Recently, I had the honour of singing in front of the Royal Family with Bath Camerata at the funeral of Simon Elliott, the brother-in-law of Camilla, Queen Consort, at a small church in Dorset. It was an emotional occasion in an idyllic setting, despite the grizzly March rain! I recently joined Bath Camerata as an extra singer to help on their April weekend tour to Aix-en-Provence. It was lovely to perform recently at their Patrons’ Event and the Elliott funeral, thanks to their close connection to British Opera conductor Graeme Jenkins, who led the service. I also look forward to performing with them in their Good Friday Concert at Wells Cathedral, and a performance of the Mozart Requiem with Bath Festival Orchestra in May.

When I came to the University of Bristol, I soon got involved with the university’s two auditioned choirs, University Singers and the Bristol University Madrigal Ensemble. What has given me some of the greatest pleasure is joining the Bristol Cathedral Choir back row as a choral scholar, assisted by my lay clerk who is in his 28th year at the Cathedral! This opportunity has allowed me to develop my singing further, and (when my lay clerk is absent) taking on solo passages and cantoring the responses. We had a very busy Christmas period, performing our two annual ‘Carols by Candlelight’ concerts, a toddlers’ carol service, Midnight Mass, a Christmas Day Eucharist and much more!  As I write, I very much look forward to the even busier Holy Week, and I thank Tonbridge School Chapel Choir and the music department, in particular Mark Forkgen, Julian Thomas and Toby Stafford-Allen for giving me such a great musical grounding.

Wilkie Hoare (WW 17-22)