SOPRANOS
Suzanne Jones
Soprano
Day job Business manager
Aspires to sound like Andrea Haines (Voces8)
Choral highlight Meeting his blondness Eric Whitacre backstage at St David's Hall.
Random fact I've sung backing vocals in a band with Adele's granny...
Favourite Spectrum piece 'This Endris Night' by Sarah Quartel gives me all the Christmas feels.
Emily Scaglioni
Soprano and Musical Director
Day job Music teacher
Aspires to sound like Eva Cassidy
Choral highlight Conducting a delightfully enthusiastic junior choir in Manchester.
Random fact I founded and led a Ukulele Society at York University for two years.
Favourite Spectrum piece 'Song of the Dawn' from the 1930s' film King of Jazz.
Jess Davies
Soprano
Day job Arts psychotherapist/ Probation officer
Aspires to sound like Kate Bush
Choral highlight Singing Christmas carols in winter sunshine at Dyffryn with Spectrum, after a 2-year Covid silence...
Random fact I was an extra in a Bollywood movie called Tere bin Laden 2: Dead or Alive.
Favourite Spectrum piece I love doing 'Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town', because I usually get totally lost and enjoy the chase of trying to keep up!
Angela Brown
Soprano
Day job Bank consultant
Aspires to sound like Kiri Te Kanawa
Choral highlight Singing in Handel's Messiah as the soprano soloist with Yate Choral society.
Random fact I was honoured to have the truly thrilling experience of singing the title role in Puccini's Madam Butterfly.
Favourite Spectrum piece Janet Wheeler's song cycle 'Time Becomes a Song', which I really disliked on first hearing but has become my favourite work so far.
Maryna Kluchnskova
Soprano
Day job Translator
Aspires to sound like
Choral highlight
Random fact
Favourite Spectrum piece
ALTOS
Helen Turner
Alto
Day job HM Inspector of Health and Safety
Aspires to sound like Katherine Jenkins
Choral highlight Being in the visiting choir at Chester Cathedral for a week. Sleep, sing, repeat: bliss.
Random fact I have performed with Hinge and Bracket at the Wimbledon Theatre.
Favourite Spectrum piece 'Northern Lights' by Ola Gjeilo. At last, a composer who likes altos!
Shelagh Greenland
Alto
Day job RNLI fundraiser. Retired teacher of the deaf
Aspires to sound like Kathleen Ferrier
Choral highlight Singing evensong in Tewkesbury Abbey.
Random fact I played Queen Eleanor giving birth to Edward, first Prince of Wales, while 9 months pregnant. The large bump was still there after the recording; fortunately it was BBC radio!
Favourite Spectrum piece I enjoy most of the music; there are just a few I'd rather send to Room 101!
Julia Nasrallah
Alto
Day job English teacher
Aspires to sound like Norah Jones
Choral highlight Singing Brahms' Requiem in the University of Beirut's Assembly Hall.
Random fact When studying in Utah, USA, I was part of the only all- women crew-racing yachts on Salt Lake.
Favourite Spectrum piece I mainly love the variety of secular and religious pieces, which keeps things interesting.
Rebecca Davies
Alto
Day job GP
Aspires to sound like Karen Carpenter
Choral highlight Singing with my school choir in the Royal Albert Hall.
Random fact Let me think about that...
Favourite Spectrum piece Rheinberger's 'Abendlied'. The harmonies are so satisfying, it's a pleasure to sing.
Frances Strickland
Alto
Day job University lecturer (Reader)
Aspires to sound like Ewa PodleÅ›, Hilary Summers, Ella Fitzgerald
Choral highlight A formative choir tour to Prague in 1991; an amazing place to visit at that time. We sang in St Vitus Cathedral, without permission, but were asked to carry on.
Random fact I've a penchant for fancy dress, fostered by my Mum sending me to childhood competitions dressed as a parcel, and encouraged by frequent appearances as a giant panda in my first job.
Favourite Spectrum piece 'Hope is the Thing with Feathers' by Christopher Tin.
TENORS
George Speed
Tenor
Day job Bus driver
Aspires to sound like Any proper tenor, preferably a Welsh one! (I'm Scottish.)
Choral highlight Singing in St Davids' Praise at St David's Hall with Cambrensis choir and orchestra.
Random fact I've played the organ in Westminster Abbey (very loudly!).
Favourite Spectrum piece 'Christmas Medley' and any Swingle-style arrangements of Bach and Handel.
Benjamin Gait
Tenor and Musical Director
Day job Composer/Local Authority Officer
Aspires to sound like Scott Walker
Choral highlight Playing first horn in a performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.
Random fact I own roughly 50 Miles Davis albums.
Favourite Spectrum piece 'Clew Ein Llef'.
Michael Lee
Tenor
Day job Medical writer
Aspires to sound like Roderick Williams
Choral highlight Singing Verdi's 'Quattro Pezzi Sacri' in the Sheldonian.
Random fact I've swum weekly in Jesus Green Lido in winter...
Favourite Spectrum piece Anything slow and easy!
BASSES
Nigel Holloway
Bass
Day job Writer
Aspires to sound like Jamie Wright (The Swingles)
Choral highlight Finding myself by accident in the middle of the London Symphony Orchestra Chorus singing Berlioz's Grande Messe des Morts.
Random fact I've written a musical adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, set to the music of Arthur Sullivan.
Favourite Spectrum piece The Lost Birds by Christopher Tin.
Kevin Morgan
Bass
Day job It's complicated
Aspires to sound like Bing Crosby
Choral highlight
Random fact
Favourite Spectrum piece
Carsten Muller
Bass
Day job Researcher and lecturer, University of Cardiff
Aspires to sound like Ivan Rebroff
Choral highlight Performing Carmina Burana with Cardiff University Choir and Orchestra in St David’s Hall, 1996.
Random fact I steered a 45m merchant vessel through Kiel canal aged 17.
Favourite Spectrum piece One of my favourites is 'Pokarekare', the harmonic equivalent of strawberries and cream...