after the show to drive through the snow to St Paul.

09 / 02 / 2010

Tim

Sitting here, looking out of my hotel room in Moorhead, I have never seen so much snow in my life! We've had very tricky driving conditions over the last few days, which our designated driver, David, has done a sterling job of coping with!

We've just had a very useful programme meeting this morning - looking through many ideas and concepts for future concerts. I'm gradually getting to grips with more and more repertoire and am looking forward to the time when I'm able to come up with some programmes myself!

This is proving to be another incredibly enjoyable US tour with already a handful of greatly received concerts under out belt. I can't believe this time last year I was in my first few weeks as a King's Singer. Incredible how time flies..........

10 / 02 / 2010

Paul

Just woken up here in the snowy landscape that is Moorhead, Minnesota, and walking out of the hotel to our favourite coffee shop proves what 'real' cold feels like: it makes your ears feel as is they have frozen solid and are going to shatter! Yesterday I made the mistake of going outside without taking a hat, and with slightly wet hair, so not only did my ears get cold, but my hair froze - literally and within seconds. (Not such a 'Tough Guy' now, are we?!)

Last night we sang a truly memorable concert at Concordia College, with their internationally famous choir, under the direction of Rene Clausen. As David mentioned in his blog a couple of days ago, today's task is to record three pieces with the choir, which will feature on an album next year. Working with a group of young people like those in Concordia Choir is inspirational for us - these students are so talented, so highly motivated, and extremely well trained and valued by their director. I'm looking forward to today!

My post 'Tough Guy' bumps and scratches have all healed now, and I'm contemplating whether or not to enter next year (do you think I should?). However, I'd like to direct you here to read a report on the day's events, written by my friend and King's Singers v.i.p. member, Fiona Clifton. Its a lovely article, thanks Fiona.

11 / 02 / 2010

Phil

It's rare that you get an opportunity to work with a choir as good as that of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota under their inspirational director, Rene Clausen, but that's what we did yesterday. We are recording with them the pieces written by us for our 40th anniversary by Bob Chilcott and Eric Whittacre. We will record the rest of the album later this year and it will be released next year. It certainly keeps you on your toes when you're confronted with such a well-disciplined and committed choir.

Now it's off to bed for 6 hours sleep, up at 5.00 tomorrow morning, two flights, a 3-hour drive and concert. The show goes on!

And from the 11th...

It's not every day you get to travel through 5 US states in one morning and then do a 2-hour rehearsal followed by a concert. This is what today, February 11th 2010 had in store:

 5.00 am Leave hotel in Moorhead, Minnesota (State 1)

Driven in van to airport at Fargo, North Dakota (2)

Flight to Denver, Colorado (3).

Half an hour to hit Starbucks (still only 8 in the morning)

Flight to Omaha, Nebraska (4)

3-hour drive in van to Storm Lake, Iowa (5th state) and it's still not lunchtime!.

Normally after this we'd give ourselves a short rehearsal but we've got the Naxos live radio Valentine's Day request show in Nashville, and a world premiere in San Francisco next week, so it's a full 2-hour rehearsal before the concert.

It's a bequest Series here at Buena Vista University so a modest 300 audience, and halfway through the close harmony I am seized by a desire to go back to my room in the Baymont Inn and arrange a song (middle of nowhere, piles of snow all around as far as the eye can see). After awarding ourselves a few bottles of Miller's from the local licqour store, I am now back in my room, manuscript paper and pencil at the ready, and it's nearly midnight, but which song? Hang on, I've been up for 19 hours, maybe it's just time to go to sleep....

13 / 02 / 2010

Stephen

After a 12 hour travel day yesterday, it has been a lovely morning being in one place and so far reading the various birthday wishes and having a chance to speak to Rachel my dear wife. In the time that I have spent in the the King's Singers, I think I am right in say that all of my 23 birthday have been celebrated in the USA, either preparing to sing a concert that evening or travelling in order to do the same. One of the K's's long time friends and fans Jane Oliver and she is famed for appearing during the February tour of the States along with her long distant driving husband Frank (they often drive for up to nine hours to come to a show) and usually presents one of her famous Coca Cola Cakes. I am not alone having a birthday in February as Phil also celebrates his in a few days time and Doug Anderson of DJ records who is normally touring with us during out time in the States, selling CDs etc, also has an early February birthday, so we share the cake - they are usually quite large and very tasty! Today we are in Kentucky, the home of Fried Chicken.

14 / 02 / 2010

Chris

Today I'm going to write about Bluegrass music, the style of easy-going country songs that have sprung out of the mid-southern states of the US such as Tennessee and Kentucky (the Bluegrass state, where we are at present). I think there's something incredibly appealing to English classical musicians about this style as it uses so much harmony in its construction - a hallmark is vocal trio work over instruments as diverse as mandolins, string bass and even flutes - and we can identify with that as we're the kind of people who try to harmonise pop songs anyhow. Sad, isn't it....

Anyhow, a few years back I was introduced to a wonderful group by the name of Nickel Creek who boast amongst their number one of the world's finest mandolin players, Chris Thile, and some great vocalists. I was entranced by songs such as "Out of the Woods" and "When you Come Back Down" and hoped we would sing one or both of these in time. We finally did record the former song on our recent EP "From the Heart" and are preparing to perform it live for the first time on this trip. 

When people ask us how we keep the group fresh and modern, this is the sort of story I like to tell. From one member's personal experience a wholly new style of music is introduced to the group, whether it be renaissance, classical, romantic or pop. This spark often leads to an idea that grows until a new programme is formed. On many occasions the spark dies because it just doesn't have enough depth to it for a full touring programme or recording, but in others it leads to wonderful projects. At any one time we might have half a dozen such ideas in play, and only a few will come to fruition, but the important thing is that we keep coming up with the initial thoughts!

15 / 02 / 2010

David

It is very often the case that we are away from home on St Valentine's Day, and this year is no exception. Yesterday, however, was a little bit different from a normal touring day. We performed a concert for ClassicsOnline, which should now be available for viewing at www.classicsonline.com. Through ClassicsOnline, we were able to offer the chance to six lucky people to dedicate their favourite King's Singers' song to their loved ones. These songs featured in a programme of love songs through the ages. In addition to the online viewers, we were joined at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville by a large and enthusiastic audience, with part of the proceeds of the event going to the church's youth outreach programme to Guatemala. The dedications came in from far and wide, but the one I read came from  a Nashville resident to his wife, and I was delighted to meet them after the show. 

Today we rehearse for the first performance of Gabriela Lena Frank's Tres Mitos de mi Tierra, which we premiere in San Francisco this coming week. Gabriela is joining us here in Nashville to work on the piece, which will be very useful. We are all enjoying learning the work very much, and are sure it will be a very interesting new addition to our repertoire. It tells three stories from the Peruvian folk tradition, and has a fantastically lively South American feel to it. I hope you will get a chance to hear it performed somewhere in the future, and maybe one day we will be able to perform it in Peru. That would be great!

16 / 02 / 2010

Tim

Woke up in the far milder and less snowy Nashville this morning. The travel day yesterday after the rehearsal with Gabriela Lena Frank (which went remarkably well!!) was predictably tiring so a slightly later wake-up time was set which I fully enjoyed! Today, we perform our Horizons programme at the Armstrong Auditorium. This consists of a set of Bob Chilcott's North American folksongs, the haunting work by Peter Louis van Dijk - Horizons (gradually becoming one of my favourite pieces that I've done so far in the KS repertoire!) and a handful of Spanish Renaissance works. Yesterday, David informed us all that he was celebrating, to the day, his 20th year in the group - an amazing achievement and huge congratulations go out to him! He also mentioned that he will begin his next chapter in the KS with the same piece that he started his first concert - Bob Chilcott's Golden Vanity. What are the chances!!

17 / 02 / 2010

Paul

Another day, another blog sitting in a van - this time on the way from OKC to DEN, and then from there to SFO. (Remember that game ?!)  However today is a very special day, as we premiere Gabi Lena Frank's piece, which David told you about the other day, at the lovely 'Herbst Theater' in San Francisco. SF is one of my favourite cities in all the world - the atmosphere, climate and downtown all suit me, and I always look forward to being there. Many friends and colleagues are converging on the city today, to celebrate the first performance of what I'm sure is going to become a significant commissioned work in our repertoire. So the day holds plenty of excitement, after the two flights, the two hours time change and the two hour rehearsal. After the show I may even have two drinks to celebrate!

18 / 02 / 2010

Philip

Well we did it, and I think we did it justice! I'm talking about Gabriella Lena Frank's stunning piece Tres Mitos which she wrote for us and which we premiered in San Francisco last night. It's one of the longer commissions we've had since I joined, a good 25 minutes, but so well paced that it somehow doesn't feel too long, and it's sure to get "a ton" of performances, as they say over here. We're so grateful to the Minnesota Commissioning Club for making it possible. The reaction it received from the audience at the Herbst Theatre was rapturous, and some of us did indeed have those two drinks after the show that Paul was talking about in his last blog!

19 / 02 / 2010

Chris

The past few days have been some of those crazy US tour ones we know and love! From Oklahoma to San Francisco to Dallas in as many days and a chance to catch my breath here in our hotel for 24 hours. Last night we sang with the talented Chamber Singers from UTD who are performing with us tonight here in Richardson, Texas, and we're dusting off the Chilcott and Whitacre anniversary commissions we recorded a few weeks ago (was it really that long ago?!) up in Minnesota. The beauty of these pieces for us is that although our musical lines remain the same on the page, we have to adjust our performances every time we meet a new choir. It keeps us on our toes but also allows many people around the world to have an influence in the way we shape the music. Being in a professional ensemble is as much about humility as anything else - we are never above the music, we have no director and we have to leave our vocal ego off-stage whenever we rehearse or perform. So in meeting a new choir and their director we are continuing the organic process of allowing these wonderful pieces of music to speak to us, and to new audiences. 

As I write this I'm listening to Rimsky-Korsakov's masterpiece, Scheherazade - just downloaded from iTunes, and as so many times before it strikes me that there's music for every mood and occasion. I find it hard to pass a "free" evening on tour without embarking on a huge musical journey that usually involves iTunes, Wikipedia and my KS manuscripts. On Thursday evening, for example, I started re-visiting Richard Rodney Bennett's wonderful cycle "Sermons and Devotions," written for us in 1992 and which we're reviving for our next trip in Germany. It's an incredible work, and made me want to listen to some Britten opera, so I put Peter Grimes on for a few minutes, which fit with the Bennett like a glass of crisp Puligny-Montrachet goes with a nice bit of poached cod. 

Then it was time to learn another commission, this time from the 1970s, Malcolm Williamson's "The Musicians of Bremen," also for the German trip. It's a piece that is completely new to me, so I listened to it a few times all the way through before really working on it properly. Its sweeping melodies somehow put me in mind of a piece of music I couldn't quite put my finger on, but as soon as I turned on the television to watch a bit of the Olympic figure-skating the piece magically jumped out at me as the ice dancer's chosen soundtrack: Scheherazade! So, a crazy musical journey leading to another iTunes download and less space on my hard disc....

20 / 02 / 2010

Stephen

Dear All - just on our way to Louisiana to do a concert tonight. Just to keep you on your toes I sent a video blog late last night instead of ramblin' on here right now. So do go and have a look at that. If you have not had chance to listen to the latest podcast which is a piece I did about our recent visit to sing and record part of a new Album with the famous Concordia choir - do check that out too. It features a long chat with Rene Clausen who is one of the world's greatest choral directors. You will get a chance also to hear him in his role as composer too as his "In Pace" is featured and performed in full. It sure has been nice visiting Texas these last two night.... Yee Haa !! Texas is the home of Texas toast. Till soon Stephen

22 / 02 / 2010

David

Yesterday (Sunday) was a day off from singing. We flew from Lake Charles, Louisiana via Houston to Knoxville, Tennessee. On the plane I sat next to Tim, who was studying a copy of The Musicians of Bremen by the Australian composer Malcolm Williamson, which we will perform in Germany on our next trip. We are bringing this work back into our current repertoire as part of the Birds, Bats and Beasts programme. The Musicians of Bremen was commissioned by the group back in 1972, and first performed in Sydney Town Hall that same year. It is a charming piece that tells a story by the Brothers Grimm about a group of ageing animals that escape their lives in the service of man to travel to Bremen in North Germany to join an orchestra. On the way they are attacked by two fearsome criminals (played by Christopher and Stephen), but by working together they overcome them. I first heard the piece back in the 1970s when I bought an LP of the group’s Contemporary Collection. I heard the KS in concert in 1977 when they came to my school to sing, and the programme included Paul Patterson’s Timepiece, which many of you will know. It was a revelation to me that modern music could be fun, and when I saw the album for sale I snapped it up. As well as Timepiece and The Musicians of Bremen, the playlist included Richard Rodney Bennett’s atmospheric House of Sleepe, Peter Dickinson’s Winter Afternoons, and Krzystof Penderecki’s Ecloga VIII. It was one of my favourite KS records (along with Out of the Blue), and I still have my copy, although I no longer have the means to play it!

Changing the subject, I would like to say a word of thanks to a supporter of the group. Last Friday, in Richardson, we were each given a gift bag by an audience member named Erica Steed. The bag contained some delicious cookies, a bar of Symphony chocolate, some hot chocolate, a scarf, and a copy of an essay on entitled “My favorite group”. She discovered the KS on iTunes, and as she wrote “I was hooked”. She is very generous in what she writes, as she is in her gifts. Thanks, Erica.

Today we sing a concert in Knoxville’s Chuch of Ascension. We are also giving a workshop to three local high school choirs, which is something we like to do if our schedule allows.

PS Check out the video blogs for my tour highlights.

23 / 02 / 2010

Tim

Today we travelled by car to Greenville, South Carolina, for our last concert of this tour at Bob Jones University. BJU is a Christian liberal arts institution and is one of the world's largest fundamental Christian schools with more than 4,000 students. We're expecting a large crowd tonight - 6,500 so I'm now about to start warming up for the show and getting my music in order! This has been yet another fantastic tour and, although, I'll be glad to get back to London to see family and friends, I couldn't wish for a more enjoyable way to make a living!

24 / 02 / 2010

Paul

Well, at last we're on our way home! It's been a fabulous tour, with many new experiences, and waking up in Greenville, South Carolina, this morning after last night's concert at Bob Jones University, attended by almost 7000 people, you experience that lovely feeling of warmth, knowing you are about to see your family. Before that though, and departing for the airport (GSP to IAD, then to LHR !!!) there are a few items of business to deal with: looking over a some future programmes, finishing our US tour expenses, and finally packing the suitcase. 

This weekend at home we'll be celebrating William's 14th birthday (I don't feel old enough to have a teenage son!) and catching up with family and close friends, taking Wiz for long walks, and hopefully getting an hour to go for a run in the fresh air. (I'm a bit fed-up with running on treadmills now) 

So, back to a kind of reality - one that is perfectly normal for many of you reading this, but for a King's Singer, something we positively look forward to after 3 weeks away from home.

27 / 02 / 2010

Stephen

Time certainly passes quickly when one is having fun, as the old saying goes. It is six months to the day today since Rachel and I became man and wife (sound effect: collective sigh of Awwww !) - and it only seems like yesterday that I was blogging to you all on the fist day of our honeymoon to Turkey. It does, however, seem like a long time though in these drizzle fill grey days since the summer when everything was in full blossom - roll on the spring! In this all too short turn around  between two tours, the two of us are taking time for ourselves this weekend and we are spending the night away in a lovely hotel, along with a nice meal to help celebrate our months together. Gloucestershire is our destination, another of England's green and pleasant lands and home to many of The King's Singers more recent musical triumphs - many of our recordings have been made up the road in Toddington Church as you might know, as well as the many concerts and recent BBC Songs Praise filmings in the Abbey at Tewekesbury. Attached is a picture of a beaming couple on the happy day in question - this particular shot is very much treasured on long tours away from home serving as my home screen on my blackberry. Also attached is the beautiful Abbey at Tewkesbury.
FYI - Gloucestershire is home to the famous Old Spot Pigs.  Till Soon  - Stephen

01 / 03 / 2010

David

It is already the first day of March, and I can’t believe how quickly this year is passing by. It is also St David’s Day (the patron saint of Wales), which means, being half Welsh, I should have a leek pinned to my coat collar (or maybe that should be half a leek). I am enjoying being at home, although there is plenty to do before I head to Germany tomorrow evening. Later this morning I will be phoned by a journalist to chat about the Pachelbel recording. I have been reminding myself of this wonderful music by listening to the tracks we recorded last year with Charivari Agréable. As many of you will know, this new CD, which is now available from Signum Records, consists of Vespers movements by Johann Pachelbel (best known for his Canon). The manuscripts for these pieces ended up in a library in England, only recently finding the light of day. They were carried here by Pachelbel’s son, as he travelled to America. It is not known why he left some of his father’s compositions in England, but it they known that they found their way into the collection of the composer John Blow, onetime organist of Westminster Abbey, and from there, via an unknown path, into the Tenbury Collection in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library. If you want the chance to hear some of this great music live, we will be giving a concert in London at Cadogan Hall on Thursday 29th April. The programme, which includes some of the CD repertoire, will also feature music by Pachelbel's contemporaries, such Buxtehude, and members of the Bach family.

Other highlights of the day include shopping for my Mum’s birthday present, and something for Mother’s Day (both of which fall during the next trip). This evening, Sarah and I will go to a non-Birthday party for a friend who has the misfortune of being born on the 29th February. He is 15 and a half today!

I must head out now, but as they say in Wales Hwyl, Hwyl fawr, Hwyl nawr, Hwyl am y tro (in England we say Goodbye). 

PS I found this Welsh on a website of phrases, so I do not vouch for its correctness. In amongst lots of useful everyday sentences I found the following: 

Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn llyswennod

I will send a copy of the Pachelbel CD to the first correct answer sent to david@kingssingers.com.

03 / 03 / 2010

Paul

When we left home yesterday to travel to southern Germany, it felt like it really was the first day of spring - blue skies, warmer temperatures and the first sign of spring flowers. So it was a bit of a shock to arrive in Stuttgart and start our drive to Villingen-Schwenningen in thick, freezing fog, and to arrive here to find snow still piled up by the roadside. One of the things I have noticed about this job in the years I have been lucky enough to do it, is that one often fails to appreciate the changing seasons, as you are constantly 'on the go', travelling between time zones and experiencing different climates along the way. For example, on our recent U.S. tour, I enjoyed a run in very pleasant temperatures in San Francisco, having arrived from very cold temperatures in Minnesota. (Where the snow was piled up to 20 feet deep in places!)  We'll be travelling through Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the next 12 days, no doubt experiencing the changing seasons and hoping to see a few spring buds cautiously poking their heads through the ground.

04 / 03 / 2010

Philip

Last night we sang in a deconsecrated building here in the lovely little town of Villingen-Schwenningen, in the Stuttgart region of Germany. The town has a simple cruciform pattern of main streets and if you stand in the centre you can turn and see medieval gates at the ends of three of the four roads. The only English equivalent to this that I can think of is York, except the city is too big to be able at once to take in all four "bars", as they are called there, unless you are in a helicopter or standing on top of the vast central tower of the Minster. I digress - last night was the group´s (and my) fourth visit to V-S, and as before we received a warm reception, though not the four encores that were demanded of us in 1994 (I think we could have given them four, but we´ve found ways of engineering fewer - should I have just made that public!!??) On to Salzburg now via Stuttgart to pay a social visit to our long-standing German manager Erika Esslinger. Salzburg is one of my favourite European cities, not just because you can stand in the house in which Mozart was born, but also because it played host to many of the scenes in Richard Rogers´ final masterpiece The Sound Of Music. Yes, I´m not ashamed to admit it, I love this film, as do my family, and I know it takes many people to make a successful film, but as with Carousel, Oklahoma, South Pacific and so on, it is Rogers´ brilliant score which REALLY makes it worth watching. Don´t get me started, there´s enough for another blog there. So auf wiedersehen Villingen-Schwenningen, it´s time to leave for Salzburg, One Of My Favourite Things!

05 / 03 / 2010

Chris

Salzburg is justifiably famous for two things: Julie Andrews and Mozart. I'm fairly confident that they'll never meet, at least not in this life, but if a city has to be famous for two people then those two aren't a bad way to go. They certainly have musical excellence in common, contrasting though that excellence might be.

I'm experiencing musical contrasts of my own while we're here, which is a normal part of the job as our repertoire is so diverse, but moreso on this occasion as I attended the General Rehearsal of Tosca last night at the Haus fur Mozart. One of my friends from Cambridge is Musical Director at the Landestheater here in Salzburg and was conducting the performance, and another friend is his assistant (actually, both of them were choral scholars at King's College for a while), so it was great to support them in their work. I was blown away by the performance and really enjoyed experiencing a form of music that I don't get to appreciate much. If any of our friends are reading this in Salzburg and wondering whether to attend - DO (obviously after coming to our concert in the Aula tonight). First night is on Saturday and it promises to be a wonderful show.

Today we're performing one of my favourite KS commissions, "Sermons and Devotions" by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, which sets text by the 17th century English metaphysical poet and cleric, John Donne (one of my favourite poets - check out in particular his poem "The Flea"). It's recorded on the KS disc of the same name (along with Gorecki's "Totus Tuus" amongst other things) which I used to listen to a lot before joining the group, and shows the composer's jazz roots as well as his own inimitable contemporary classical style.

We're interspersing the Bennett with some renaissance motets and following the first half with Debussy's "Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orleans" which are more favourites of mine, so I'm really looking forward to singing this evening. Programming is a delicate balance between choosing pieces we love to sing, and choosing pieces that fit a given theme or concept (as well as avoiding repertoire we've previously performed at the venue in question). It's fun wrestling with the possibilities and most of us are working on new programmes for much of the time. They don't always work, but we try to entertain and educate the audience wherever we go!

06 / 03 / 2010

Stephen

We sang to a full auditorium in Salzburg last night in the Aula - the university concert hall. We have made many appearances there over the years and over time it has become one of the most special places for me, both musically and aesthetically. So last night was extra special as it is my last time with the K's in this wonderful city. It is snowing outside as I write from my hotel room overlooking the castle. Beautiful! The Hills are alive with the Sound of ...

Many of you will now be aware of the very recent news that I will not be making it to the end of 2010 with The Kings Singers after all, but rather that I am to move from a 23 years history of making music with Male voices to embark upon an exciting career making music with Female voices. I am excited at all challenges that being Head of Vocal studies at The Cheltenham Ladies College is going to bring and honoured and thrilled to have been given the chance to share my singing experience and talents in one of the most prestigious of Schools.

Music is an important part of College life with a full time department of 9, including  Heads of Faulty for Piano, Strings, Brass and Woodwind as well as Voice. There is also a large team of 36 visiting instrumental and vocal teachers. In the Vocal faculty alone there are some 180 singing lessons each week, with 6 singing teachers and 6 choirs to look after as well as the many events, prizes etc, There are a staggering 1200 individual Instrumental/vocal lessons each and every week - for a total of  only 860 girls.

I am looking forward to my new life and to all the experiences it is going to bring, and also having the chance to continue other musical pursuits such as continuing the International A Cappella School Courses and the various guest clinician rolls in the many weeks of vacation that my position will offer. Exciting times ahead.  

FYI - Salzburg is the home of Mozart and Julie Andrews.  Both unrelated.

Till Soon Stephen

08 / 03 / 2010

David

We are now in Switzerland, having driven from the Austrian town of Telfs on a beautiful sunny Sunday. I drove with Stephen and Tim, and we decided to leave the motorway system at the Swiss border, and drive along the southern side of Lake Konstanz (or Bodensee in German). This lake sits at the northern foot of the Swiss Alps, and is part of the River Rhein. It is a large body of water, measuring 63 kilometres long, and up to 14 kilometres across at its widest point. It looked stunning, but when we stopped to walk up to the water's edge, the -0.5ºC temperature combined with the strong northerly wind to make it feel absolutely freezing. It certainly felt as cold as it did in Minnesota on the recent US trip when the outside temperature was lower than -20ºC. Today we give the first of two concerts in Schaffhausen. It is rather nice to have unpacked my suitcase, knowing that I will not have to pack it again for three days!

In my blog last week, I set a little quiz. I have been amazed by the response, and am delighted to announce the result. The winner is Christina Welz from Germany. A Pachelbel CD will be dispatched today with many congratulations for being the first to answer the following question:

What does the Welsh phrase Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn llyswennod mean?

The answer is “My hovercraft is full of eels”. It comes from a Monty Python sketch, which, given its strangeness, is not that surprising.

I have tried to write to all the entrants to thank them for entering, but a few emails have been returned as unsent. If you have not heard from me, please accept my thanks. I will now have to think of a more difficult question to set in a future blog (or maybe one less easily Googled!).

09 / 03 / 2010

Tim

Today we have our second concert in the delightful theatre in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. We are performing the programme Birds, Bats and Beasts - which includes some of the very demanding Nonsense Madrigals by György Ligeti. Whenever I perform the Lobster Quadrille from this set of 6 songs, I am always reminded of auditioning for The King's Singers as it was one of the prepared pieces for the second round!

Tomorrow we are once again on the road, this time going back to Germany. I'm not sure if it's my turn to drive tomorrow or not, but either way I enjoy it - cruising around with magnificent scenery on either side or managing to fall soundly asleep with my iPod on and a pile of music to learn on my lap!!

10 / 03 / 2010

Paul

Its been a really pleasant stay in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, a pretty little town on the banks of the Rhine. On Sunday when we arrived, I was 'itching' to get outdoors for a run, and chose a route which from experience always proves to be a safe bet: a run by the river. It was a lovely afternoon, very chilly, but I carry the 'right' kit with me, so the temperature or wind-chill is rarely a problem (except that one time in an ice storm in Finland in January, but that's a different story altogether, and you'll have to ask me 'face to face' about that one ....) and I set off upstream towards Germany. It was a first for me, to go for a run which took me over an international border and back again, although I didn't need my passport, as the border was unmanned, and only a subtle change in street signage and a small placard reading 'Bundesrepublik Deutchsland' made you aware of the border crossing.

As I write this, I'm looking forward to another run today, in Bad Saulgau, Germany, with all the anticipation of the 'unknown'. That's one of the most exciting things about running: you get to see parts of a country or a city that you wouldn't normally see, whilst keeping fit and healthy at the same time. It has also managed to alter my perception of many places: from an ordinary, forgettable town, to an interesting and picturesque community, steeped in history and beauty.

On another subject, we're busy putting the finishing touches to our next album release: 'Swimming over London': finalising the artwork and discussing a few patches which we'll re-record when we get home.In my twelve years as a member of this wonderful group, I've never been more excited about an album release, in terms of the quality of the recording, the production and the anticipation of launching a product with 'original' song content. I genuinely hope that you will enjoy listening to it as much as we have enjoyed creating it.

11 / 03 / 2010

Philip

We're now back in Germany, staying at Bad Saulgau. The hotel is modern and friendly, with very nice rooms, and was very nearly the scene of serious injury for me last night (title of my next book? "Hotels that have hurt me, by Philip Lawson", a mid-length, mid-price volume). Several of us had to change rooms because of a poor internet connection. The rooms on the first floor pick up the wireless signal better, but are smaller. In the process of moving the round table out of the way of my suitcase I tipped the rather nice glass decanter with cork (containing mineral water, please note, not sherry) onto the floor. Fortunately it and the glasses which had accompanied it down there didn't break, and feeling relieved I rearranged them on the table (my wife will not believe I was actually tidying a room!). Unfortunately the water was slightly fizzy and you know what happens to champagne when you shake it up. As I was bending over the table rearranging the bottle and glasses the cork launched itself with tremendous force out of the decanter very close to my face (I felt the wind as it went by) and onto the nice new white ceiling which now proudly sports a black mark. Silence in the room. If I had been a few inches nearer with my eye over the decantur I could have been on my way to hospital with a very nasty injury. Instead I stood still for a few seconds feeling very relieved it was the ceiling that took the full force of the cork, not me. Moral of the story - don't tidy hotel rooms. It might be the last thing you do.

12 / 03 / 2010

Chris

I sincerely hope this is the last we will see of snow in 2010, although it almost seems to much to hope! This week of driving through Switzerland and Germany has been punctuated by daily flurries of snow, freezing nights and the occasional foggy blizzard, meaning slow progress at times. Thankfully the mood of the local population hasn't matched the icy temperatures outside and even in last night's church concert, where the temperature in the building can't have been much above freezing, we were warmly welcomed.

This trip has seen preparations for the first live performances of songs from our new album, "Swimming over London," and we've been rehearsing the title track over the past few days. It's often difficult to perform studio pieces live as we add so many layers and texture elements onto the performance in order to get the best result (it's expected on studio albums these days, and in addition we turn into boys with toys when faced with a huge sound-board and powerful computer programmes!) so we have to pare the piece down to its essential elements before deciding which six lines we can sing on stage! We hope people will enjoy the results, to be unveiled for the first time on our Asian tour in June/July this year.

This week has also seen discussions relating to the recently-released Pachelbel album, a world premiere recording! We're performing the repertoire for the first time in London on 29 April this year (get your tickets now!) and adding some Bach and Buxtehude into the mix. It's wonderful to be part of a group that can be singing original pop songs one minute and wrestling with a baroque masterpiece the next - especially one that's been unperformed for centuries!

We return home on Monday to a well-deserved week in the UK, including a couple of home concerts and the start of the auditio process for Stephen's successor - a bitter-sweet time, but as usual the regeneration of the group promises to be an exciting process. Thanks to all of you who have visited us for concerts this year so far, and we hope to see many more over the course of the next few months.

13 / 03 / 2010

Stephen

Enjoying a wonderfully scenic drive to Kempen today with David and Tim. We are trying to come up with an order of tracks for our  new recording Swimming over London and also listening to various CDs including the debt album of former KS baritone Gabriel Crouch`s group Gali Cantus - A wonderful sounding group specializing in early music. As well as Gabriel's golden tones this group also  features the vocal talents of former KS counter tenor Nigel Short as well. Well done lads - great job!

Tomorrow's concert is in Kempen and is our last of this tour before heading home to family. Bis bald... Stephen 

15 / 03 / 2010

David

We are now at the end of our trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Today we head back to London for a few days at home, before next weekend’s concerts in Basingstoke (very local for me) and Tunbridge Wells. Last night we sang in Kempen. There has been a rather nice symmetry about this trip. Our first concert was in Villingen-Schwenningen’s Franziskaner Konzerthaus, and ended in Kempen’s Kulturforum Franziskanerkloster. Both buildings are deconsecrated churches that were once part of Franciscan monasteries. Both are now used for cultural events, including concerts and art exhibitions. Whilst in Kempen we reminisced about our last visit to the town. It was the first time we sang with Sarband, under their director, Vladimir Ivanov. We had stayed on an extra day after our own concert to take part in a joint concert with various artists. We performed a couple of pieces with the pianist Uri Caine, and then sang some Sephardic music with Sarband. We were a little out of our comfort zones, to be entirely honest, because Sarband do not perform from scores, and their instrumental interludes between our verses were quasi-improvisational. I use that term advisedly, as it is not actually improvisation, as the modes and melodies of the music follow particular patterns. However no two performances of a piece are ever the same, as the manner in which these musical patterns are put together varies according to the whims of the performers. Our rather set way of performing, where every musical phrase is governed by what the composer or arranger wrote, was suddenly thrown out of balance. We survived the experience, and that was the start of a fruitful relationship with Vladimir and his fantastic band of musicians. We recorded Sacred Bridges for Signum in 2006. This is a wonderful collection of Psalm settings from the three monotheistic religions; Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Since then we have performed a concert programme, based on the CD, in many different countries, including Germany, Turkey and the USA. It is one of my favourite K’S CDs, and we have all enjoyed the concert performances with a group of good friends, as they have become. I think I will dig out my copy of the recording to listen to later on. It is good music for Lent!

16 / 03 / 2010

Tim

After another very successful tour, I have retreated to Chelmsford for a couple of days to spend some time with my mother before I pack the suitcase once more. It still surprises me how much 'day to day' matters you have to catch up on when you are away for weeks at a time. I had a pile of post ready to greet me in my London flat yesterday morning - all of which needed phone calls and diary adjusting to try and sort them out. I think the conclusion is that I need a secretary! Applications would be greatly received!!

We are now in the UK for a full 7 days before we travel again. However, whilst in the UK we do have 2 concerts and a radio show to prepare for! Admittedly, I'm very much looking forward to our Easter break - I've booked to go away to Istanbul (capital of culture this year) for a few days with one of my University friends, Miguel, which should be very eventful to say the least!!

I'm taking mum out to a nice restaurant tonight as part of her belated mother's day present, so if anybody knows of a decent restaurant in Essex, please email me, not forgetting your secretarial C.V.!! Many thanks!

17 / 03 / 2010

Paul

Its been a busy couple of days since arriving home from our latest tour, so sorry for the lateness of my blog!! Yesterday I spent a very interesting and exciting day in London, after being invited by BBC Top Gear Magazine to spend the day as a guest, 'road-testing' a Range Rover V8, equipped with the very latest 'in-car' Harmon Kardon hi-fi equipment. I was recently interviewed about my passion for cars by BBC Music Magazine, who ran a short feature this month; this was subsequently picked up by the Top Gear team, who invited me to take part in a photoshoot and feature. (How lucky am I?) So yesterday, I visited several locations around London: Abbey Road Studios, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, retracing the musical journey I have been lucky enough to make during my life, whilst being interviewed along the way, photographed and generally having a great time, talking about a shared passion with a group of motoring professionals. It was a beautiful day yesterday, and driving around London in an expensive luxury vehicle was about as much fun as a boy can have! I'll keep you up to date with the publication of the article ..... Meanwhile, I'm enjoying a few days, catching up with my beloved family, and several jobs around the house!

19 / 03 / 2010

Chris

A rare week at home ends with two UK concerts, one in Basingstoke where we sing with the Farnham Youth Choir and the other in Royal Tunbridge Wells (which sounds like the kind of place I might like to live in 40 years or so). It's our first week at home of 2010 and needless to say it's involved a lot of family life and in my case a lot of rushing around moving boxes and furniture and frantically cleaning our house as workmen rush hither and thither doing things. Having work done to a house is always a slightly terrifying process: although you genuinely believe it WILL all be wonderful at the end it always looks a lot worse before it looks better!

It's odd not to sing for a week, but things kick off again now with our final six concerts of this term, including some real musical highlights in the form of the Gesualdo Tenebrae Responsories, which we're singing in their entirety (well, the ones for Maundy Thursday - not all three days' worth!) in Italy at the end of the month. Before that we range from the flippant delights of Gilbert and Sullivan to the altogether more serious "Pater Noster" programme, in which we explore the sentiments behind the Lord's Prayer.

This Saturday also sees the start of the audition process to find a new bass. It's a time of reflection as well as excitement, and as the CVs and References for the candidates pour in it's another reminder as to how lucky we are to do this job, but how important it is for us constantly to strive for musical excellence as we are only the custodians for the future generations.
 

20 / 03 / 2010

Stephen

What an exciting day! Not only are we getting to combine with the talented Farnham Youth Choir in a concert in Basingstoke this evening, we are also hearing the start of the first round of auditions to find my successor. It is an exciting time and for once I am the one who gets to sit out and have a good listen to the group with a new chap on the end - actually several new chaps on the end. We will have heard all the candidates by the end of this month and will then make a shortlist of names to go through to what hopefully will be the last round - although some audition processes have gone to a further round. We are hoping that we might decide on the KS's new bass by May, so do watch this space. As many of you will know by now, I have been fortunate to have been appointed Head of Vocal Studies at The Cheltenham Ladies College here in the UK, so my last concert will now be in September rather than December, with the new chap filling my shoes and starting at the beginning of October. Hoping to see many of you at a concert before then.  Till Soon, Stephen
 

22 / 03 / 2010

David

It has been a rather action packed weekend. On Saturday evening we sang in Basingstoke with the excellent Farnham Youth Choir, and yesterday afternoon we performed in Tunbridge Wells, a lovely spa town south-east of London. Between these two we were guests on BBC Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday. This meant a very early start (a 6.20 am pick-up at the hotel), and the delights of early morning singing. The host of the show is Aled Jones, who, back in the 1980s, was a famous treble singer. He succeeded our own Paul as the star boy soprano of his generation, and they compared notes on air. Today some of us are adding the finishing touches to our next CD, Swimming over London. We hope that the final edit will be sent to Signum later this week, where it will be mastered. In this way we can be sure that the discs will be available for the launch in June. After the CD session, I will then head back home for a few hours, before leaving to stay the night in London to be ready to catch the Eurostar to Paris, where we hope to connect to a TGV express train to Angers. I say hope, because there is a faint rumour that there will be a French train strike, but our fingers are crossed. When at home I hope to catch a glimpse of Sarah, who will be returning later today from Berlin, where she has been on tour with her choir. Half of the choir is booked to return on British Airways, who are also in the midst of a strike, so there is potential travel chaos all around.

Before the concert in Tunbridge Wells. L to R: Stephanie Gabbitas, Chris, Tim, Paul, Carolyn Soucy.

24 / 03 / 2010

Paul

Most of today will be spent travelling home from Angers, in France, where we performed last night, to an appreciative and friendly audience.  I wouldn't want to do it all the time, but there's something very pleasant about one-off concerts - travelling light, and right now, sitting in a very civilised train compartment, speeding towards Paris, from where we will catch the Eurostar service back to London.

Ask any resident of Angers about living in this part of France, and without exception, they will roll their eyes into their heads and start talking about the huge amount of construction which is transforming the centre of their university town. Angers is in the middle of a tramway construction project; its been ongoing for over two years, and there is at least a year to go before the tracks are laid, and this environmentally friendly system is finished. Thus, the town centre is mostly dug up, with pedestrians directed about their business between barriers and barricades, dodging huge holes in the ground ..... I suppose this is short-term pain for long-term gain, but they do have a point: the town's a bit of a mess right now. However, I do look forward to returning in the future to see the transformation completed.

I'll arrive home this afternoon, if the trains are all on time, and I'm really looking forward to spending a day off with Helena tomorrow. She works part-time at a local school, supporting children with learning difficulties - something she loves doing, and tomorrow we'll have a stroll around Cambridge together, and some time to catch up.

24 / 03 / 2010

Tim

We travelled yesterday, bright and early, on the Eurostar to Paris, where we enjoyed our second train ride to Angers. This was to be a charming city, full of culture and buzz, yet sadly the most cultural place I managed to visit was the local café - grabbing a baguette before the rehearsal started!!

The concert went well - the crowd seemed hungry for more close harmony at the end of the concert - always a great feeling to end a concert with that response.

Some very demanding repertoire to get working on now - the Gesualdo Tenebrae Responsories. We will perform these in the last two concerts of this term in Italy, after a fleeting concert in Hungary the day after tomorrow. I am seriously looking forward to the Easter break!!

25 / 03 / 2010

Philip

A rare day off in between tours but lots to do nevertheless, hence the brevity of this blog! I'm working on a few arrangements at the moment and when I'm in that mode I tend to be not quite with-it round the house, as I combine loading the dishwasher with trying to decide in my head whether the bridge chord to the second verse should be first or second inversion - multi-tasking never was my strongpoint and it's normally the house task which suffers rather than the harmony. So it was that ten minutes ago when I stopped to make some coffee, and this is true, I very nearly ended up filling the pot not with coffee but with dishwasher powder!

It would be interesting to have reported what that tasted like (or even looked like), but sadly I wouldn't have been around to do it. Interesting that one of the lines from the piece I'm arranging today is "Ae farewell and then for ever" !! Anyway I'm still alive, until the next time....

26 / 03 / 2010

Chris

Today we set off on our final trip of this winter term, before heading home for a well-deserved break. We're going to two countries with perhaps some of the warmest fans we have anywhere in the world: Hungary and Italy. Tomorrow we perform our Pater Noster programme in a wonderful church in Pecs, a programme we know and love well.

The two Italian concerts see us singing the whole of Carlo Gesualdo's Responsoria for Maundy Thursday, and thus is a whole different thing! 

The music is some of the most extraordinary ever written, with harmonic touches way ahead of its time that were a strong influence on Stravinsky, composing some 350 years later. It's tiring to perform, both emotionally and physically, the only respite being three plainsong Lectio dividing up the 9 Nocturnes.

27 / 03 / 2010

Stephen

Arrived in Budapest late last night courtesy of British Airways where we stayed over the night before starting our road trip to Pecs - pronounced pay-ch. It is a 3 hour journey across the rugged, undeveloped  Hungarian countryside allowing us to sample local family run diners and practice our hungarian along the way which consist of lots of pointing and pained facial expressions.

 I have always enjoyed singing in Hungary over the years I have been with the group. There have been many political changes here over the 23 years I have been coming to sing (a mere coincidence I hope) but music and the hungarian culture have remained true and unmoved amidst trouble times. They certainty know about their music here and appreciate things at a very high level.

 It is always a joy to perform in this wonderful country and tonight's performance will be tinged with a little sadness for me as this will be my final concert with the group in Hungary.

Yesterday we heard some more candidates for the upcoming bass position - some wonderful young singers, I must say and can safely and positively update by saying the future is looking very bright indeed.

Hungary is famous for Goulash, Liszt and Paprika - one of these is a composer the other two can be eaten.
Till soon Stephen

29 / 03 / 2010

David

I am writing this on Sunday afternoon on board a Saab 2000 aeroplane operated by the Moldovian airline, Carpatair. This rather convenient flight from Budapest to Venice has saved us the joy of travelling from Hungary to Italy via London. This was on the cards at one point, using British Airways. As many of you will know, BA is currently disrupted by a strike, so we would have been lucky to find both of our flights operating. From Venice we will drive to Vicenza, for the first of two Italian concerts, both of which feature performances of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories  (as recorded by us on Signum). This programme is quite a challenge, so we are all gearing up for it as if it were a marathon.

This weekend we have been in Pécs in southern Hungary, an historic city which is undergoing a huge amount of renovation during its year as European Capital of Culture. We sang in the Cathedral, which has already benefitted from restoration. It is a highly ornate building, dating from the eleventh century, which had an amazing gilt canopy over the High Altar, which stands at the top of a flight of steps, dominating the nave of the Cathedral. The building possesses very fine acoustical properties, making it perfect for the Pater Noster programme that we sang. In the audience was our former General Manager, Gillian Newson, who was in town with Bill T Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company. She was managing the KS when I first joined the group, and it was lovely to catch up with her this morning over a cup of very strong coffee, and to reminisce about past visits to Hungary with her and Stephen, along with Katalin Kirisci, our Hungarian agent. On one visit to Budapest in about 1991, Gilly, Bob, Bruce and I went to an old-fashioned restaurant, which had been recommended by the hotel’s concierge. There was an elaborate menu, with extremely colourful English translations, such as Roast Goose let loose (which I think is a much better term than free-range), which later appeared in the columns of The Times.

I must sign off now, as we are beginning our descent into Venice. I hope the clouds clear to give us a glimpse of the city.

P.S. We had an amazing view of Venice as we banked round towards the airport – no photos, I’m afraid.

30 / 03 / 2010

Tim

Just arrived in Venaria for the last concert of this term, and what a term it's been. I'm very excited about a couple weeks off but first of all there is the small matter of Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsories to contend with! As I'm sure you know, it is an outstanding collection of pieces. The programme represents part of the liturgy for the Matins Offices on the final three days of Holy Week, the Triduum Sacrum. Each of the Matins services is divided into three nocturns, each containing psalmody, three lessons and three responsories. As I think Chris mentioned earlier in the week, it is a tiring sing, but incredibly rewarding to perform. Last night's concert of this programme went well. However, we did have the help of a magnificent acoustic! Here's hoping that tonight's acoustic in the Royal Palace of Venaria will be equally kind to us!!

19 / 04 / 2010

David

I have to admit that life has been a bit strange over the last few days here in the UK. Last Thursday I went to the BBC in London to do some interviews for some of the BBC’s regional radio stations. Arriving at the studio I saw the headlines announcing the complete grounding of all commercial aircraft. It seemed so extraordinary that a volcano in Iceland could disrupt life so absolutely in Europe. Five days on, and we are all wondering when things will return to normality. I have a friend marooned on Cyprus, and my niece is due to fly back from Barbados tomorrow. On the plus side it has been rather lovely to see clear blue skies clear of all vapour trails. For The King’s Singers we start back at work this week after our Easter break, and are determined to fulfil our concert commitments. To this end, we have put in place alternative travel arrangements to travel to Denmark for our two concerts in Copenhagen and Odense this weekend. After that we will be back in the UK for three concerts in Manchester, London’s Cadogan Hall and Bromsgrove. I hope that beyond these dates, this matter will be long resolved, but for now we are resolved that the shows will go on.

This situation has reminded me of the fantastic madrigal Thule, the period of Cosmography by the sixteenth century composer Thomas Weelkes. The song talks of all the amazing natural phenomena of the then known world, making reference to the ferocious volcano of Hekla. The word Thule, which forms part of the title, refers to an island that represented the furthest known landmass north of Europe. The identity of this island changed as explorers discovered new lands, but for a while it was a name associated with Hekla’s own island, on what is now Iceland.

20 / 04 / 2010

Tim

Hello there everybody! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and are now looking forward to the summer holidays like me! The King's Singers' term starts tomorrow, as David mentioned, and our three week break already seems like a distant memory.

I enjoyed having my family over for Easter lunch, which I'm ashamed to say, that my mum cooked!! I know it's terrible. However, I think we'd all still be waiting for lunch if I had even attempted it! This was a great occasion, as we were not only celebrating Easter but my sister's engagement! Her partner, Mike (looking pretty shocked in the photo below - as if to say, 'oh dear, what have I done!!') had proposed to her a few days before and she said YES!! Cannot believe that my little sister (although she is actually older!) is getting married. It's going to be a great occasion - let's just hope I'm in the country to go it it!!

To finish the frivolities of my Easter break, I went to Istanbul with one of my old University friends, Miguel. We had an incredible few days - sightseeing, eating and drinking. An amazing city (one of the capitals of culture this year) and I would go back tomorrow if I could. Highly recommend it! 

22 / 04 / 2010

Paul

Well, we're on our way to Copenhagen. I'm writing this on the ferry, as we cross from Dover to Dunkirk. The next 24 hours will involve an awful lot of driving, but at least we'll get there! I'm treating it as an adventure, with a couple of concerts in the middle. I'll update you as we go along!

22 / 04 / 2010

Paul

Progress report: well right now I'm sitting in the back of Philip's 7-seat car, as we speed through Germany, close to our overnight stop in Oberhausen. Feeling a bit sleepy - its nearly midnight, but we're making good progress. Stay tuned for our next proress report later!

23 / 04 / 2010

Paul (11:10 CET)

Progress report (1110 CET)

An early start this morning, especially as I felt the need for breakfast before my stint at the wheel.

Right now we're just south of Hamburg, making fair progress. (Honestly these roads would be great if nobody else used them!!) I'm just about to have a snooze, having driven just over 200 miles, so I'll write some more later. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

23 / 04 / 2010

Paul (13:36 CET)

Aaah, lunch at last ... Chicken and chips, in southern Denmark. My legs are a bit stiff, but we're doing fine, with the odd laugh here and there, and messages of support arriving from many friends, as we go! Its going well (ish) and we're looking forward to tonight's concert. Denmark's quite a big country .....

23 / 04 / 2010

Paul (18:12 CET)

We've arrived!!! Half hour to get ready .... Bye!

25 / 04 / 2010

Paul

Left as planned at 4 am. We covered 640 miles in 9 hrs and got on to the 2 pm ferry - 4 hrs earlier than anticipated. We laughed and joked all the way to Dunkirk and are in excellent spirits!

Below: Me and Phil on the ferry - taken by me !!

26 / 04 / 2010

David

Those of you who follow our blogs regularly will know that we have just been to Denmark, and that, thanks to the air travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano, we chose to drive from England. Paul’s messages kept you in touch with our progress, and our early departure yesterday morning allowed us to take a much earlier ferry than booked, giving most of us an unexpected and welcome extra evening at home. I must say that after this trip I do appreciate the amazing world-shrinking convenience of commercial flight, and am acutely aware that it would be impossible to maintain our concert schedule without air travel, but it has been lovely to cover the miles by car and ferry. Yesterday’s return trip, as Paul mentioned, was particularly enjoyable, helped by the fantastic progress made. Arriving at Dunkirk, we noticed a few cars covered with a thick brown dust, which we assumed to be volcanic fall-out. 

Our communications have focused inevitably on the tour’s travel, but we went to Denmark to do two concerts and a masterclass. The first concert was in the Music Hall of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens, the world’s second oldest amusement park, dating from 1843. Saturday’s show was in Odense, the birthplace of two of the most famous Danes, Hans Christian Andersen and Carl Nielsen. These were the first two concerts of a Scandinavian tour, which we will resume early next month when we travel to Norway, Sweden and Finland. I love that part of the world, and am looking forward greatly to heading back (by plane, I hope). For more information visit the tour website at http://www.kings.fi.

27 / 04 / 2010

Tim

Good afternoon from a very sunny London!! It's great to see that the weather here in the UK is getting better and better all the time. Sadly, I do not possess a garden, so I have to look enviously over at my neighbours sunbathing and having barbecues!! To be honest though, even if I did, I would rarely get to use it as there are always KS matters to be sorted out before the next run of concerts come along. Today, I am putting the finishing touches to the Pachelbel programme, which we perform on Thursday at the Cadogan Hall in London. I'm very excited about the prospect of performing with period instruments on stage - something I am yet to do as a King's Singer, but something I loved doing whilst training at Trinity College of Music.

I've got my fingers crossed that my hayfever tablets will kick in soon before the 3 UK concerts we have this week! We perform tomorrow at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, Thursday in London and Friday we drive to Bromsgrove for a show in the Atrix Theatre.

28 / 04 / 2010

Paul

Its a beautiful day, and I'm just walking out of my house to drive to my 'home' city of Manchester for our concert at the superb Bridgewater Hall tonight. What more could I ask for? Lovely weather and an un unhurried drive to a place which holds all sorts of memories ..... More soon.

By the way- I thought you might enjoy a photo of my garden, as summer arrives!

03 / 05 / 2010

David

It has been lovely to have a whole weekend at home. It has been a good time to catch up on a few jobs around the house and garden, although the weather has not been that co-operative. I have managed to send off my postal ballots for the British General Election that takes place on Wednesday. I usually like to stay up into the early hours to watch the television coverage of the results as they come in, but we will be on tour in Scandinavia, and have a concert the following night. As I mentioned last week, I enjoy travelling in Scandinavia, and we will be heading to one of my favourite cities, the Swedish capital Stockholm. The city is built on a number of islands, and the waterways are a great feature of place. We start the trip in a new place for me, the central Norwegian city of Trondheim.

For those coming to the concerts, we hope to be selling copies of our latest album Swimming over London, which arrived from the factory last week. It is not officially due out until next month from Signum Records, but we should to have some advance copies for the trip.  

04 / 05 / 2010

Tim

Back to our second home today - London Heathrow Terminal 5. Oh how I've missed it. Flying again feels like a rather novel idea all of a sudden after our marathon driveathon to our concerts in Copenhagen and Odense at the end of last month!! Well we leave today to go on a Scandanavian tour for a week and a half. I’m looking forward to performing in Scandinavia again, this time in Norway, Sweden and Finland. We perform two lovely programmes called Join the Dance and Pater Noster, the latter of which we sang just before Easter in Hungary. Both programmes will feature pieces from our new album Swimming over London, and if you’re among the lucky concert-goers at our concerts, you’ll have the opportunity to buy it before the official release! Before we return to the UK, we make a stop in Leipzig for a show with a programme entitled The Gift of Music. This includes gems such as Lassus’ Musica Dei Donum and Britten's Choral Dances from Gloriana. We start the second half with Ligeti's The Alphabet - a predictably difficult work from his Nonsense Madrigals. This will be my work on the plane today!

05 / 05 / 2010

Paul

I'm nursing a couple of little injuries today, both self-inflicted and both rather silly! Yesterday I made the macho and rather unwise decision to lift a 70 kilo lawnmower into the back of the car all on my own ..... You know you shouldn't do it,  but you go ahead anyway. Well predictably I 'twinged' all of the muscles in my back - not badly, but next time I'll know better!

Then on Sunday, I decided to walk up my garden, into the fields at the back, to take a photo of my house. Wiz came along with me, all the while dropping his football at my feet, for me to kick it and for him to fetch it. As I attempted a particularly long kick, I slipped on a hidden log, falling headlong into a clump of nettles and thistles, stinging my arms, legs, posterior, and back. As I lay there, feeling really stupid I tried to figure out how to get up without stinging myself further, as I was surrounded by nettles! I called Wiz over, and used him to help me up! 'Good boy, good dog!!!'

 I'm glad to be in the beautiful town of Trondheim for our concert today, it could prove to be far less dangerous than being at home!

06 / 05 / 2010

Philip

Leaving the first concert of our Scandinavian tour last night here in Trondheim, or the third if you count the ones in Copenhagen and Odense last week as numbers one and two, it was still light at 10.30 in the evening, and now we're on our way to Stavanger. A wildly enthusiastic audience last night bodes well for the rest of the tour, and it was nice to do the usual thing and sit in a plane and fly here (even if we did land in a bit of a snowstorm!) rather than having to drive as we did to Denmark last week. I'm happy to report my Ford S-Max was a bit of a star on that trip and performed fantastically over the 1,945 miles that it did, and was duly rewarded with a valet on our return! After ten more concerts we'll be back in the UK, volcanic ash permitting. Our Hungarian agent had a lovely phrase for us when the first ash cloud struck and caused such chaos. She wrote: "Isn't it amazing how easily God can rearrange our lives"! 

08 / 05 / 2010

Stephen

Traveling by train today from Gothenburg to Malmö on what should be a rather beautiful journey. We had a good time performing last night in a wonderfully intimate concert hall in Sweden's 2nd largest city. Many local choir singers were present and we enjoyed mixing with many of them in the foyer after the concert. Sweden is famous for its singing and has for many generations led the choral world in the standards of its choirs and it is always a great pleasure to sing to choralists of such calibre.  Sweden is famous for meat balls and Jenny Lind (soprano) - both unrelated. Till soon Stephen

09 / 05 / 2010

David

We are now in Malmö in southern Sweden, where we are performing the fourth concert of this trip. It has been a good few days in Scandinavia, although the schedule has been busy. We started the tour about 1000 kilometers north of here in Trondheim, followed by stops in Stavanger and Göteborg. We have had wonderfully enthusiastic audiences, made up of many choir singers. We have also been able to make our new album Swimming over London available for sale on this trip, and we are now learning some new songs from the album for live performance. I am currently trying to learn our new version of the Nat King Cole song Straighten up and fly right. The separate parts of the song are fairly easy to learn, but the problem is fitting the bits together in the correct order. We are also working to learn the album’s title track, an original song by our former tenor Bob Chilcott, and a song from our recent CD From the Heart. This is Philip’s wonderful and simple arrangement of the Nickel Creek song Out of the Woods.

11 / 05 / 2010

Tim

We've just landed in Norway's beautiful capital city, Oslo. This city always reminds me of dad's stories of happy memories going on his travels. If I'm not mistaken, he instantly took a liking to Oslo and it's easy to see why. It is the anniversary today of my father passing away and it truly is incredible to think that 12 months have been and gone. It's obviously been a tough time for all of my family but we are all immensely grateful for the love and support that everyone has shown us.

We have a concert tonight in the Konserthus and it is the last show containing the Join the Dance programme. After our travel day tomorrow, we move to one of our church programmes - Pater Noster. In this, we intersperse statements from the Lord's Prayer - relating each to a group of pieces. Such gems as William Byrd's Haec Dies and Bob Chilcott's Oculi Omnium make an appearance and I'm sure the audience will enjoy it. We only have an hour before we need to leave for the concert hall so I'm just going to run through all the new close harmony which we need to practise in tonight's rehearsal. Come on brain - wake up!!

12 / 05 / 2010

Paul

I've really enjoyed our Scandanavian tour so far - the audiences have been so friendly and wildly enthusiastic, the food truly excellent, the air fresh, and the scenery spectacular. There's a really strong feeling amongst us that we're building a significant and long-term fan-base here, and its enormously gratifying to have such positive feedback from our public.

Today is a travel day, two flights: (I love this game!) OSL-ARN and then on to TKU. Its another beautiful, clear day, so I'm looking forward to some more spectacular views from my seat, 13 A! 

13 / 05 / 2010

Philip

We just finished a concert in a big church here in Turku. Very attentive audience of about 800 who seemed to enjoy our "Pater Noster" programme. It's midnight now and time to get some sleep before leaving by train tomorrow to Tampere.

Below: Philip in Turku, taken by Paul.

14 / 05 / 2010

Chris

There is always a wonderful feeling of anticipation before every concert we sing in Finland. The audiences are very knowledgeable about choral music, and many people sing in choirs around the country, so we know we will have an attentive and appreciative reception. 

The past few days have been no different. Last week we we making progress in countries where we haven't sung anywhere near as many concerts as in Finland, but the people welcomed us and showed us that we have fans in Sweden and Norway who want us to start coming more often - and I'm sure we will! This week we are amongst old friends, and singing the Pater Noster programme that Philip devised last year. It's a great mix of music, from "Ad Te Levavi" (Orlandus Lassus' masterpiece) and Schutz's "Vater Unser" to the more minimalist "Lord's Prayer" by Sir John Tavener and "Pater Noster" by Stravinsky. After a week in concert halls it's great to be in churches once more, and today's was especially noteworthy because of the murals painted around the walls, depicting the Day of Judgment and the 12 Apostles as they might have appeared whilst still in childhood. 

Even when in such hallowed surroundings the usual King's Singers' humour still crops up, tonight in the form of Phil deciding that one of the men in the Day of Judgment picture resembled me rather too closely. Have a look at the photo and let me know what you think - I'm the one in the loincloth leading a strange woman who doesn't look like my wife, so I could be in trouble!

15 / 05 / 2010

Stephen

Spending time on a train seems to be the order of the day on this particular trip. My last entry was written on our train journey to Malmö in Sweden - and what a thoroughly delightful place that turned out to be!

Today's journey takes us from Tampere, where we sang last night in a wonderful Arts and Crafts period Church complete with some magnificently thought provoking murals, far up north to the city of Kuopio. At this time of year, and as nature creeps slowly but surely towards its summer's solstice, the daylight becomes a major part of each 24 hour period-often it is light well after we have sounded our final chords in a concert and awake far too early with sun streaming in earlier than 'first thing'.

I would just like to take time to mention the lovely family who, after the concert, presented me with a token of their appreciation for my time with the group - your gift is much appreciated and, come the autumn, it will find a place in my new office.

Today is Chris G's. Birthday. He, like the rest of us I am sure, will be more than happy to sit on a train for 4 hours and gently rattle though the Finnish forests rather than chance the - all too often - unpredictability of our less than reliable volcanic-ash-industrial-action-affected friends in the sky. Viva Le Chemin de Fer!

Finland is home to the Tango and the Sauna.(Not to be attempted at the same time) Till soon. Stephen

17 / 05 / 2010

David

After nearly two weeks we have reached the end of the second and final leg of our Scandinavian tour. Recent blogs have focussed on the wonderful audiences we have had throughout the trip, and last night’s concert in Johanneksenkirkko (St John’s Church) in Helsinki was no exception. More than 1800 people crammed into the building, giving the concert a wonderful atmosphere. Another feature of the Finnish portion of the tour has been the weather. During Saturday the temperature in Kuopio climbed up to 28˚C. I hope it will be as lovely when we return to Finland in early August for a concert in Lahti.

Later this morning we head to the airport to fly to Berlin, from where we drive to Leipzig to take part in the 11th Festival for Vocal Music, hosted by Ensemble Amarcord. Lots of a cappella vocal groups from around the world will be attending, including Anonymous 4  from the USA, and groups from Georgia, Sweden, Hungary and France. On Wednesday we head back to the UK – we hope that the combination of ash clouds and industrial action will not delay us too much.

17 / 05 / 2010

Chris

I am so grateful for the number of people who have written since my last blog agreeing (you all seem to agree) that I do in fact look like the chap in the mural. Many thanks for this - I'm taking it as a compliment! As for those who have requested signed photographs of me in a loincloth, I can't promise anything but we do have a photoshoot coming up in June this year, so if the petition list grows long enough.....

18 / 05 / 2010

Tim

Today we have a concert in the famous Gewandhaus in Leipzig. We are performing in The Great Hall, which should be a very memorable experience as it hosts up to 1,900 people. Tonight's programme is the Gift of Music. It's a wonderful mix of Italian and English composers (such as Orlandus Lassus and the contemporary composer Graham Lack). It's been a very busy schedule over the last couple of weeks on our Scandanavian tour and I'm looking forward to playing some pool tonight with my colleagues (I've already spotted a pool table in the hotel lobby!!) and catching up with some friends that are attending tonight's concert. Who knows - a couple  of cheeky beers might also be on tonight's menu...................

19 / 05 / 2010

Paul

On our way home at last! Its been a busy tour, culminating in last night's concert in Leipzig's world famous Gewandhaus. In all of my time in The King's Singers, there have been a handful of concerts that will stay in the memory for ever, and last night's concert is one of those. The atmosphere was amazing (not least because the audience was stuffed with a cappella aficionados with high expectations), the public warm and generous with their applause, and your six friends on stage giving their 'all', in front of so many of their peers, attending the 'A Cappella' festival. 

After the concert we joined our good friends from Amarcord for a not-so-quiet beer or two and food (what else but a schnitzel?!) which after the hectic schedule of the last two weeks, was well-deserved and most welcome.

I'm looking forward to seeing Helena, William and Edward. My emotions were very mixed in Leipzig, as I was there in July 2000 on the day Edward was born, and I haven't really forgiven myself yet for not being at home for such a momentous event. However, I had a lovely chat on the phone with 'Squidward' after last night's show, and he seems pretty well-adjusted to me! I also spoke to William last night, and forgive me for having a 'proud father moment' here, but he was awarded his 'First Class' badge last night, as a member of the Royal Air Force Cadets - a tremendous achievement after only 8 months. He has aspirations not to be a musician, but a helicopter pilot! With a conversation like that, and a concert like last night's, maybe its time to start forgetting the events in Leipzig nearly 10 years ago. 

21 / 05 / 2010

Chris

Yesterday was a fascinating day. Having arrived back from Leipzig (a HUGE concert with slightly overwhelming levels of applause!) and enjoyed an afternoon at home with family (including my parents who are over from New Zealand and enjoying spending some time with their granddaughter who is now nearly one year old - where does the time go?!) we met up at the beautiful Royal Society of Musicians in central London to hear four shortlisted candidates for the bass position that Stephen is vacating after 23 years, this autumn. 

I'm not going to tell you exactly what happened, but suffice it to say that the process was incredibly enjoyable, apart from the feeling that every member of the group is being auditioned and not just the new candidate! We have to be on top form in order for us properly to assess the bass, and sing well as a group above him, and our panel of expert listeners gave us great advice and good insight into how to get the best from each man. We were really spoiled for choice - it really made me feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this wonderful institution of a group that so many other would love to be part of - and all the candidates gave it their all. As a group we demand so much from those who audition for us: good learning skills (we sneaked a cheeky extra song in at the last minute to see how they fared on quick learning), excellent listening, but most importantly of all the ability to be flexible, get around problems using vocal gymnastic skills you never knew you had, and show us that determination to produce the kind of sound we have been working on for the past 40 years. 

22 / 05 / 2010

Stephen

Presently I am stuck in standstill traffic on one of the UK's busiest motorways - the M4. Hey Ho. It normally provides a quick access from east to west, from Wales to London, but today it might have been quicker by foot. I am on the way to London's Albert Hall, home to the BBC Proms and where, fingers firmly crossed we shall, as a complete group of six, appear as guests of the Salvation Army in their annual musical extravaganza this evening. The M4 is famous for its traffic congestion and speed cameras ..hmm

24 / 05 / 2010

David

Before I write my blog I head to www.kingssingers.com to check on the previous blogs. This helps me to avoid mentioning something you have already been told about. Sometimes it helps me to start my own piece. Stephen’s blog on Saturday was a bit of a cliff-hanger. Would he make it to the Royal Albert Hall or not? Adding to the tension was the fact that it was going to be two days before the next instalment. In fact Stephen was on time for the rehearsal, and all went well with all six singers. We were guests at an annual celebration of music, hosted by the International Staff Band of the Salvation Army. It was a wonderful concert, with some amazing playing from the Bands, and the marvellous sound of massed choirs of Songsters from around Britain. We cherish our association with the S.A., and are currently planning the third CD of Salvationist songs.

Yesterday was spent quietly at home, enjoying the amazing sunshine, and pottering in the garden. Today we travel to Israel for concerts in Jerusalem and Modliin. 

25 / 05 / 2010

Tim

Today we find ourselves waking up in Jerusalem to brilliant sunshine and a fantastic breakfast (the hummus was amazing!!). As David mentioned, we have two concerts here, today and tomorrow, in Jerusalem and Modiin as part of The Israel Festival. This takes place annually in the Spring for 3 weeks, and, now in it's 49th year, the central goal is still to continue the 'world-wide artistic dialogue between the performing arts'. The King's Singers are very proud to be asked to such a prestigious and globally important event and I know that we are all excited to perform in a part of the world that we rarely get to visit. 

26 / 05 / 2010

Paul

It's hard to describe how it feels to be out here in Jerusalem - there is so much to see, and it feels like landing on a different planet, compared with being at home. So far I've really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to our masterclass and concert today.

Last night's concert went really well, and the audience loved our show - especially heartening as we haven't been to Israel since 1994. I hope it's not that long before we return. After last night's concert we met staff and other artists taking part in the Israel Festival at a reception. I really enjoyed chatting with a charming lady who was the director of an Argentinian tango group, who had been performing at the same time as us in a different part of the arts complex. She was keen for us to visit Argentina, where choral music plays a huge role in everyday life. I hope we go there too before too long. I'll post some photos for you when we get home. Must go to the masterclass now, so 'Shalom', my friends!

28 / 05 / 2010

Chris

This week has seen the Greenwich Beer and Jazz Festival. I like beer, and I like jazz: you need know no more. So Stephanie, Bella and I wandered down to the old Royal Naval College (well worth a visit if you're ever in London) and enjoyed some local ale and rather a lot of good jazz.

Often we are away when local events happen, which makes it all the sweeter when we're able to attend something as a family. Today's events were spiced up by Bella (now crawling) eating leaves on the ground, and pointing at several young ladies with odd-coloured hair.

Tomorrow I'm taking the train up to Newcastle; more civilised than driving and I have a few new arrangements to brush up on before the rehearsal. Should be a fun weekend!

29 / 05 / 2010

Stephen

Just arrived in Newcastle in the extreme north of England for a concert with the Felling Male Voice Choir. They are celebrating 90 years of male voice camaraderie this year and we are thrilled to be helping them to celebrate this wonderful milestone of musical achievement. Tomorrow we stroll across the Tyne to Gateshead - literally across the river - to work with some young singers from the area at the fantastic Sage Arts centre and to collaborate in a matinee performance. Then its back into the car for sever hours back down to Cheltenham where a 9pm dinner booking awaits. If you are ever in the area do try the Thai Emerald Restaurant- it is wonderful! Newcastle is famous for Brown Ale and Football. Often mixed to produce interesting, rowdy results. Till soon Stephen

30 / 05 / 2010

David

This photo was taken on my 'phone in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem this week.  The Church has two domes, one highly decorated and painted in gilt and bright colours, and the other left rather austere.  This beautiful image is created by the sunlight shining through an opening in the top of the dome into the smoky interior caused by the burning of thousands of votive candles.

01 / 06 / 2010

Tim

It's been fantastic this week performing concerts in and around the UK - there is something quite special about singing on 'home' soil!!

Last night we sang in the glorious St. David's Cathedral in Wales as part of their annual festival. This held some very dear memories for me, as I remembered singing there as a very young chorister, under the watchful eyes of my family whilst on tour with the Chelmsford Cathedral Choir. I was also reminded by my mum that when I was there last, I had stupidly forgotten my black shoes (having left them in the hotel we were all staying in) and consequently had to sing Evensong at St. David's in just my black socks - believe me, the stone floor is chilly!!

It was a fantastic event and it was great to see so many happy audience members afterwards! I must thank David for driving us both all over the UK over the last couple of days - he was, however, rewarded with a sneaky Chinese meal after the concert last night. What greater gift could I have given!?!!

02 / 06 / 2010

Paul

I have really enjoyed the 'mini' UK tour we have just completed over this last weekend, not least the fact that I have loved every minute of driving almost 1000 miles on some of Britain's finest roads! Our concert programmes were as diverse as the scenery - working in Newcastle and Gateshead with a male-voice choir, and a fine youth choir (Felling Male Voice Choir, and Quay Voices, respectively) as well as performing our own programme in St. David's Cathedral, west Wales. Between our concerts in Gateshead and Wales, we stopped overnight in the historic border city of Chester, in order to break up the journey, and I really enjoyed, along with David Chris and Tim, a delicious curry at a local Indian restaurant, washed down by some authentic Indian ale! Being on tour rarely gets better than this - good company, good food, nice weather, spectacular roads, two interesting runs around two of our most beautiful cities, and the satisfaction of knowing that we brought pleasure to a large number of people. What a job this is ...... I am so lucky!

04 / 06 / 2010

Chris

Since Monday's concert in St. David's I have managed to spend two happy days at a nice hotel with my beautiful wife (and get a facial, something I'm not used to...), go shopping with Johnny for our photo shoot outfits for Monday, drive my parents back to the airport for their long journey home, and get full allergy testing in the light of my nasty hayfever bout of last month. So the week's flown by. Good news first: my parents got their flight in time and my face looks marvellous (apart from the slightly large nose, which I can't do much about). Oh, and we got some great clothes for the shoot (so hope you all enjoy those when the pictures are completed). The bad news is that I'm allergic to Birch, Alder and Hazel trees. Hmmm. A long course of injections beckons, but it should stop me feeling as though I'm singing through a veil of fog when the tree pollen strikes next year. Still, nice to know what's happening. If you really want to know, I'm fine with dogs, milk, grass and shrubs, and only have a slight reaction to house dust. So if you're planning to bring a gift for me to a forthcoming concert, dogs are fine but birch trees less good. Right now, Johnny's over here for more "what happens when I finally become a King's Singer" chat, which I'm enjoying enormously. We're having curry, and Johnny's impressing me by eating a Phal, which basically is a form of culinary massochism.

06 / 06 / 2010

David

It’s Sunday evening, and I am getting ready to go to London bright and early tomorrow morning for the photo shoot (I think it has to be the 07.28 train). As Chris mentioned in his blog we have had a few days at home, which has been lovely, especially as it coincides with Sarah’s half term holiday. I have not had a facial, nor have I eaten a red-hot Phal curry.  But I have been to France for a couple of days to attend a friend’s birthday party. We drove back this morning via the Channel Tunnel in a raging thunderstorm, which certainly was a relief after the oppressive heat of Paris yesterday (32˚C, apparently). On Tuesday the KS are off to Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, for an orchestral concert. We travelled there many years ago, so I am looking forward to returning. For now I am now going to walk to the station to buy my train ticket, as it will save me valuable minutes in the morning!

08 / 06 / 2010

Tim

Today we arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for a rehearsal with the Radio Symphony Orchestra. The concert is tomorrow night in the magnificent Cankarjev Dom and features KS orchestral classics such as Circle of Life and Yellow Submarine. Singing this repertoire again reminds me of my first week as a King's Singer, in which we performed, as part of our US tour, with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, under the masterful direction of the late Erich Kunzel. Happy memories.

Tomorrow starts with a morning rehearsal to tie up a few loose ends with the orchestra, so an early night is on the menu for me. Good night...............zzzzzzzzzzz

09 / 06 / 2010

Paul

As you know we have just enjoyed a few days off, spending some well-earned time with our families. This weekend was the annual 'Tough Guy'  weekend, when we take our families on an activity 'break', (if indeed you can call it that!) to celebrate surviving the 'TG' event earlier in the year. This time it was a little bit different, because Helena and I decided that William and Edward were old enough to experience something 'rough and tough' for themselves. (It also gave us the opportunity to spend time together, outdoors, as a family.)  So, last Saturday, along with some very special friends we set off on a challenging walk, in the heart of England's Lake District: to climb the 950 meter mountain, Helvellyn, via a tricky route named 'Striding Edge'. I hadn't realised it was quite so challenging until we reached a point of 'no return', traversing Striding Edge, with Helena, William and Edward all looking nervously at the steep and dangerous slopes on either side of them, knowing that one wrong step could mean a free ride in a rescue helicopter to hospital, or worse ..... My great friends and fellow tough guys, Charlie and Simon, along with their lovely wives, Karen and Rachel, were magnificent in helping my boys conquer their fears, and successfully tackle one of our country's toughest walks. The feeling of euphoria upon reaching the summit was something to savour for a long time. The photo of Charlie and yours truly sums up the moment - when friendship, teamwork, and a sense of achievement all merge in one special and spontaneous moment. It reminded me yet again of the amazing similarities between 'Tough Guy' and the KS, where all the qualities which give the event its unique flavour, are present in the daily yet immensely rewarding life of our beloved group.

Below: The Tough Guys (and girls!). Helvellyn is the 'flat' summit on the left.

10 / 06 / 2010

Philip

Sweltering heat here in Ljubljana where we gave a very successful concert last night with the Slovenian Radio Orchestra to a lively packed house. The football fans among us are getting geared up for the World Cup (we are away for every one of England's games of course, and usually singing or travelling during the matches themselves), but an amusing incident occurred at lunch yesterday. I asked if Slovenia had made it through to the Finals in South Africa and after some deliberation one of the others said they thought that yes Slovenia had qualified. Then came the business of racking our brains trying to remember which group they were in (top 2 from each group of 4 go through to the next round in case you don't know). A long silence ensued until someone realised that they were in the group with Algeria, USA and....ENGLAND! Shame on us for not instantly remembering we were in the country of one of our opposing teams. To be fair there is almost no visual evidence of the tournament in this beautiful old city. Maybe they see no chance of qualifying, but there is always hope - a famous result springs to mind from the 1950 World Cup (before I was born I hasten to add!) when, as in this year's tournament, the mighty England were drawn against a team of part-timers and, when there should have been only one possible winner, lost 1 - 0. We in the KS are hoping history will not repeat itself half a century on, as our opposition that day was...The United States of America!! Come on England.

11 / 06 / 2010

Chris

It's hard to write a blog about music or singing today. Why? Well, today's the start of the World Cup in South Africa, and for the next month or so my heart will be permanently beating at twice its normal speed as I dare to hope against hope that my national team will for once NOT let me down and play well in a major tournament. Apart from my wonderful family, singing is my first love, but I really do love sport of all shapes and sizes. If England are playing, I'm hooked - whether it's football, rugby, cricket or anything else. I even get excited about darts and curling (although not at the same time - imagine playing darts on ice whilst people were running around you with brushes? It just wouldn't work). 

So, COME ON ENGLAND!!! It makes it even more interesting that we kick off tomorrow against the USA, a team who on paper we should beat easily enough but who my (American) wife assures me are no pushovers and who will probably at least scrape a draw, thus plunging me into a fearful depression. It would have been fun to be at home, each screaming for our respective nations, with Bella (now nearly a year old - where has the time gone?!) probably getting more and more confused. 

On a musical note, we're back in Germany for a couple of concerts over the weekend, both of which have programmes dominated by the music of Heinrich Schutz, one of my favourite composers. Not only did he travel widely, but he experimented with the musical styles of the countries in which he found himself. Thus we are singing three sacred German motets, and three secular Italian madrigals, and if I didn't know better I'd believe they were by two completely different composers. A clever chap. We've also brought back Sir Malcom Williamson's wonderful piece "The Musicians of Bremen" which was commissioned by the KS in the 1970s and features animal noises made by everyone except for Stephen and me. We're far too serious for such larking about. We didn't spend years training in classical singing to get up on stage and make animal noises. Oh no.

12 / 06 / 2010

Stephen

Today we are driving to Niedergründau (to be precise, Tim is driving  - most of the time with one hand!) We sing there this evening at 7pm - an early start for a concert in Germany. We had a pleasantly warm wilkommen from the good burgers of Erwitte yesterday evening where we offered a German programme featuring the music of Heinrich Schütz  - a big hello to the lovely choir who enthusiastically made us feel so welcome and with whom we had a group photo after the show.

Today the sky is grey and with it the temperature has fallen to a reasonable level which has reduced the stifling humidity of the last days. Phew!

Tomorrow we are back to the UK for some days at home before our long trip out to the Far East next weekend.  If you don't hear from me next Saturday it will be due to a heavy packing schedule and me being out in the garden most of the day trying to cut the grass to such a short level that is might not need doing for another several weeks. We will be away from home for almost a month with a more than busy concert schedule, visiting a whole bunch of different countries out there.

Hope you have all managed to see the new publicity pics featuring new KS to be - Johnny H. He will become the tallest member of the KS - rivaling the dizzy heights of Robin and Gabriel. With his trampolining talents, Johnny's pursuits for even great heights are unique in the history of the KS group membership. Fair Phyllis's "Up and Down" manoeuverings  will take on a whole new meaning.

Germany is famous for its wonderful sausages which are called Wurst and for coming second to England in the Football World Cup Final in 1966 - the year of my birth. All unrelated - but, in a way, I somehow wish they were.
Outside it has just started to rain.
Bis bald Stephen.

13 / 06 / 2010

David

Last night we sang once again in the beautiful Bergkirche (mountain church) in Niedergründau. The programme included Malcolm Williamson’s The Musicians of Bremen, which has recently been re-introduced to the repertoire. It was written for the group in 1972, and first performed in Sydney Town Hall in the same year. It tells the Brothers Grimm story of four animals who travel to Bremen to join an orchestra. On the way they encounter a band of robbers, played with great menace by Chris and Stephen, who try in vain to overcome the animals. Through teamwork the four friends triumph, and as the piece ends, the animals go to sleep dreaming of their new lives in Bremen. I spoke to a friend after the show who said that she had never heard the piece sung live, despite attending over 90 King’s Singers concerts. I first heard the piece back in the late 1970s when I bought a copy of The Contemporary Collection LP. I bought the record because it included Timepiece in the playlist, and the album made me realise for the first time that modern music could be fun. We are always keen to find new music to augment our repertoire, but we also are aware that we have a vast library of great pieces, which deserve to be brought out of retirement from time to time.

I am writing this on Sunday morning on a plane from Frankfurt to London. I am sitting next to Tim who has an uncanny ability to fall asleep in a car, bus, train or plane. It is a skill that I envy, and one that will come in useful over the next few weeks as we tour the Far East.

15 / 06 / 2010

Tim

It's great to back in the UK this week before we head off on our Asia tour. It will be my first time in Asia and I just can't wait to meet our fans over there and to sing in some of the best concert halls in the world. Hopefully there will be some spare time to sample some proper sushi as well - yummy!!

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure to be in Windsor, seeing my old colleagues and attending the annual celebration of Garter Day. Each June, on the Monday of Royal Ascot week, the members of the Order of the Garter, wearing their ceremonial vestments and insignia, meet in the state apartments in the Upper Ward of Windsor Castle. They process on foot, led by the Military Knights of Windsor, through the castle to St George's Chapel for the service. It was very odd not singing this year but wonderful to be a member of the 'congregation' listening outside! St. George's Chapel is an extremely special place and the time I spent singing and living there will always bring back fond memories - the superb music, the friendships, my Dad's birthday celebrations last New Year's Eve......the list is endless.

Today, I drive some of my friends over to Cambridge to enjoy the St. John's College May Ball. This is said to be one of the 10 parties you must go to before you die, so I think it's gonna be a late one. As long as I make the plane on Sunday with the rest of my colleagues then it'll be fine...............

16 / 06 / 2010

Paul

What a busy week 'off' I'm having. Just had a haircut, now I'm going back home to take Wiz for a run, (we both need it!) then I'll be appearing on a local radio station for an hour this afternoon for some music and chat (BBC Radio Cambridgeshire - 98 FM - at 2 pm, if you're interested!)  Tomorrow we have some friends visiting us from the USA, and then on Friday it's the bi-annual 'Gransden Village Ball' - a really lovely occasion when our local community gets together to celebrate village life. On Saturday I'm singing at a friend's wedding, as well as 'ushering' during the church service, and then at some stage I ought to get ready to travel for our much-anticipated Asia tour ..... This week reminds me of a saying often quoted by good friends of mine, when we talk about our hectic lifestyles: 'If you want to get something done, ask a busy person'. I agree!

18 / 06 / 2010

Chris

To those who logged on yesterday expecting a timely blog from me, I do apologise.  To all seven of you. Before our Asia trip I decided to take Stephanie out for the day and ended up being out from early until late, although I did manage to catch the football in the evening (total waste of time that was). Some might find it odd that a grown man would get so excited about watching eleven men attempt to score (and fail) - some might even call it childish - but I can't help getting ridiculously excited over the World Cup. I think coming together as a nation and showing some emotion is positive. 

So where did I take Stephanie yesterday? Well, as many of you know, England has a few traditional events that happen every summer - tennis and Wimbledon, rowing at Henley - but also the racing at Royal Ascot, and that's where we went. You'll see a picture of us below dressed in our silly but rather wonderful clothes. We had a great day, and even managed to pick some winners. 

This forthcoming tour sees a new idea for the KS. In Korea some bright spark suggested we do the whole second half on microphones, with the occasional backing track so that we could add pieces to the repertoire that we wouldn't usually perform (because they have too many parts). So there are new songs to learn and lots of live premiere performances to look forward to. We're hoping that if it's a success we can repeat the formula in the US next year and bring favourites such as "Hallelujah" into our programmes. I haven't quite finished learning the pieces, as this week has been family time for us - so important before a big trip away. Luckily I have over fifteen hours in a tin can miles above the earth tomorrow night, so I'm sure I'll get it all done then! Just picture me sitting in a plane, refusing to watch all the tempting movies on offer, with my head in a copy of Lawson's latest arrangement, as we speed through the night sky.....

19 / 06 / 2010

Stephen

Well - finished the grass cutting (and it is very short) and just now getting everything together and packed for tomorrow's trip to the Far East. Just had a lovely translation through from a German friend of an Obituary that was written about me in one of the national German newspapers - it is very touching and I feel very honoured to have such glowing words written about my career with the K's - rather hoping though that people don't get the wrong idea about my mortal positioning right now - I am very much still alive. Till Soon, Stephen

20 / 06 / 2010

David

Today we head off to Taiwan for the first leg of our Far East trip. I have made it to the airport on time, and have now checked in. We fly to Amsterdam, and then on to Taipei via Bangkok. I am really looking forward to the tour, although today's travel is quite epic. For the moment we are taking it easy at Heathrow - Stephen and Tim have found some extraordinary chairs to sit in, and are preparing for many more hours sitting down.

23 / 06 / 2010

Tim

Hello everybody. Sincere apologies for not writing yesterday but the phrase 'simply not enough hours in the day' springs to mind!

Yesterday we travelled by express train to Kaohsiung, where we jumped into a taxi and headed to the fantastic Grand Hi-Lai Hotel. However, there was no time to admire our rash lavish rooms as it was a case of dropping the suitcase, picking up suit and music and heading to the venue for the rehearsal/show! I think it's fair to say that all members of the KS had a little nap in the taxi over to Pingtung which was to prove the last top-up of energy before the first concert of the tour. We were joined on stage in the second half by a local, mixed children's choir in regional dress, which was adorable to say the very least!

Afterwards, we were very kindly taken out by our promoter to a fish restaurant back near the hotel. It was fantastic to taste real Taipei cuisine in a real local 'cafe' environment. Superb food and great company - the perfect way to end a truly exhausting day.............

Below is a picture taken from this restaurant - Steve pointing out the most basic of basic air conditioning units!!

23 / 06 / 2010

Paul

Jetlag is a funny thing, it comes in many different forms: from long, sleepless hours, pacing up and down in your hotel room, to a pre-concert 'slump', when your body is telling you that it's the middle of the night, rather than time to go on stage for a concert ......

Happily, we have been remarkably free of jetlag on this first leg of our Asia tour, and last night's concert in Pingtung went very well. We shared the stage at the start of the second half with a local children's choir, who treated us and the audience to a wonderful performance of two Taiwanese folk songs. Their rendition was both flawless and moving, and it was so lovely to watch them, in traditional dress, swaying from side to side as they sang the haunting melodies which originated many hundreds of years ago in the mountain villages nearby.

So, waking up this morning to the view from my hotel room on the 33rd floor, pictured below, it really felt like I was a long, long way from the lush, temperate English summer. Nevertheless, on we go, another day, another concert - today in the National Concert Hall in Taipei. Its one of the world's great halls, and we're looking forward to meeting many more of our enthusiastic friends from this wonderful country.

24 / 06 / 2010

Philip

One minute there were ten people crowded round a TV in our hotel bar here in Taipei, the next I was on my own, and then I realised it was gone midnight ( a symptom of West-East jetlag of course - nights feel like afternoons). I finished my beer and took myself off to bed. It was a satisfying evening - another packed-out concert in Taipei's fabulous National Concert Hall and England are through! When we returned to the hotel after the concert the match was 25 minutes old and England had just scored, but while the hotel staff had been very kind and diligent in arranging for the huge TV to be showing the footie when we got back  (I must have stayed at the Ritz Landis here about seven times - they know us well!) they had switched on to the wrong channel - football, yes, but  USA/ Algeria, instead of  England /Slovenia There were two partially interested Americans in that hitherto quiet corner of the bar when we got down from hanging up our suits, but the Duty Manager politely explained to them that "the Englishmen" had returned (football's coming home, you might say) and really needed to see the other game. So it was that the Americans graciously retired to another area and we and our promoter Mr. Niu and his charming assistants were able to sit there and watch England go through, just. I've been a football fan for 40 years and it's amusing how we forgive our teams - it doesn't matter how badly they play in a game or a season - "at the end of the day" as they say if the team wins you a cup or promotion or procession into the next round, all is forgiven. Wouldn't it be funny if it were like that with us and our audiences? "Those Renaissance pieces were out of tune, the modern piece was all wrong and I don't know what you were doing in the Pop section. But that encore, wow! Thanks, guys, you're great!!" Food for thought, talking of which, mustn't miss breakfast. Bye!

24 / 06 / 2010

Paul

Just had a crazy few minutes: we arrived in Shanghai this afternoon, and after settling in I went to the gym. I spent a few minutes stretching and warming up, lifted a few weights, cross-trained for 15 minutes, and then decided to run down the staircase, 26 floors to floor 1, and then take the stairs, up 47 floors back to my room - I didn't run UP, oh no! Nevertheless I set myself the target of taking two steps at a time ........ I'm a bit sweaty now, as you can see! Nice! Just off for a shower ......

25 / 06 / 2010

Chris

Jetlag is a strange thing. I arrived on Monday night (Monday morning UK Time) feeling pretty good, and had a couple of great nights' sleep, but last night was a total disaster. Still up at 4.30am and a quick phone call home - I interrupted dinner so couldn't even get a chat in with Stephanie.

So tonight I'm hoping for a better sleep, as we have a big concert tomorrow night in the wonderful Concert Hall here in Shanghai, where we arrived after a quick flight up from Taipei. Our hotel goes by a different name but is the same one we were in last time, and really is one of my favourites. Despite England not playing today (although nice one last night, lads) I was still interested to see the Italian match. There's something wonderful about a hotel where you can lie in the bath and watch football. I ended up like a sponge but it was worth it. That was after first supper, which was soup, pasta and some kind of chocolate cake. Sometimes food is the big issue for me in Asia as, to be honest, I don't like fish, noodles, or pretty much anything else that is a staple food product out this way. I've tried it all (believe me) but it just doesn't seem to work well for me. Being in a big hotel is great because I can eat what I want, and room service is wonderful. I remember one American hotel where I stayed in my room for 24 hours on a day off, and had three room service meals including breakfast. Mmmm.

I say "first" supper because tonight it just didn't do the trick. You know how it is sometimes, one supper is just not enough. So following a spot of work, bath, and a brief attempt to get to bed early (ha! It's funny just re-reading that bit, I can NEVER sleep early on tour) and having listened to my stomach rumbling a bit, I decided it was time for second supper. Luckily this hotel has 24 hour room service, so I simply rang down and ordered the hotel burger with chips on the side.

This blog isn't all about food. In all seriousness we have a wonderful following here in Shanghai and it's a real pleasure for me to perform here as the group never came here before I joined - so nobody remembers any of my predecessors! We're doing some great folksongs tomorrow including resurrecting one by Phil from the 1990s - "The Last Rose of Summer" - which I think will become one of our favourites. Whenever we perform in China we always sing some local songs, too, and this time I arranged one which is all about plums, strangely enough. It went down well in Taipei and is the first of my arrangements that we have performed, so a small moment of personal delight.

Oh, there's my doorbell - burger time!!!!!

26 / 06 / 2010

Stephen

We had a wonderful reception last night here in Beijing - a buzzing audience who simply love their a cappella singing for sure. There are many Chinese restaurants here - much more so than at home and last night managed to sample some interesting food after the concert - resisting the lure of the scorpion and sea-horse kebabs (yes, seriously) and sticking firmly to the vegetarian spring rolls and topped it off with one of my favorites, green tea ice cream. Yum Yum.

Today we head south and closer to Hong Kong where the humidity is set to rise. Hey ho...drip drip. Jet lag is almost a thing of the past as we complete our first full week over here. England will play Germany tonight I am told - an old, familiar, friendly match (!) No doubt we shall watch a little bit of it after the concert. Till soon, Stephen

27 / 06 / 2010

David

Stephen mentioned our Beijing concert in his blog, but I wanted to share a rather nice moment in the concert. There was a family sitting in the second row with two young boys, and when Chris did his Mandarin welcome to the audience after the first song the younger of the two boys was utterly amazed, and sat with his mouth wide open nudging his older brother. Chris seems to have become our Chinese language expert, remembering the introduction from our previous trip to the Far East in 2008.

We are now in the city of Shenzhen in southern China, where we performed this evening in the city’s state-of-the-art concert hall. Like Shanghai, Shenzhen has seen a huge amount of new building in recent years, and the cityscape is incredible. We did manage to get back to the hotel to see the England-Germany match from South Africa. This was not the result we wanted to say the least. Paul received an email earlier today from Daniel Knauft from ensemble Amarcord, the vocal group who we saw recently at their wonderful festival in Leipzig. Their concert schedule today allowed them to see the whole match, whereas we missed the opening (and the first of Germany’s four goals). They wished us good luck in our concert, but not in the football!

We are off to Guangzhou tomorrow for the last of our Chinese concerts.

P.S. I would like to thank the couple in Taipei who gave me a lovely present of an ink stamp bearing the Chinese version of my name. It was a very sweet gift, but I do not have contact details to write to say thank you.

29 / 06 / 2010

Tim

Hello Korea!!! A travel day today saw us fly from Guangzhou in China to Seoul in Korea. We battled our way through heavy traffic but have now finally arrived at the beautiful Shilla Hotel.

Yesterday, as David mentioned, we sang our last concert on the Chinese leg of this tour. It's been an amazing experience so far - concert halls have been world-class, people are unbelievably polite and gracious, and the food is simply awesome!! After our concert in the Guangzhou Xinghai Concert Hall last night, we were kindly taken out for a late dinner by our promoters. A fun time was had by all and although I haven't entirely mastered the art of using chopsticks (even after some masterclass sessions with Stephen), I eventually felt as though I had tried most of what was put in front of me (apart from the chicken's head!).

I leave you with various pictures from the trip so far: in the lobby of the concert hall last night where we had a press event before the show and Paul in typical pre-concert preparation!

30 / 06 / 2010

Paul

Its been a really interesting few days visiting parts of China for the first time, and reaching new audiences, and its fair to say that our Chinese 'leg' of the tour has not been incident-free. For several days a few of us have been fighting-off a rather nasty cold and throat/ear related virus. I felt it coming on whilst on the plane on our way to Taiwan. It started with a tickle in my throat, and tightness in my chest, and then very suddenly, just before the concert in Beijing, I went almost completely deaf in my right ear, and partially deaf in my left - a bit scary when you are about to sing. I got through the show okay, but all the way through my instincts were telling me to seek medical help as soon as possible. Thanks to the help of the staff at the National Concert Hall in Beijing, I was taken to a local hospital where along with many other Beijing residents being treated by an army of doctors for a variety of ailments, I was skillfully cared for by a very young doctor, who explained to me that the reason for my deafness was due to a buildup of hard wax in my ears, which needed to be removed immediately. (Gulp!!!) There then followed a period of excruciating pain, whilst the kindly young doctor, watched with some amusement by two nurses who had by now decided that my predicament was more interesting than their magazines, proceeded to suck, prod and poke at the wax, embedded deep in my ear canal (nice, eh?). By now word had got out that 'some weird English bloke' had turned up at the Casualty Department on a Saturday night, (obviously had nothing better to do!) and a crowd of interested onlookers crowded into the doorway of the treatment room, whilst I tried hard to look brave, when all the time I felt pretty scared, and wanted to 'yelp' with pain. When the offending wax was finally removed, 'some time later' (time was standing still for me) the doctor asked how my hearing compared between my left and right ears? 'Its better in the right now than the left!' I cheerfully responded ........ Wrong answer - now he worked on removing several year's-worth of wax buildup in my left ear!! Well, I'm feeling a lot better now, and hadn't realised the world was such a loud place! (This has obviously been building up for a long time). Also, I want to thank sincerely a young doctor by the name of Feng Ling, who looked after me, and treated me with such care and kindness, and who showed me that whilst Chinese medical treatment may not be like our own 'National Health Service', there is no substitute for dedicated people, who do their jobs with skill and sensitivity to those around them. Thank you, Feng, and I hope I can return your kindness next time we visit Beijing, by inviting you to our concert.

01 / 07 / 2010

Philip

Today has been rather tiring, as we flew down from Seoul to Pohang, did a rehearsal and concert and then drove 2 hours to our hotel ready for tomorrow, a rare two-concert day. There were ten of us in the bus - the 6 of us, our driver, our sound engineer (for the pop second halves we're doing here)and two girls from the office. It's one thing singing in the big cities here in the Far East but when you come to somewhere like here, Pusan down on the southern coast of Korea, you really do feel like you're halfway round the world. We're also halfway through the tour now and so far it's been very successful, lots of enthusiastic people. It's past one in the morning now so time to get some rest before another long day tomorrow.

02 / 07 / 2010

Chris

Today we are performing two concerts in Korea before heading off to Japan for the penultimate leg of our Asia tour. Once we've completed today's concerts we will have done over half our performances and can reflect on some great work whilst looking forward to a few more rest days in Japan - where we hope to enjoy the local culture and renew old acquaintances. This week in particular has been great fun as we've been trying out a new second half idea, using some backing tracks and entertaining the crowds to songs from our new album, Swimming over London. It's been so much fun! Although predictably there have been a few logistical issues, everything has been solved and we've gained such huge feelings of satisfaction through doing something new and exciting, and yet maintaining the same close harmony feel that is so important to what we do. We may yet roll out this idea in other countries.....

This time last year I was personally in a very different situation. At 4am on 2 July 2009, my darling wife went into labour (2 weeks late!) and 16 hours later our daughter Isabella was born. The year has flown by and although I'm not with her today on her first birthday we are celebrating with friends when I get home. Below are two pictures - one on the day Isabella was born and one taken just before I left home for this trip. I miss Stephanie and Bella terribly when I'm on the road but their constant support and love mean I'm a lucky chap: an amazing family and a great job!

Happy Birthday Bella!

03 / 07 / 2010

Stephen

Konichiwa! Heading off to Japan today after a great few days in Korea. We rounded the short tour of the country with a wonderful meal last night as we sweated it out at an outdoor Korean BBQ restaurant, watching Brazil lose to Holland. Far too much garlic and hot chilies for our delicate western constitutions and I must admit that the after glow (to put it mildly) was totally self induced. Was nice to be singing "Magic Castle" (a popular Korean pop song) to the Korean public again and to hear them joining in so enthusiastically.

The next few days should be interesting as a visit to Japan is always full of surprises. We don't sing this evening, which is probably a good thing after giving two concerts yesterday which were two hours travelling time apart. The schedule is not as hectic over the next week and I am looking forward to some time to explore Japan - take in a few temples, several bowls of steaming Udon and the odd helping or seven of green tea ice cream - yum yum. Japan is famous for sushi and sudoku. Mattene! Stephen-san

04 / 07 / 2010

David

Today we have sung our first Japanese concert of the trip. We are in the city of Toyotashi, about one hour’s drive from Nagoya. When I think about concerts in Japan two things come to mind - elegant modern concert halls, and the alarming prospect of Japanese language announcements. Here in Toyotashi both of these aspects were realised. Toyota City Concert Hall is a lovely space in which to perform, with a fine looking organ and excellent acoustics. It sits on the tenth floor of one of the city’s civic buildings, which may seem unusual, but it does give wonderful views of the surrounding hills from the lobby. We managed to get through our Japanese announcements without too much panic. This is the trickiest language we attempt (with the exception of Chris’s greeting at the start of each concert, we spoke English in Taiwan, China & Korea), but the audience really appreciates the effort. I always wonder how much they actually understand, but they did laugh at the jokes. We are indebted to Mio Collett, our wonderful tour manager here in Japan, for guiding us towards the correct pronunciation.

Tomorrow we head off to Tokyo on the Nozomi 116, one of Japan’s incredible ‘bullet’ trains. I think we will pass Mount Fuji on the way, which is worth seeing. Often the mountain seems to hover in mid-air above the surrounding countryside. At last we have seen some sunshine today, after nearly two weeks of overcast skies and rain, so I am hoping for a good view.

06 / 07 / 2010

Tim

We arrived in Tokyo Shinagawa yesterday to clear(ish) skies and more humid temperatures. I must say that I actually don't mind the humidity at all, in fact, I would go as far to say that I enjoy it! After we reached the hotel, we had yet another quick turn around - this time we needed to jump in taxis to the Inter FM radio station for a live interview/sing. It went well and the radio staff seemed to enjoy our version of Nat King Cole's 'Straighten Up and Fly Right' from our new album Swimming Over London. After this it was a race back to the hotel, as Stephen and I had an interview for a classical music magazine in the lobby of the hotel. A few of us enjoyed a lovely meal in the evening at the local steak house - I've never seen Chris' face look so happy as when we drove up the road towards the hotel and passed a non-Japanese restaurant!! After eating our own body weight in red meat, we headed for the compulsory Starbucks stop and then off to bed.

Before I go, I must share with you a picture taken from a curry house which some of us visited in Toyota City. This is without doubt the biggest nan bread that I have ever seen/eaten - please bear in mind that this plate is a LARGE dinner plate! Needless to say, I finished it without any trouble at all.................

07 / 07 / 2010

Paul

I'm writing this blog on Monday afternoon - just in case I don't get online on Wednesday! We're here in Tokyo right now, and I'm really enjoying an afternoon off: I've sorted out a pile of laundry, written a couple of letters, and once I've written this I shall don my kit and go outside for a hot and sticky run - its 32 degrees celsius outside! (I really know how to have a good time don't I?!) One thing I haven't enjoyed about being in either Korea or Japan is that my 'Blackberry' mobile phone doesn't work here - in one respect this could be good - I'm not checking my emails every 5 seconds, but otherwise its a bit of a pain. I simply had not realized just how reliant I have become on being able to speak to Helena whenever I felt like it, and losing that option for a few days has been quite tough.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying today, 'regrouping' as some would call it. I like being in Japan for many reasons: the food (delicious and very good for you) and the clean streets, which are immaculate. That's where I'll be in a few minutes! One other thing which doesn't happen to me in any other part of the world - I feel quite tall in Japan! (Not that I have a problem with my stature, of course!!) Thanks to everybody who continue read our blogs, we all appreciate your feedback and kind thoughts whilst we're a long way from home.

Footnote on Wednesday: Well, how time flies ..... here we are after a pleasant afternoon's travel by train, in Fukui. I've just been for another hot hot run - about 12 km this time. Time for a quick shower, and out for something to eat. A night off tonight, so I'm going to 'stay in' and watch a film on my computer - 'Quantum of Solace', I think. Bye for now!

08 / 07 / 2010

Philip

It is you might say, and to coin a topical football metaphor, a tour of two halves. From the whirlwind that was Taipei, China Korea - 10 concerts in 12 days, we are now in Japan, and soon to be in Malysia, with only 5 concerts in 10 days. I thought the time would go really slowly here but for me it is moving along. I'm keeping busy with arranging and programme planning, and finding the right food to eat can use up quite a bit of time too! We have been treated extremely well here, as always in Japan, and are being well chaperoned by our tour agency Harrison Parrott's representative Mio Collett who though Japanese, speaks excellent English largely owing to the fact that she lives in Crystal Palace! (I recognise with affection the South London slant which is applied to some of the words she says, being a Crawley boy myself). Having implied that this leg of the tour is more relaxed , I now have not quite enough time to get ready to leave for our concert - bye!

09 / 07 / 2010

Chris

Today we are travelling via three trains and a bus to Yatsugatake, a National Park resort in Japan where we perform our fourth and final concert before heading to Malaysia on Sunday. I'm looking forward to being up in the mountains and forests - although this must be about my sixth time in Japan I've never really been out of the cities apart from one very sweaty hike from Kyoto to the ancient capital, but that was about 11 years ago and I can't remember much about it! I may even go for a run outside. Paul runs all the time but being in his 40s he needs to - I prefer to do the occasional bi-monthly sprint and then leave things well alone. Apart from anything else I find it impossible to get my heart-rate over about 120bmp, so cardio exercise gets a bit dull as I never feel as though I'm working anything! When my metabolism crashes in a year or so I'm sure I'll put on huge amounts of weight and then eat my words.

Yesterday I had an interesting experience. Along with David, Paul and Phil I've suffered a mysterious hearing loss over the past week, owing to the build-up of fluid in my ears. I entrusted myself to a nice Japanese lady at the Fukui Beauty Parlour in order that she could stick Hopi candles in my ears in an attempt to draw out the fluid. It worked, and was considerably less painful than what poor Paul had to go through in Beijing, by all accounts. So I was happy to hear again, but not satisfied with the success of her candles, the Japanese lady decided to treat the "western visitor" to a local specialist service. "How kind!" I thought, until I saw her pulling on long black rubber gloves, attaching wires to those gloves which ran from what looked suspiciously like some kind of electrical generator, and then proceed to massage my face and neck with what felt like 300 volts of electricity. I'm sure it did me some good, but I still have metal fillings in two of my teeth and they succeeded in conducting the electrical current straight into the nerves of those teeth. Ouch. Thankfully she then let me go and I can still hear, so I suppose it was worth going.

Thank you to everyone who sent such kind messages wishing Bella a happy birthday - I'm trying to reply to you all.....

11 / 07 / 2010

Stephen

Dear fellow travelers on life's rich and varied highway. Good morning from Narita Airport!

I am a day late write these few words of greeting and for those of you who sat by their computers waiting in eager anticipation of a posting - apologies to you. Well, not much had really happened here in the last days. Eaten some very interesting food in the last week, the names of which I have not a clue (even in English) and met some wonderful people who were mainly Japanese. What a great country Japan is. What a fantastic nation. Nihon-ga Daiski! (very much indeed) I think it is one of the countries where I would be more than happy to live, immersing myself in their culture and tradition, as well as their Tempura Udon...mm. Learned a few new words in the last days and managed to convince the locals into thinking I might actually speak the language more than I do. Nothing more unnerving than speaking a few words of Japanese to then have a whole barrage of the language thrown back at you. I humbly bowed and smile as sweetly as I could.

Today we are flying to Malaysia and to a new culture and a whole world of palette pleasing adventures, a new level of humidity and, ooh, a concert too! I have just spent my last 700 Yen next door here at the airport gift shop. My purchase, a small but beautifully decorated set of pencils in an equally small and exquisite box complete with eraser. How pleasing they are! These are now patiently waiting to take pride of place on my office desk come the Autumn. Mattene Japan. Thanks for all the years of  Udon, the Ramen, the Sushi, Soba, Unagi and Tempura, Hotcha and Dieta Pepur-shi. Mattene... Sayonara!! Stephen

12 / 07 / 2010

David

We are now on the last leg of our Far East trip, having arrived in Kuala Lumpur. We have had a wonderful week in Japan, ending with our stay in Yatsugatake. Yesterday, the day of the concert, the sun shone, and very early in the morning it was, so I was told, clear enough to catch a glimpse of Fuji-san (Mount Fuji). By the time I got up (7.45am), the haze had built up, and the mountain had disappeared from view. As a result I have not managed to see Fuji-san at all on this trip, thanks to the weather. I was hoping by now to have a wonderful photo to put in my blog, but that was not to be.

After checking in for our flight to Maylasia we said farewell to Mio Collett, who has looked after us in Japan. It has been a pleasure travelling with her, and she has looked after us extremely well, as have all our tour guides on this trip – Denny in Taiwan, Ying Li and Xue Wei in China and Chaehwan Oh in Korea. We get so used to looking after ourselves on tour, but when even the simplest instructions are written in what is to us a baffling script, it is great to have someone along to tell you where to go, and what to do next.

Tonight (Sunday) we have an evening off in KL, and Stephen is keen to lead an expedition to the night market, where we can try a few Malaysian delicacies, and make some bargain purchases. Tomorrow (Monday) we give our last concert of the trip in the Philharmonic Hall in Kuala Lumpur’s most famous landmark, the Petronas Towers. This hall was built in 1998, and was Malaysia’s first purpose built concert hall. We sang there at the end of the inaugural season in 1999, and I am looking forward to our return visit very much.

13 / 07 / 2010

Tim

Well, I can't believe our tour of Asia is coming to a close now. We have just one more concert left and what a place for our final show - The Petronas Towers! It is simply a breathtaking sight - the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were the world's tallest building from 1998 to 2004 but their height was surpassed by Taipei 101, which we also caught a glimpse of on our first stop on this tour over 3 weeks ago. How time flies!!

It has been a splendid trip so far and I have loved every minute of it. The people, the food and the culture - all definitely worth coming back for. A huge thank you to all of our agents, promoters and staff from MNA, Mast Media, Harrison Parrott, Dewan Petronas Filharmonik and not forgetting our General Manager Claire Long and her Administrator Carolyn Soucy back in the UK, who work tirelessly to make sure that everything goes to plan when we are away.

I leave you with some of my favourite pictures from the tour:

A very specific sign in one of the toilets near Tokyo

Proof that the high humidity had just got too much for Stephen to bear

and the awe-inspiring sight of The Petronas Towers

14 / 07 / 2010

Paul

Well, nearly home!! I'm writing this in the lounge at Amsterdam airport having just got off a 12-hour flight. I did manage some sleep, though I do feel a bit bleary-eyed! It's been a great tour, but I can't wait to see Helena, my boys and Wiz. I'll have a few hours on my own at home, before everybody arrives home from work and school. Just enough time to become human again! I'll leave you with a dramatic shot of the 'Petronas Towers' which dominate the Kuala Lumpur skyline, and which will stay in my memory for a long time to come. I'm looking forward to going back to this magnificent, friendly city.

19 / 07 / 2010

David

There has been a short hiatus on our blogs over the last few days, as we all enjoy a few days of relaxation at home after our long trip to the Far East. For me the period between tours has been very enjoyable, but not especially relaxing. I have been involved with this year’s Southern Cathedrals Festival, which Sarah has directed this year in Chichester Cathedral. This is an annual meeting of three of Southern England’s Cathedrals – Winchester, where I sang for many years, Salisbury, where Philip was a lay vicar until he joined the KS, and Chichester, where Al (Hume) and Tony (Holt) sang before King’s Singers commitments forced them to quit their other jobs. All went very well, although early on Thursday morning (St Swithun’s Day) a gale came through and blew all three marquees down.

I am now trying to get myself packed for our weeklong trip to Austria and Germany. We visit two lovely towns in Austria – St Georgen im Attergau, which sits near Austria’s largest lake, Attersee, and the Carinthian town of Millstatt. In Germany we sing in the Bavarian town of Weissenburg before returning to the wonderful “Kulturstadt” of Weimar. We end up further north with a concert in Doberlug, in the region of Brandenburg.

21 / 07 / 2010

Tim

So after a short stay back in the UK we find ourselves on tour in Austria and Germany. We sang in the delightful Pfarrkirche last night in St. Georgen, Austria, as part of the Attergauer Kultur Sommer Festival. The crowds seemed to thoroughly enjoy our programme of Schütz madrigals and motets, especially Malcolm Williamson's The Musicians of Bremen, which usually gets a laugh or two!!

Anyway, I'm just about to jump in the hire car for a couple of hours to drive David and Stephen to Millstatt so I better dash!

I leave you with a photo taken of my sister, Nicola, celebrating her 33rd birthday last week at The Langham Hotel in London. I took her for afternoon tea - I thought that having champagne, sandwiches, muffins and a cream tea was the only way to get through the jet lag as this was the day we returned from our Asia tour!!

21 / 07 / 2010

Paul

Ah, summer in Europe ...... long hot evenings, a quaint hotel in a small Austrian or German town, a packed church with an audience, almost all of whom are enjoying a summer break - this is a typical KS summer tour in this part of the world, and today we find ourselves in Austria, about to leave St. Georgen for Millstatt. It is also a huge change from our lives 'on the road' during the last few weeks in the Far East, during which we travelled between large cities on bullet trains or by plane.

One of the other characteristics of summer concerts here in Europe is the temperature. Having just returned from a series of shows in modern, air-conditioned halls, we find ourselves in beautiful, historic churches, packed to the rafters with people, and where, under the lights 'on stage' the temperature can become pretty uncomfortable, especially when wearing a suit! Looking around, I see the beads of sweat on the foreheads of my 'glowing' colleagues - that's putting it politely of course, as I feel myself getting hotter and hotter, and being one of those KS that really feels the heat, I end the concert rather embarrassingly, a soggy mess! Could it be that I'm looking forward to colder weather?' Below is a photo of the 'Pfarrkirche' in St. Georgen, the venue for last night's rather hot concert!

22 / 07 / 2010

Philip

We are in such a beautiful place - Millstatt in Austria. Our hotel is by a lake and I'm sitting on my balcony gone midnight with the lake in front, the silhouettes of mountains behind and "a billion stars all around" (quote from an Eagles song, anyone know which one?). Tomorrow we travel to Germany and are joined by Jonathan our new bass, so he can rehearse with us, attend concerts and get a feel for the touring life. Would that it were all like tonight, enjoying this fabulous view!

23 / 07 / 2010

Chris

I think I shall name this summer "the summer of hot KS tours." Asia is always warm when we tour there, and the last few weeks were no exception, but Europe? Quite often hovering between gloomy and damp. Not this week, though. We've seen temperatures of up to 35 degrees on our travels through the beautiful mountains of Austria and Germany, especially yesterday as we drove up from Carinthia in southern Austria all the way up to Bayern in southern Germany. On the way we pass through some pretty long tunnels and like to play the KS tunnel game - each person in the car guesses by how many degrees the temperature will rise (in winter) or fall (in summer) inside the tunnel. The longer the tunnel, the greater the change. You're right, it probably is as boring as it sounds, but on a 5-hour journey it does help, especially if the alternative is listening to one of your colleagues telling you a story you've already heard a hundred times over the past few years.

Actually, that's not a bad idea: stories, please. We need a way to while away the hours in cars, and we all know pretty much everything there is to know about each other, so we need made-up stories to make our lives sound more exciting. You know, the time one of us wrestled a bear to save a stranded baby in the woods, that sort of thing.

Tomorrow we sing an incredible programme of church music in Weimar, including Thomas Tallis' wonderful setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Since I was a choral scholar I have loved these pieces deeply - they are perhaps the height of English Renaissance composition - and singing them one to a part with the KS is something I always look forward to.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God. Gets me every time.

24 / 07 / 2010

Stephen

The hot, humid, dare I say more than unpleasant weather, has finally broken here in southern Germany. Last night's concert was a rather sticky affair but after much rain and the odd smattering of donner und blizten, temperatures are at a comfortable level.

Today we travel to Weimar in the old East Germany where tonight we sing in a church. My successor, Johnny Howard is traveling with us for these three concerts and spending the rehearsal time singing with the group and trying out the many pieces he has been committing to memory. It is one of the rather rare moments in the group's life where suddenly there are 7 King's Singers on tour, which in a strange sort of way is rather nice.

Tomorrow is the final concert of this trip - we shall give a concert in Doberlug which is near Berlin. We then have a few days at home in which I will commence frantic house packing manoeuvres as we move house in just over two weeks!

Germany is famous for beating England in the World Cup. 
Bis Bald Stephen

26 / 07 / 2010

David

It has been lovely over the weekend to perform some wonderful English Renaissance church music in our concerts in Weimar and Doberlug. Included in the programme were Tallis’s two settings of words from the Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah, both written later in his life during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Along with Spem in Alium, these two sets of Lamentations are considered to be amongst the greatest compositions by this long-lived and prolific composer. The Lamentations have long been a part of KS repertoire. They featured in the group’s debut concert in May 1968, and were recorded by the group in 1995 as part of a disc of music by Tallis and his pupil, William Byrd. I have performed them many, many times, but I always look forward to singing them. They were not written to be performed as a single piece, so we sang Byrd’s fabulous Civitas sancti tui (featured on 1605 Treason and Discord) in between, which, like the Lamentations, is an Old Testament lament for the downfall of Jerusalem. I love the variety of repertoire that the group sings, but I have to admit that I do have a particular soft-spot for early English music.

I am now back at home after an early flight home from Germany. I am looking forward to four relaxing days before the last concerts of the season. We still have a few miles to cover, which will take us from Kendal to Budleigh Salterton to Lahti to Warsaw and finally to Tewkesbury.

Below: 
Tim in Doberlug Klosterkirche surrounded by Deutschlandfunk microphones.

27 / 07 / 2010

Tim

We are now at home for a few days before we embark on a long drive to Kendal and Budleigh Salterton on Friday/Saturday. It is always nice to perform at UK venues and to English audiences. I fondly remember how much of a shock I got when I did my first tour of America. As a freelance singer in London, I was accustomed to the shimmer of polite applause between each piece, so you can imagine my utter shock when thousands of Americans were simply going hysterical - sometimes before our songs had even finished!

It was great to spend some time with our new bass, Johnny, in Germany last week. We had some very productive rehearsal time with him and he is going to fit into the job perfectly. The weeks/months leading up to starting your life as a King's Singer are truly a roller coaster of emotions as it is such a life style change for everybody involved. Nothing can really prepare you for spending so much time away from home and the constant stream of music learning that each singer must do. Thankfully, we all have a very supportive network of family and friends, which allows us to enjoy this fantastic job to the full.

I leave you with a picture taken from our hotel in Millstatt - stunning scenery. Not a bad setting for breakfast!!

28 / 07 / 2010

Paul

I am really happy to be home today. Its Edward's 10th birthday, and we're enjoying a lovely day at home. The phone is 'red hot' with birthday wishes, and we're expecting a steady stream of friends to visit. Honestly, days like today are the happiest and best I could ever imagine - surrounded by the people I love, at home on a beautiful summer's day. Hope you don't mind the short blog, but I'm going to cook bacon on the barbecue now as a special birthday treat!

31 / 07 / 2010

Stephen

What a lovely day it is in Devon today! After a 5 hour drive back down to the South last night after our evening in Kendal - a lovely concert in a lovely place to a church full of more than lovely folk - I have just got up after a long lie in (having arrived home at 3.30am!) and now am looking forward to tonight's concert. The main reason for this is that IT IS IN DEVON and very close to where I live!! Tonight we sing in Budleigh Salterton which is a beautiful little town on the south Devon coast. It has a very well supported festival and it is a pleasure to be closing the festival tonight with our singing. I was there last Tuesday for a smashing lunchtime concert with a girls singing group called ISCA Voices - a group of 9 young ladies who were once all choristers at Exeter Cathedral. I sat for a lovely hour or so and enjoyed a varied programme presented by these enthusiastic young voices. (I also sat there a proud Dad as my daughter Molly sings in this group). Tomorrow we travel to Finland - almost time to catch our breath - for our last short trip of the season. We are due to move house in just over a week and at present are surrounded by many boxes and more due to join them. Devon is famous of Cream Teas and for being home to one of the closest possible concerts I have ever done... Till soon Stephen