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Cantabile - The London Quartet is a British
a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
vocal quartet.


Biography

They were formed as a student group whilst studying at Cambridge University in 1977. Initially their influences were
The King’s Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...
and The Songs of Yale, but they soon developed their own unique style of musical comedy. They turned professional in 1982 shortly before appearing in '' Blondel'', which ran for 399 performances in London’s West End. Even at their outset, they were more associated with the Cambridge Footlights than the chapel
choirs A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
, and theatricality and humour have always been a great part of their appeal. They won a Wavendon Allmusic Award from John Dankworth and
Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)musical genres.


Career

They are known in many territories as The London Quartet. Their touring schedule continues to take them to Europe, North America & the Far East and sometimes further afield. When Cantabile first visited Austria in the late 1970s, they were compared to German vocal group from the 1930s, The Comedian Harmonists. In the UK, they have appeared in many theatres and concert halls, on BBC1,
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, ITV1, Channel 4,
S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...
and Channel 5 and on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 4extra, BBC Radio London, as well as Classic FM. They were the resident vocal group on BBC Radio Two series Kenneth Williams Cabaret in the 1980s. They had a
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
series accompanied by the BBC Big Band, conducted by Barry Forgie, entitled ''Cantabile sing, The Big Band Swing'' in the 1990s featuring music by George Gershwin,
Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...
,
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
,
Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...
and Rodgers and Hart. They underlined their long association with Tim Rice by appearing as the Consuls in ''Embassy Lament'' in Chess in Concert at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
May 12–13, 2008, alongside Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Kerry Ellis, Adam Pascal and
Marti Pellow Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 ...
. On May 9, 2010 they celebrated - together with Simon Callow - the life and music of their friend Stephen Oliver, who would have been 60 that year. This specially devised programme included excerpts from the RSC's production of Nicholas Nickleby (for which Oliver composed the original music) performed by Simon Callow, the London Mozart Players conducted by Nicholas Cleobury, and Cantabile. The evening also featured songs from the Rice-Oliver musical Blondel, settings of Shakespearian lyrics, and Stephen's mini-opera 'A Man of Feeling' and culminated in the entire audience and the Festival Choir, led by Simon Callow and Nicholas Cleobury, singing the rousing Patriotic Song from Nicholas Nickleby. In 2014 they helped in the celebrations of the 300-year anniversary of the Hanoverian Kings at the grand opening in Hanover of Als die Royals aus Hannover kamen, singing amongst other things, instructions in German set to the National Anthem as to how to make tea successfully ("God Save our Tea"), the Lambeth Walk backwards and The Four Georges from '' Horrible Histories''. The group have recorded many albums including: *''Music of the Night'' (1987) - all arrangements by
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
's arranger, David Cullen *''A Tribute to Hollywood'' (1992) Producer: John Timperley *''Madrigal to McCartney'' (1995) *''Cantabile - Live in Cape Town!'' (1996) with Nigel Cook, piano *''Cantabile... on the tracks of The Comedian Harmonists'' (1999) with Malcolm Martineau, piano *''Christmas with Cantabile'' (2004) *''Lullabyes and Goodbyes'' (2005) Signum CD with Malcolm Martineau, piano. Producer: Adrian Peacock *''Songs of Cricket'' (2011) Signum CD, with guests Rory Bremner, Tim Rice, Richard Stilgoe,
Alexander L'Estrange Alexander Richard William L'Estrange (born 7 April 1974) is an English composer of choral music and music for television and an arranger for world-class vocal ensembles. He is also an accomplished jazz musician (piano and double bass), choral ...
, Eliza Lumley
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
and Chris Hatt, piano. Producer: Nigel Short; Research and Mentor: David Rayvern Allen *''Songs of Love and War'' (2014) Champs Hill CD with Malcolm Martineau, piano *''A Song for Christmas'' (2017) Champs Hill CD with Chris Hatt, piano The group have worked with many pianists; their current first choice is Chris Hatt, who is Associate Musical Director in London of the Broadway/West End hit show, '' Hamilton''.


Present membership

*William Purefoy ( counter-tenor):1991-3, 2018- *Christopher O'Gorman ( tenor): 2015- *Mark Fleming ( tenor): 1991- *Michael Steffan (
baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
): 1977-


Past members

*Richard Bryan ( counter-tenor):1977-1991, 1997-2015 *Stewart Collins ( tenor): 1977-1991 *Nicholas Ibbotson ( tenor): 1977-1987 *Paul Hull ( tenor): 1987-1999 *Steve Trowell ( tenor): 1999-2001 *Jeremy Budd ( tenor): 2001-2003 *Robin Green ( tenor): 2003-2005 *Morgan Crowley ( counter-tenor):1993-1997 *Steven Brooks ( tenor): 2005-2015 *Sarah-Ann Cromwell (
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
): 2015-2017


References


External links

* * * * *
Official Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantabile (Group) English vocal groups Musical groups from Cambridge Professional a cappella groups