I am a singer, mostly singing in the chorus for classical choral works. My voice is Bass, with a range from about D below the bass stave to D above Middle C (when it's cold and damp I can sing down to bottom C; with practice and care I can sing up to F above Middle C).
I have, since the age of 11, always sung in at least one choir, and often in three or four at the same time. I have sung in many languages: English, French (modern and medieval), German (modern and medieval), Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (medieval), Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Latin (English, French, German, and Italian pronunciations), Russian, Czech, Old Church Slavonic, Hebrew, Arabic.
From 1991-2003 I sang with the Cambridge University Musical Society chorus; this group performs one major concert per term, usually with one of the society's orchestras, and also joins with the London Bach Choir and other groups to perform major works such as Benjamin Britten's War Requiem in London. They also perform abroad from time to time, and make recordings.
In October 1998 I joined a small choir called the Ionian Singers, which rehearses in London. They make recordings, and perform several concerts per year, as well as doing overseas tours. I went on their tour of New England in 1999, but had to leave the choir in 2000 because travelling to London every week for rehearsals was too much for me.
I used to sing with Wolfson College choir, where I was good enough to be a soloist occasionally. The choir sings at the College Service each term, and gives a concert at the end of each term, as well as providing entertainment at the College Garden Party.
Until recently I also sang with Cambridge Operatic Society (Gilbert and Sullivan, and operettas) but don't really like acting on stage, and can never remember words! I also sang with a male-voice choir called Vocal Minority in London until it ceased functioning.
In the past I have sung with Apollo Opera (formerly Bottisham Opera), Collegium Laureatum, and with many of the other College musical societies. As I am a fairly competent sight-reader I am also often asked to sing at weddings, funerals, etc. and to join village choral groups who are in need of additional singers. The most challenging singing I have done was to take part in Verdi's La Traviata, learning the music, words (in Italian), and actions in less than three weeks.
My favourite works for singing are the Brahms Requiem, the Verdi Requiem, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony ('The Choral').
When listening to music or concerts my musical tastes range from medieval music right up to the 20th century. My favourite pieces are Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, Mahler's 2nd Symphony ('The Resurrection'), Shostakovitch's 1st Violin Concerto, and the Brahms Requiem.
I also compose unaccompanied choral music. In 1994 Wolfson College choir performed a madrigal which I had written specially for them, and I have completed a four-part setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem No Worst, There Is None.
