Cantabile - The London Quartet is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

a cappella

vocal quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations ...

Biography

They were formed as a

student group A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university or a college institution, whose membership typically consists ...

whilst studying at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in 1977. Initially their influences were The King’s Singers and The Songs of Yale, but they soon developed their own unique style of

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. They turned

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

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 Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

than the chapel choirs, and theatricality and

humour Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...

have always been a great part of their appeal. They won a Wavendon Allmusic Award from

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

and Cleo Laine for breaking down the barriers between

musical genres This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many music genre, genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise ...

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 The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Fromm ...

. In the UK, they have appeared in many theatres and concert halls, on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, BBC2,

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, S4C and Channel 5 and on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

s 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 Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 '' ...

Cabaret in the 1980s. They had a BBC Radio 2 series accompanied by the

BBC Big Band The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long ...

, conducted by

Barry Forgie Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

, entitled ''Cantabile sing, The Big Band Swing'' in the 1990s featuring music by

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

, Harry Warren, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...

. They underlined their long association with

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

by appearing as the Consuls in ''Embassy Lament'' in Chess in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall May 12–13, 2008, alongside

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in musicals on the Broadway stage and having achieved mainstream success across stage, film and music, Menzel has garnered the honori ...

Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at La ...

Adam Pascal Adam Pascal (born October 25, 1970) is an American actor, singer, and musician, known for his performance as Roger Davis in the original 1996 cast of Jonathan Larson's musical '' Rent'' on Broadway, the 2005 movie version of the musical, and the ...

and Marti Pellow. On May 9, 2010 they celebrated - together with

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

- 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 London Mozart Players (LMP) are a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. LMP are the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom. Since 1989, the orchestra has been Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. History B ...

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

and

Nicholas Cleobury Nicholas Cleobury (born 23 June 1950) is an English conductor. Cleobury was organ scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford and held assistant organist posts at Chichester Cathedral and Christ Church, Oxford b ...

, singing the rousing Patriotic Song from

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

. 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 ''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more. In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpor ...

''. The group have recorded many albums including: *''Music of the Night'' (1987) - all arrangements by Andrew Lloyd Webber'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 Malcolm Martineau, OBE (born 3 February 1960) is a Scottish pianist who is particularly noted as an accompanist. Life Martineau was born to the pianist Hester Dickson Martineau and Canon George Martineau in 1960. He was an only child but he had ...

, piano *''Christmas with Cantabile'' (2004) *''Lullabyes and Goodbyes'' (2005) Signum CD with

, piano. Producer: Adrian Peacock *''Songs of Cricket'' (2011) Signum CD, with guests

Rory Bremner Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner,"Rory Bremner". '' Who Do You Think You Are?''. Wall to Wall for BBC One. 2 February 2009. No. 1, series 6. (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political sati ...

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

, Alexander L'Estrange, Eliza Lumley soprano and Chris Hatt, piano. Producer:

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...

; Research and Mentor:

David Rayvern Allen David Leonard Rayvern Allen (5 February 1938 – 9 October 2014)Michael Dow"David Rayvern Allen obituary" ''The Guardian'', 26 October 2014 was a cricket writer and historian, as well as a radio producer and presenter, a speaker and a musician. Hi ...

*''Songs of Love and War'' (2014) Champs Hill CD with

, 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 Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

''.

Present membership

*William Purefoy (

counter-tenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a ...

):1991-3, 2018- *Christopher O'Gorman (

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

): 2015- *Mark Fleming (

): 1991- *Michael Steffan ( baritone): 1977-

Past members

*Richard Bryan (

):1977-1991, 1997-2015 *Stewart Collins (

): 1977-1991 *Nicholas Ibbotson (

): 1977-1987 *Paul Hull (

): 1987-1999 *Steve Trowell (

): 1999-2001 *Jeremy Budd (

): 2001-2003 *Robin Green (

): 2003-2005 *Morgan Crowley (

):1993-1997 *Steven Brooks (

): 2005-2015 *Sarah-Ann Cromwell ( soprano): 2015-2017

References

External links

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