George Vines is a freelance singer living in London, he is currently in his first year on our Associate Artist programme. We asked him to tell us a bit more about himself and what he’s looking forward to most at the moment:

Tell us about your background in music

I grew up in rural South Wales, so there was lots of singing at school. The annual school Eisteddfod (St David’s Day festival) was full of singing contests which always stoked my competitive streak. My parents originally met because my mum’s brother and my dad both sang at St John’s while they were at Cambridge, so I thought it would be quite fitting for me to join too. The pandemic kicked off during my first year, decimating the choir’s schedule, so by graduation I was still hungry for more music.

As a result, I joined some young artist programmes when I moved to London – the VOCES8 Scholars, the Monteverdi Choir Apprentices and finally the Tenebrae Associate Artists. My favourite kind of singing is small-group accompanied motets and close harmony.

What do you enjoy most about singing in Tenebrae?

Ringing chords! Tenebrae’s straight tone makes tuning not only easier but also immeasurably more pleasurable. Listen to the last minute and a half of MacMillan’s Miserere, and picture a rather apprehensive me leaping to a top E at the top of my voice on “Et holocausta”.

Which concerts are you particularly looking forward to? Do you have a favourite Tenebrae piece?

The concert tour I’m most looking forward to is our September voyage to Linz. I have been dying to do the Bruckner motets since I joined; the purple album was a staple of car journeys with my parents.

My favourite piece to perform with Tenebrae is Lobo’s Versa Est in Luctum, a crushingly sorrowful motet in the Renaissance style – one of the only genres where the bass lines are just as melodious and varied as the sopranos’. But my favourite Tenebrae recording is Golovanov’s Our Father. Russian Treasures was the first classical album I owned. The highlight is at about 1:50 when the altos spark an escalation which is passed the tenors; it feels like they are hauling the rest of the choir upward in pitch and volume, until it levels out into a dazzling climax. I hope I get to sing it.

It has been such a busy season with lots of touring and visiting new places. Do you have any travel hacks for those early-morning flights? or a pre-concert routine?

I’m a morning person so early flights don’t bother me much. My favourite travel hack is tucking my fantastically geeky collapsible bike helmet in my carry-on so that I can explore our destination via bikeshare apps. My pre-concert routine involves desperately trying not to slip over in my new leather-soled shoes on the way to the stage.

My first Path of Miracles at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. Photo: Daniel Dittis

Exploring Monaco on tour with fellow Associate Artist Jonathan Pratt.

With actor Clive Mantle at St. Martin in the Fields.

Liestal, Switzerland. My first one-to-a-part concert. Against four sopranos…