Vox Cantab members come from a diverse range of backgrounds and locations. Some sing for most events, others join us once or twice a year on tour, others more or less frequently. A number of us are introduced below.
After having completed his degree in Computer Science at Girton College, Chris was drawn back to Cambridge for a job as a Software Engineer. Missing his time as a choral scholar with Girton College Choir, he was on the lookout for low time-commitment, high quality, choirs to join. In 2014 he sang with Vox Cantab for the first time and discovered it fitted the bill perfectly, both chorally and socially. Since then he has enjoyed performing in a wide range of concerts and venues, even if those opportunities are harder to come by these days!
Elizabeth joined Vox Cantab in 2016 during her final year reading Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge. After working as a music teacher in Oxfordshire for two years, she returned to Selwyn in 2018 to undertake an MPhil in Music. She is now studying for a PhD in Music Education at the University of Sheffield, but still lives in Cambridge with her husband Matthew. She and Matthew enjoy regular opportunities to sing with Vox Cantab and the choirs of Selwyn and St Edmund’s Colleges; Elizabeth is also the Concert Manager for Vox Cantab.
Annie has been singing with Vox Cantab since its inception, although as she now lives in Prague, these days she can usually only joins once a year or so for tours and residencies. It’s a lovely chance to come back and do some proper choral singing with old friends and new. She studied Modern & Medieval languages at Selwyn College, Cambridge, followed by an MA in Literary translation at UEA. After graduation she worked as an opera singers’ assistant and organised conferences and events for young people. She now works as a freelance translator (from Czech, French and Italian). She is married to Daniel and they have a young son called Michael.
Catherine has sung with Vox Cantab since it was founded in 2010. She came to Cambridge to study Chemical Engineering and sang for two years with Selwyn College Chapel Choir and then that of Trinity College for a further six. She has now had to give up her five-times-a-week choir habit to allow time to manage a recycling plant, so she enjoys singing with Vox Cantab as often as possible, and is now quite often found singing as an Extra Gentleman at Ely Cathedral.
Naomi joined Vox Cantab in February 2013, and sang regularly with the Choir for the following three years. During this time she completed a PhD in Psychology and also sang with Emmanuel College Chapel Choir. Naomi greatly enjoyed the opportunity to sing a wide variety of music – from sacred choral classics to folk songs and jazz standards – in a small group, not to mention the wonderful company and cakes on tours and out-of-town concerts. Naomi is currently living in Dunedin, New Zealand, where she is working as a clinical psychologist.
Mark has been singing with Vox Cantab since the Choir’s first concert in December 2010, and is also Vox Cantab’s Treasurer. He studied Natural Sciences at Selwyn College before working for a number of years in the Biochemistry department studying colourful membrane proteins as well as teaching Chemistry for Churchill and Selwyn Colleges, and singing in Selwyn Chapel Choir. He moved to Munich in September 2018 to take up a Postdoc position at the Technical University in the field of drug discovery.
Edward graduated from Girton College in 2011 with a degree in Geography. He was a Choral Scholar throughout his degree and in his final year was awarded the Tom Mansfield Memorial Prize for contribution to music in the College. Edward went on to sing as a Lay Clerk with the Choir of King’s College in the academic year 2011-2012, singing seven services a week and undertaking a busy touring and recording schedule; he was also a member of close-harmony group The King’s Men. He spent a further two years with the Choir of Gonville & Caius College while working as Development Officer at Pembroke College, and alongside his Law training sang with London-based choir The Iken Scholars, as well as with Vox Cantab. He is now the newest member of The King’s Singers.
Chloe graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge, in 2015 with a starred first in Music. She followed this with an MPhil in Music, also at Selwyn, and is now undertaking a PhD researching 13th-century French Liturgical music. As an undergraduate, she was a Choral Scholar at Selwyn, a University Instrumental Award holder, and Principal Clarinet of the University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. Alongside her postgraduate studies, she is enjoying her solo singing as well as continuing to perform with Vox Cantab, and has recently sung the title role in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Baba the Turk in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, and Enone in Charpentier’s Orpheus. She has also performed Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra.
Tom recently graduated from Clare College with a Masters degree in Engineering. He joined Vox Cantab at the beginning of his first year as a chance to get involved with some high standard, exciting singing without the five-days-a-week style commitment of a College Choir. His highlight so far with Vox Cantab has been singing the part of Badger in John Rutter’s Wind in the Willows at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Tom didn’t think his colleagues were being serious when the idea of dressing-up was mooted, until ten minutes before the performance when a large amount of facepaint was plastered across his nose…