The King's Singers

04 / 07 / 2010

Happy 4th of July to our American friends

To the many friends and fans in the United States who come to our concerts and stay in touch, Happy 4th of July from David, Tim, Paul, Philip, Chris and Stephen. 

09 / 07 / 2010

Asia tour coming to a close

On Saturday we will perform at the Yatsugatake Highland Lodge Concert Hall in Japan and will travel from there to Kuala Lumpur for the last concert of this Asia tour. It's been 3 weeks since the tour began in Taiwan, and the tour has seen us travel through Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan and will come to a close on Monday in Malaysia. Below is a picture of the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas Concert Hall, where we will perform on Monday. 

For those in the UK about to head off on summer holidays, don't forget to save the dates for our London concerts at Cadogan Hall before you go! Buy that special Christmas treat for our Joy to the World concert on 19 December. Share in the gorgeous repertoire which contrasts romantic invocations of night by 19th century German composers with works by Britten and the celebrated German harmony group, the Comedian Harmonists, in our Nightsong programme on 22 October. Please join us! Tickets can be purchased at the Cadogan Hall Box office at 020 7730 4500 or at www.cadoganhall.com.

13 / 07 / 2010

The Summer'Singers meet The King's Singers

On 12 July, we performed in the beautiful concert hall at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas to an enthusiastic audience. They joined us post-concert in the lobby where we had the opportunity to sign CDs and chat with fans, including The Summer'Singers. A few images from the concert are below. Please visit The Summer'Singers'  website for the full gallery. 

15 / 07 / 2010

Oxford Times: Bass Jonathan Howard talks about his recruitment to The King's Singers

A few weeks ago, Jonathan Howard spoke with the Oxford Times about his appointment to The King's Singers. Jonathan (Johnny) will become the new bass in the group when Stephen Connolly retires in September. 

You can view the article on the Oxford Times website here. 

Bass Jonathan Howard talks about his recruitment to The King's Singers
14th July 2010
By Giles Woodforde

Was it my imagination, or was there just the faintest raising of eyebrows from the surrounding crowd as Jonathan Howard and I met in the gleaming, marbled foyer of London’s Langham Hotel? We were certainly more casually dressed than the mobile-hugging business executives present. But the world of smart clothes (at least in the evenings) and good hotels will soon become commonplace to Jonathan (always called Johnny), for he is about to join the King’s Singers, since 1968 one of the world’s most successful choral ensembles.

To secure such a plum job at the age of 23, you might well imagine that Johnny’s life has been devoted to singing ever since he could put one word and musical note in front of another. But the reality is a little different.

“I started formal singing lessons when I was 15, and really enjoyed it — it sounds awful, but loads of my really cool friends, and lots of attractive girls at school had the same teacher, so I wanted to have lessons with her too. That was really the main impetus for starting.”

Johnny cheerfully and frankly admits to applying for a choral scholarship and membership of New College Choir “because I was told it would make it easier to get in”. Determined to have a life outside music at Oxford, he won medals for “Intercollegiate Trampolining”, and was chosen to appear on the BBC3 series Clever v Stupid.

“The producers sent an email round to all the Oxford and Cambridge JCR presidents asking if they knew anyone with a really strange brain who would probably enjoy being on TV. We had an initial meeting in London, and they asked: ‘What marks your intelligence out?’ I replied that I love to learn lists — I rattled my way through the Kings of England, and the States of America. They also gave us logic and intuitive problems, and I managed them. Then there was a weird team-building day, when they saw how you worked as a unit. I felt a bit of a farce, everyone else was seriously clever. I felt like saying: ‘I’m just a boy with a 2:1 classics degree’.”

Johnny further admits to one or two brushes with ‘authority’ at Oxford for an apparent lack of commitment to singing, but it almost seems as if his destiny was being mapped out. He was a founding member of the Oxford Clerks, who are very much modelled on the King’s Singers in their a capella singing style, and broad range of repertoire. So surely this was very good training?

“Absolutely. I think it introduced me to the concept of ensemble singing. Even with New College Choir at a size of 30, there’s no way you’re going to get an absolute blend. When there are just six of you, it’s so much more important that you pay attention to everyone else, and to the sound that you’re making. That really helped me during the audition process for the King’s Singers.”

It would be a considerable understatement to say that vacancies in the King’s Singers line-up are rare: the group has had only 20 members in its 42-year existence, an extraordinary record. Surely, I suggested to Johnny, there must have been thousands of applicants when it was announced that bass Stephen Connolly was stepping down after 23 years?

“You can’t really apply for the job. They send emails out to a number of important music directors around the country, asking them to recommend anyone they think might be suitable.

“I was the very first candidate on the very first day. It was terrifying, but also hugely fun. I didn’t in a million years imagine I would get past the first round, but I thought: ‘How can you squander a once in a lifetime opportunity to sing with these guys?’ Five of us made it through to the final round, when we were given eight pieces to learn, five with music, and three off by heart — one was sent only two days beforehand to see if we could learn things quickly.”

Johnny thinks he won through because his voice is young enough to mould into the unique King’s Singers sound. His enthusiasm for his new job is plainly immense, even though there was one misgiving to start with: “I was scared initially because musicians can be really weird. It’s a dream job, but, I wondered, are they all going to be loopy? And they’re not, which is great.”

19 / 07 / 2010

Back on tour in Austria and Germany

The King's Singers return to the road today for a weeklong tour of Austria and Germany. We will perform in St Georgen, Austria tomorrow evening at the Church of St Georgen. This week we'll also perform in Millstatt, Weissenburg, Weimar, and will close the tour in Doberlug on Sunday 25th July. 

25 / 07 / 2010

Pachelbel Vespers on The Early Music Show

On Saturday, 24 July The King's Singers' album Pachelbel Vespers, a collaboration with the period instrument ensemble Charivari Agréable and their director Kah-Ming Ng was featured on The Early Music Show on BBC Radio 3.  The programme includes 5 tracks from the album as well as an interview with Kah-Ming Ng about the style of Pachelbel's vocal music. He also shares how the manuscripts came to reside in England, and his resurrection of the music from Oxford's Bodleian Library 300 years after they were written. Listen to the programme here.