Ben Vishala Thapa (born 2 March 1982) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

opera singer, best known as the low tenor in G4 from 2004 to 2018. Born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Thapa was raised by a single mother from the age of four after his father left, and entered

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

when he was eleven. It was during this time Thapa started singing lessons and sang in his local church choir, and played the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

in an orchestra while at

Hills Road Sixth Form College Hills Road Sixth Form College (commonly referred to as HRSFC, Hills Road or just Hills) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England, providing full-time A-level courses for approximately 2000 sixth form students fro ...

. He studied at

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

for a year before transferring to the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

where he graduated from in 2004. Thapa graduated from the Wales International Academy of Voice in 2013. While completing his course at Guildhall, Thapa auditioned for the first series of ''The X Factor'' with his G4 bandmates Jon Ansell, Matt Stiff, and Mike Christie where they reached the final but lost out to

Steve Brookstein Stephen Desmond "Steve" Brookstein''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 November 1968) is an English singer, who is best known for winning the first series of ''The X Factor'' in 2004.< ...

. Due to their popularity on the show they were soon approached by

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

, and the group released three albums. As he had

perfect pitch Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection, completeness, excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (2018 film), a science ...

, Thapa's other role in G4 was ensuring that the other members were in the right

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

during their performances. The group split in 2007. However, after a seven-year hiatus, G4 reunited for a reunion concert at the

Barbican Hall The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...

, and announced their 2015 reunion tour. Ben continued touring and recording with G4 until April 2018. Then on 19 July he announced on social media that he was leaving G4 with immediate effect to concentrate on his solo Operatic career. Thapa has worked with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, released the album ''Songs of My Childhood'', and embarked on a nationwide tour. Thapa has also sung in numerous opera productions, including the

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...

's '' Kátya Kabanová''.Former G4 star Ben Thapa on the band's one-night-only reunion
/ref>

References

External links

section a
The ClassicalX
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thapa, Ben 1982 births Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama G4 (group) members Living people English people of Indian descent People from Cambridge