© Nick Rutter
Alexander Chance, Alto
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I’ve been singing with The Tallis Scholars since June 2016, when the group performed at Saint Jude’s church in Hampstead. This could have been a bad omen, St Jude being the patron saint of lost causes, but luckily Peter didn’t feel that way about my singing!
I read Classics at New College, Oxford, where I was a choral scholar for 4 years. When learning a new piece of Renaissance polyphony for evensong in the college chapel, I would invariably turn to the Tallis Scholars’ recordings, and so it was something of a dream come true to join this early music dynasty. I will always remember the moment I was asked to join the group as a regular member - it was just after the rehearsal for a concert in St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice!
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One of the things I love most about singing with this group is that I am constantly being introduced to masterpieces by composers previously unknown to me. Two such pieces are ‘Stabat Iuxta’ by John Browne, and ‘Tota Pulchra Es’ by Heinrich Isaac, which I always look forward to seeing on the programme.
I’ve had some wonderful experiences with the group so far. Two that spring to mind are: singing the Divine Office in Nuremberg (seven services through the day, starting at midnight and going through till 10pm); and sharing a stage (almost!) with Kendrick Lamar and Dua Lipa at the Lowlands Festival in Holland - there can’t have been many other occasions when festivalgoers could have heard Allegri’s Miserere and Lamar’s Humble performed within hours of each other.
When not touring with The Tallis Scholars, or with other groups, I perform as a soloist. When not singing, I try to play (and watch) as much cricket and football as I can. And when neither of the above, I like to go to Greece.