RACHEL SPINK
Voice: Alto
Nationality: UK
Occupation: Architect (almost)
How long have you been a member of CML?: Eight months
Favourite concert: J.S. Bach: B minor Mass
Started singing: I started taking singing lessons age 12
Favourite music: A bit of everything!
Favourite singer: Does Chris Martin count?
Hobbies: Cycling, space, playing the Sims, playing the piano
LAURA SANDFORD
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: British
Occupation: Editor of illustrated non-fiction books
How long have you been a member of CML? Since September 2016
Favourite CML concert: Our Bach B minor Mass in 2019, where I thought we performed this wonderful but very difficult piece absolutely brilliantly. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of singing second soprano with CML having sung first soprano in the B minor Mass with another choir four weeks earlier!
Started singing: in my school choir, when I was 12.
Favourite music: I love Austro-German Romantic composers like Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Mahler. Other favourite composers include Bach, Haydn and Vaughan Williams.
Favourite singer: Janet Baker
Hobbies and pastimes: When I’m not singing, I enjoy playing the piano and clarinet, exploring London’s museums, galleries, parks and pubs, going to concerts, reading, and swimming. I also adore cats and house and cat sit for friends and family all over London.
SABINE BIRCH
Voice: soprano
Nationality: German
Occupation: teacher
How long have you been a member of CML? 10 years
Started singing: in the pram
Favourite music: Lieder by Schubert and Schumann
Fave composer: Mozart, Schubert, Brahms
Fave singer: Fischer-Dieskau
Fave CML concert: Deutsches Requiem by Brahms
Hobbies: Making music with my children at home and performing in shows at school
KATHRYN BUCKLEY
Voice: Alto
Nationality: British
Occupation: PPC Account Manager
How long have you been a member of CML? : 18 months
Favourite CML concert: My first ever concert! Singing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms was a real highlight.
Started singing: I’ve been singing to myself for as long as I can remember, but I took it up seriously when I won a choral scholarship with Wadham College, Oxford.
Favourite music: Within choral repertoire, Rachmaninov’s Vespers. However, I’m more of an orchestral musician and love . . . Rachmaninov again.
Favourite singer: I’m going to break with tradition here and say Taylor Swift.
Hobbies and pastimes: Aside from singing I love travelling, going to the beach as often as possible, knitting, and I’ve recently been introduced to the delights of Tottenham Hotspur FC.
LIZ ARAM
Voice: Soprano
Nationailty: British
Occupation: Freelance communications consultant specialising in health
How long have you been a member of CML? 16 years
Home: Wimbledon
Started singing: probably in my pram
Favourite music: I’ve loved discovering completely new music such as the Latin American repertoire, Whitacre, early English, and modern English eg Jonathon Dove, Maxwell Davies
Fave composer: Still can’t beat J S Bach
Fave CML concert: Luminoso (September 2015) I sponsored this concert to raise money for a charity that means a lot to me. I think it’s great that the choir encourages people to bring ideas and connections. I like these themed a capella concerts where we provide an informal cabaret atmosphere and a huge range of old/new/popular/unexpected/interesting music.
Hobbies: literature, meditation, fitness, voluntary work, my house in France (available to let – sorry for plug!)
SEBASTIAN BORGER
Voice: Bass/baritone
Nationality: German
Occupation: London correspondent for newspapers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
How long have you been a member of CML? Sixteen years
Home: Haringey, North London
Where did you start singing? At home with my parents and sisters
Favourite piece of choral music: St Matthew Passion
Favourite composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Favourite singer: The Baritone Christian Gerhaher
Favourite CML concert: Our socially distanced Messiah in Temple Church, December 2020, two days before another Covid lockdown.
JILL HOUSE
Voice: alto
Nationality: British
Occupation: University lecturer (retired)
How long have you been a member of CML? longer than nearly everyone else…
Favourite CML concert: always the next one!
Started singing: at primary school
Favourite music: for choirs? Monteverdi, Bach, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Poulenc…
Favourite singer: Can’t pick just one, but Jonas Kaufmann and Joyce Di Donato are up there
Hobbies and pastimes: opera and song, contemporary music, playing with my grandsons
LUCY SILVER
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: British
Occupation: Administrator
How long have you been a member of CML? 2 years
Favourite CML concert: Masters of Baroque
Started singing: at school, but seriously about 10 years ago
Favourite music: Mozart & Gershwin but really everything!
Favourite singer: Judy Garland & Maria Callas
Hobbies and pastimes: Singing, going to the theatre, concerts, walking, spending quality time with my family and friends
JOHN BIGGINS
Voice: Tenor
Nationality: British
Occupation: Professional actor/graphic designer
How long have you been a member of CML? 12 years
Home: Hither Green, SE London
Where did you start singing? At school
Favourite piece of choral music: Strauss Four Last Songs
Favourite composer: It has to be Beethoven
Favourite singer: Emma Kirkby
Favourite CML concert: AMORE, 2014
Hobbies and pastimes: Leeds United FC, photography
