The King’s Singers are delighted to announce that countertenor Edward Button (28) and bass-baritone Nick Ashby (31) will be joining the world-famous group in January 2019, succeeding Timothy Wayne-Wright (second countertenor) and Christopher Gabbitas (second baritone) respectively.
Nick Ashby has been a professional singer since graduating from the University of York nearly a decade ago and has sung with many of the UK’s leading choirs including the Tallis Scholars and Stile Antico. Edward was a choral scholar at Girton College, Cambridge and also an Alto Lay Clerk at King’s College Cambridge as well as a member of ‘Collegium Regale’ (now the ‘King’s Men’).
Commenting on their new posts, Nick said: “My first memory of The King’s Singers is when we listened to tapes in the car with my parents. Even as a young kid they captivated me and registered in the back of my psyche. It’s a surreal dream to be able to join them.”
Edward, who first heard The King’s Singers when he was at the Collegiate Church of St Mary Warwick, said: “Our director of music suggested we go and listen to them rehearsing when they came to give a concert in St Mary’s Church, Warwick. They were amazing. I couldn’t possibly ever have imagined that I would be singing with them as part of the group one day. It’s flabbergasting really.”
The King’s Singers were officially born on 1 May 1968. Their vocal line-up was (by chance) two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass and the group has never wavered from this formation since. To celebrate their 50th Birthday, the group presented GOLD, an anniversary season featuring the release of a triple-album CD and a worldwide concert tour. Christopher Gabbitas who joined in 2004 and Timothy Wayne-Wright who joined in 2009 have chosen to leave the group on a high, at the end of this extraordinary year, to spend more time with their families.
Watch The King’s Singers New Members Announcement!
