Ashley Chow, is in his third year reading Natural Sciences at Clare College. He grew up in Hong Kong and started playing the piano and violin at the age of six. Before Cambridge, he studied at Harrow School as a music scholar, where started playing the organ and took lessons with Martin Singleton. There he assisted choir rehearsals, performed as a soloist and regularly accompanied school services.

At Harrow, Ashley enjoyed being a member of Harrow’s orchestras and chamber groups, performing works such as Orff’s Carmina Burana and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. He has had the opportunity to perform at St John’s Smith Square, Winchester Cathedral and Royal Albert Hall in the UK and in Bangkok, Beijing and Hong Kong whilst on tour with the orchestra.

George Gillow, is a first year student reading Music.  During the academic year 2017–18, he was organ scholar of Gloucester Cathedral where he assisted in the accompaniment of the four Cathedral choirs, the Cathedral’s programme of singing outreach in primary schools and the administration of its busy music department.  

During the academic year 2018–19, he studied organ and harpsichord at the Toulouse Conservatoire with Michel and Yasuko Bouvard.  Whilst in Toulouse, he appeared in concerts alongside the choir of the Conservatoire – the Maîtrise de Toulouse – notably for a performance of the Duruflé Requiem. 

On a freelance basis, he accompanied amateur choirs for performances of the Fauré and Campra Requiems, Mozart Great Mass in c and Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle.  He is an experienced recitalist and has given recitals at Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucester, Hereford and Southwark Cathedrals.

Joseph Payne is Senior Choral Volunteer and a countertenor in the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. He read Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Clare College, graduating in 2019, and is now studying for his Graduate Diploma in Law. Joe has sung with the Choir for four years and, among many other engagements, took part in a tour of Asia during the summer of 2016 which included a sell-out concert in the Petronas Filharmonik Hall with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Before Cambridge, Joe sang with the choir of Salisbury Cathedral and the Rodolfus Choir. He is also an Under-30s Ambassador for Glyndebourne Opera and has attended masterclasses with James Bowman, Iestyn Davies and Julie Cooper.

He says:

“My experience of singing at Clare for the last four years has been both hugely enriching on a musical level and provided the basis for forming many valuable friendships and memories. There are very few university choirs in the country which cover such a broad range of repertoire and engagements; this makes weekly services a challenging commitment and deeply rewarding in equal measure. I could not have wished for a better highlight to my time at Cambridge.

Jessica Hopkins is a third-year undergraduate reading Music at Clare. She sings as a soprano in the Choir of Clare College and is the Senior Choral Scholar. Jess studies classical voice with Nicola-Jane Kemp, and as a soloist she has participated in masterclasses with figures such as Yvonne Howard and Roger Vignoles, as well as reaching the semi-final of the Clare College Song Competition in February 2019. Jess recently performed Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at the Musique Cordiale International Festival and made her operatic debut at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

During the rest of her spare time in Cambridge, Jess enjoys ballet classes and performing with the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society.

Jess says:

“Having never sung in a chapel choir before coming to Clare, the experiences I have had here over the past few years have been some of the most exciting, challenging and fulfilling of my life so far. Naturally, getting to travel and perform across Europe, North America and East Asia have been particular highlights, but I never anticipated how many friends for life I would make and how much I would develop as a singer and as a musician during our weekly chapel services.”

Helena is a second year undergraduate at Clare reading Music. She began singing at a young age and was a member of Salisbury Cathedral Girls’ Choir from 2007-2012. During secondary school she was in the oboe section of the National Youth Orchestra for four years, and was principal in her final year. She currently studies oboe with Nicholas Daniel and singing with Robert Rice. Outside her degree and choir commitments Helena enjoys playing in various orchestras and arranging for Clare de Lune, an upper voices a cappella group. 

Of her experiences in Clare Choir, she says:

“Singing in choir is such a fantastic way to experience a really high standard of music-making on a regular basis. We get to sing hugely varied repertoire in a way that no other type of musical ensemble really does simply because of the number of services we sing and performances we give. The tours we went on last year were so much fun, especially the USA and Malta, and getting to see some of your best friends four times a week in a place as busy as Cambridge is one of the best aspects of choir.”