The Classical Singers’ “formation” for the 2017 season is as follows: 

Florence: She takes wonderful care of each and every one of us, and her expertise in singing legato and doing “hmm” in the right way never fails us – seriously.  A serene and Andante soul (we are sure of this now!), and the definition of graciousness, she and Sylvia hung out years ago at their famous school choir.  (P.S. Also has a very musical cat).  (July and Sept)

Sylvia: Task-master and multi-tasker par excellence, she always has clear vision about each piece of music and creates the programme.  Feels very fortunate to have been chosen for one-on-one vocal training at the age of 7.  Used to concertise and win prizes but only re-started recently after stopping for 15 years – was amazed at the power of good habits and thinks her day job (investing) may have continued to let her practice skills for uncovering deeper patterns and mathematical relationships in data, whether financial or musical.  (July and Sept)

Ellen: A committed chorister, always trying to support the sopranos, very much an alto personality. A quiet and introverted soul, she’s often found reminding us about tonal blending. A favourite piece of music is Bach’s Mass in B minor. (July)

Julia: Has a wide vocal range making her suited to singing both soprano and alto parts. Used to also hang out at a certain famous school choir; more of a “vowel person” than a “consonant person” and prefers her French to her German, but got her German down to a T in one afternoon for a Beethoven choral symphony solo gig. (Sept)

Flora: She continues to keep the group’s spirits up with her positive energies as well as her delicious and beautiful cakes.  She always has interesting and imaginative ideas, and we love that she loves Brahms’ Liebesliederwalzer. (July)

Cecilia: Another laid back alto, she loves Murray Perahia and talks about musicians’ breathing synchronising naturally when “in flow”. We are waiting to hear more!  (Sept)

Theodore: We call him the “Chairman” though not only is he a gentle soul, he’s probably the youngest in the team.  A natural ensemble player, he also impresses us with his beautiful tenor voice, good and practical problem-solving abilities and perfect pitch (always useful when we are doing a cappella pieces).  (July)

Freddie: A quiet and gentle soul with a brilliant tenor voice, he apparently also plays the electric guitar, amongst other things.  Loves musicals and probably everything to do with music, as he’s going to the APA to study voice come September.  (July and Sept)

Vincent: Always in fashionable shoes and cool t-shirts, not only has he sung all 4 parts of the Faure Cantique (we are suitably impressed), he seems to juggle the treble and bass clefs seamlessly, smoothly transitioning between tenor and bass parts, and is able to memorise scores at the switch of a light!  (July)

Donald: A highly versatile musician, he loves beautiful music. He seems to move perfectly and super-efficiently between work and music and back and keep everything all running smoothly.  Loves Schubert’s piano sonatas especially the late works (we think that’s called good taste) as well as French harp music.  (Sept)

Leonard: A dreamer at heart, we think, and a singer with very good ears.  We see his love for music of the “classical”  tradition, and we think of him as an original thinker, though we are still waiting for him to speak some Glaswegian …. (Sept)

Alston: A choral conductor as well as a singer, he is always studying the score before rehearsals.  Very popular with young choristers (especially at a certain school), he tells us he loved conducting the Schicksalslied and Gesang der Parzen (there’s more than a few of us in the team who approve of his choice of Brahms!).  (July)

Arthur: A music-lover and passionate and experienced singer, he’s the ultimate second Bass, loving his low D-s.  Tells us he sings B3 too – keeps us honest!  (Sept)

And The Classical Singers’ “formation” for the 2016 season is as follows: 

Florence: She takes care of all of us and is an expert in teaching us how to sing “hmm” in the right way – seriously.  A serene and Andante soul, and the definition of graciousness, she and Sylvia hung out years ago at their famous school choir.  (P.S. Also has a very musical cat).

Sylvia: Task-master and multi-tasker par excellence, she has clear vision about each piece of music and creates the programme.  Formerly prize-winning pianist – loves the pattern recognition in her day job (investing) as well as when sight-reading. 

Flora: She’s the laid back one, very cool alto personality, keeps us happy with her delicious and beautiful cakes, and loves Brahms’ Liebesliederwaltzer.

Cecilia: Another laid back alto, she loves Murray Perahia and talks about musicians’ breathing synchronising naturally when “in flow”. 

Kyle: He is an all-round musician, pianist, singer, and conductor, and his perfect pitch saves us from oblivion.   Passionate about a lot of music and we think one of these is Rachmaninoff.  A true tenor personality, we’d say.

Keith: A gentle soul with lots of friends and a very good photographer, he’s the one in our group who can actually save us (as he’s a medical doctor) as well as being the tallest!

Vincent: Always in fashionable shoes and cool t-shirts, he recently shared with us the secret that he has finally sung all 4 parts of the Faure Cantique (we are suitably impressed)!

Colin: Keeps us honest (how else can we describe a strong and long sustained low E flat?), has the cutest and very musical young baby son.  We think he’s probably quite good at numbers, and is a true second bass personality, we’d say.