We covered a world wide collection of material from his birthplace of New Zealand (Haaka and Maori traditional) to songs from Australia, South Africa,France, England and North America.
Such serendipity. I have listened to The King's Singers Madrigal Mystery Tour as well as some of their recordings over the last couple of years. I really love their sound. Here are Chris's answers to my questions on:
- Do you think Madrigals have been forgotten? 'No, in the Kings singers repertoire we sing a lot of them and in our concerts. We have an upcoming launch in Venice of a new album, Il Trionfo di dori.’ (Italian madrigal collection which comes out on the 6th April 2015, I checked!). ’ Chris also spoke of groups’ album and t.v. series The Madrigal Mystery Tour which I have heard and recommend.
- Do you find anything enjoyable about singing outside of your performance work? - ‘although music is my day job, I remind myself that music is my passion. It’s food for the soul. Recently I listened to the opening music of a space Odyssey 2001, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, on Skype with my friend.’ -
- Do the Kings Singers have a director? – ‘There are Le Directors. When we come together we discuss our songs but we note bash alone. It is the individual’s responsibility to learn and practice their parts. The music is pulled together on the performance evening. During discussions there can be some small arguments but we come together with a creative consensus.'
A big thank you to Chris for taking the time to talk to me.
If you want to read about Chris and The King's Singers look here: http://www.kingssingers.com/the-singers/
Image courtesy of http://www.choirsnz.co.nz/alumni/chris-bruerton