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Symphony
of Voices
Biographies
THE HERTFORDSHIRE CHORUS
has been singing under Michael Kibblewhite, its Musical Director,
since 1980. The Choir has members drawn from throughout Hertfordshire,
England and beyond. They perform regularly with The London Philharmonic,
English Chamber Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players
and English Sinfonia.
The Chorus is enjoying a growing reputation in Britain and overseas
as one of the best large choirs. They have made a number of excellently
received recordings including Bliss's Morning Heroes with the London
Philharmonic under Michael Kibblewhite, reviewed "as one of
the finest recordings of British music of the last few years"
(CD Classics), and Saint-Saens' Requiem, hailed by Radio 3 as "one
of the best choral recordings of 1993."
Recently the Chorus has: celebrated Knight Frank's centenary in
the Royal Albert Hall; performed in Israel at the invitation of
the Haifa Symphony Orchestra; opened a month long festival of English
Music in Germany by invitation of the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony
Orchestra under Manfred Honeck; celebrated Rhone Poulenc's centenary
in the Guildhall; accompanied Lesley Garrett in a charity Opera
Gala at the Royal Festival Hall; performed Carmina Burana at a Barbican
concert for Save the Children attended by HRH The Princess Royal;
given concerts in the Duomo and San Lorenzo Florence, San Marco
Venci, Notre Dame Paris, Chartres and Rheims Cathedrals.
MICHAEL KIBBLEWHITE also directs
the Cambridge Chorale and Cantate Youth Choir. He enjoys an international
reputation as one of Britain's leading choral directors, recently
appearing in Osaka, Japan where he conducted performances of Handel's
Messiah with the Osaka Symphonic Choir and Kyoto Symphony Orchestra.
THE CANTATE YOUTH CHOIR has built
rapidly on its spectacular beginning. As well as performances in
the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican, it paid its first visit
to Cambridge in November 1996, receiving one of the longest ovations
from any audience.
Cantate has over 100 members who represent over 45 schools mainly
in Hertfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire. The Choir is becoming
an important training ground for boys not only because of its value
to those planning a musical or theatrical career, but also because
of its reputation for quality, energy and friendliness.
RUPERT GREGSON-WILLIAMS
Over the years Rupert's career has had many contrasts: As a youngster,
he toured extensively, singing in Japan, USA, Australia and Europe
- even singing a private performance for the Emperor of Japan. Rock
and Jazz bands have had Rupert play on their recordings while film
composers have used his voice on such films as "The Lion King",
"Pocahontas", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame",
"Crimson Tide" & many others.
As an up and coming composer, Rupert has recently finished scoring
"An Urban Ghost Story", a British feature film, and his
next project is an American feature film for Dreamworks SKG.
JEFF JUNKINSMITH holds a Ph.D.
in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Iowa and
works as an organist and pianist in and around Seattle. He first
became interested in Gregorian Chant as a twelve-year-old on a visit
to the mission near Lompoc, CA. There was a recording of chant playing
in the church, which began his lifelong love for this ancient music.
Jeff studied Gregorian Chant with Professor D. Martin Jenni. Professor
Jenni was a choir monk at the Trappist Monastery Gethsemane in Kentucky
for three years. He has since written several editions of a textbook
on Ecclesiastical Latin, and extensively studied Chant and its various
modes of notation and performance practice throughout its rich history.
THE COMPLINE CHOIR at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle
under Dr. Peter Hallock, is a group of about twenty male voices
that has been singing Compline every Sunday evening for over forty
years. The compline service is the final office in the traditional
monastic day. The monks sing Compline before retiring for the night.
STEVE AMERSON organization in
the Los Angeles area and has made numerous appearances at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavillion and the Hollywood Bowl. He has performed with
the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Working closely with Lalo Schiffrin, Steve recorded demos for Luciano
Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras for their legendary
"Three Tenors" concerts. The three tenors would learn
new concert selections from these demonstration recordings.
Steve has sung on many recording projects, movies, commercials and
television shows including Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas,
Empire of the Sun, Indiana Jones, Hunt for Red October, Far and
Away, Batman Returns, the Abyss, Cheers, the Flintstones, and the
Academy Awards broadcasts.
JENNIFER LIND grew up singing
in a musical family (Her mother, Pauli Pedersen is one of the other
featured sopranos in this library), and began singing professionally
at age 11. At the suggestion of Bobby McFerrin, she went on to attend
the elite Phil Mattson School of Music in Washington State where
she received her degree in classical and vocal jazz performance.
While at Mattson, her vocal group won Downbeat Magazine's prestigious
Outstanding Collegiate Vocal Jazz Ensemble Award.
When Jennifer's group was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1986,
she attracted the attention of music production companies across
the U.S. and Canada. Since then, Jennifer's remarkably versatile
voice has been featured on a virtual "Who's Who" of jingles,
film scores and album projects. She has toured the U.S., Japan and
Australia, performing in such venues as the Sydney Opera House in
Australia, the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles and was featured
in the final concert for the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena,
California. Jennifer's vocal style, technique and versatility thrill
audiences everywhere.
LIBBY TORRANCE
Libby Torrance is a well-known vocalist and jazz pianist whose career
as a performer and songwriter has taken her from the music clubs
and recording studios of Seattle to New York City. Her nationwide
studio and performing credits include work with Nancy Wilson, Bob
Hope, Phyllis Hyman, Janice Pendarvis, Dianne Schuur and Michel
le Grande. She has performed live with her own band in some of New
York's favorite clubs singing original songs. Libby's voice has
been featured on hundreds of recordings, including numerous jingles
for clients such as HBO, A&E Network, Nike and many others.
Libby is currently working in the popular Northwest group "Mel
Cooleys", and is in production on her upcoming solo recording.
ROBY DUKE Co-Producer
Roby is one of the most eclectic and versatile people in the music
business that you're likely to ever meet. He hails from Mississippi,
where he began playing Bass and B-3 in blues clubs with his sax-playing
father when he was twelve years old. He's an accomplished guitarist
who frequently works in alternate tunings and has developed a unique
acoustic technique.
As a recording artist, Roby has released five highly respected Gospel
records on MCA and Word records, and performed extensively all over
the world including Asia, Europe, the UK and Australia. (over 2
million frequent flyer miles!)
Roby has the rare gift of always bringing out the best in the artists
he works with. His love of music has translated into over 100 active
songwriting copyrights, more than 50 International albums as a producer
and arranger, including the Katina Boyz and Deniece Williams, and
even more as a vocalist. In the MI products industry, he produced
the well known demo song for Roland's ground-breaking VS-880 Virtual
Studio.
Most of all, the man has great ears and a whole lotta soul. What
more is there?
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