|
The English counter-tenor, Matthew Venner, has been involved with choirs, and singing in general, since the age of 6 when he sang in his father’s parish church choir. From there, he went on to become a chorister at Westminster Abbey, held a music scholarship at Bedford School and was awarded a choral scholarship at New College, Oxford. Somewhere along the line he was encouraged not only to play the viola but to become a counter-tenor too.
Still, he came out of university with a degree, a job lined up at St Paul’s Cathedral and the slightly scary prospect of singing for a living ahead of him. He now combines singing at St Paul’s with various pieces of consort and solo work. He sings for Ex Cathedra (Director: Jeffrey Skidmore) and Polyphony (Director: Stephen Layton) as well as The Sixteen (Director: Harry Christophers) and Monteverdi Choir (Director: John Eliot Gardiner) when needed, and has various solo concerts under his belt. He also enjoys singing teaching at Dulwich College and at Jesus College, Oxford. In 2007 he joined the vocal ensemble Orlando Consort. |
