Some of King's College's most accomplished musical alumni feature on a new album Proud Songsters, released on the College's record label today.
Among the nine singers and one pianist featured on the album are former members of the Choir of King's College, who are now some of the UK's top classical soloists. The album features Michael Chance, Tim Mead, Lawrence Zazzo, Ruairi Bowen, James Gilchrist, Andrew Staples, Gerald Finley, Ashley Riches and Mark Stone, all who recorded specially for this new collection.
Pianist Simon Lepper, also a graduate of the College, is a professor of collaborative piano at the Royal College of Music. Since 2003 he has been the official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
The collection includes a wide variety of English songs, spanning settings of Shakespeare songs, those of prominent 20th Century composers Vaughan Williams, Britten, Finzi, Clarke and Howells, through to contemporary works by Jonathan Dove, Iain Bell and Celia Harper. The CD version of the album additionally includes a bonus track performed by Gerald Finley, Simon Lepper and an eleventh musician, former Choral Scholar Christopher Keyte.
King's College has previously released critically acclaimed recordings featuring its alumni, including cellist Guy Johnston (Tecchler’s Cello: From Cambridge to Rome), organist Richard Gowers (Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur), harpist Parker Ramsay (Bach: Goldberg Variations) and composer Errollyn Wallen (Peace on Earth).
Proud Songsters is now available on CD, to stream, and to download in high resolution.