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The King's Singers

Date: May 20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing

The King's Singers were officially born on May 1, 1968, when six recently-graduated choral scholars from King's College, Cambridge, gave a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank in London. This group had formed in Cambridge and had been singing together for some years in a range of lineups under a different name, but this big London debut was the launchpad for the five-decadelong career of The King's Singers we know now. Their vocal makeup was (by chance) two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the group has never wavered from this formation since. 2018 marks the 50th birthday of the group, and to celebrate, The King's Singers are presenting their anniversary season: Gold. Everything in this gold season, from triple-album to book and concert tour, celebrates the amazing musical heritage of The King's Singers, and also looks at the bright future of vocal music in all its forms. The world may have changed a lot in the 50 years since the original King's Singers came together, but today's group is still charged by the same lifeblood - one that wants to radiate the joy that singing brings us every day, and that is as determined as ever to give joy to audiences with virtuosity and vision for an exciting musical future. The group's most successful recent CD is the 2008 Simple Gifts, a selection of 16 pop ballads, spirituals, and folk songs. It was their first full-length studio CD since the 1990s.