//The World Came to Me (3)//
Then I saw another interesting poster in the subway station. “The King’s Singers? This is not the King’s College Choir since these are grown men. Who are they?” Out of curiosity, I bought a ticket.
PROGRAM
John Rutter‘s The Wind in the Willow
Traditional English Folksongs
Triumphs of Oriana and Trionfo di Dori
Cole Porter Songs from The Great American Songbook
I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears during the night of the performance. They were SO good. I had never heard such a mix of voices like that. And how on earth could they sing like this without any instrumental accompaniment? (Yeah. That’s the first time I learned the word “Cappella”) What they created was more than just 6 voices together. So alive. So captivating. They were not doing this just as a job. They really enjoyed sharing the moment with the audience.
This performance review in the South China Morning Post (https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1519679/review-kings-singers) reminded me of the fantastic encore they did for the Hong Kong audience by singing Frances Yip’s Shanghai Beach in Cantonese!!! It was unbelievable!
After the concert, I went on the Internet to find out more about this group: its history, performances, interviews, etc.
- The event page on City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong website including a photo album (http://www.ccohk.com/Archive/Events/2013-2014/The_Kings_Singers_.html).
- The King’s Singers official website (https://www.kingssingers.com) with detailed information about the group’s history and how they operate. Particularly interesting is how new singer is chosen (Look under the FAQ section on the website or the video below).
- The group describing their “Life as a King’s Singer” in a video posted by Signum Records (https://youtu.be/NY5TXGlbm_4).
- An interview with one of the singers Paul Phoenix published in RTHK Fine Magazine (May 2014) which also appeared in the program booklet (http://rthk9.rthk.hk/culture/magazine/finemusic201405/finemusic_201405.pdf)
- An interview with the group by Jenny Lee published on Interlude (May 2014) (https://interlude.hk/in-touch-with-the-kings-singerskings-of-a-capella/)
The King’s Singers concert was a true gift for me as I can still feel the synergy created by these dedicated and passionate talents today.
the cello suite 