Logo
  • Search
  • My Account Login
  • Basket
  • What’s On
    • Booking Information and FAQs
    • Choral Workshops
    • The Choral Pilgrimage 2025: Angel of Peace
    • Sounds Sublime Choral Festival
  • About Us
    • Meet The Sixteen
      • 006 colour small (for screen) – The Sixteen, Feb 2018 – compressed
      • Sixteen_Group_2_WebRes_RGB
    • Meet Harry Christophers
      • Harry ChristophersPhoto: Marco Borggreve
    • Meet our Staff
    • Our History
    • New Music
      • 1 – compressed for web 2018 Sistine Chapel
      • 1 min
      • Harry Christohpers and The Sixteen & Britten Sinfonia ahead of Genesis Foundation event at Sistine Chapel c. Adrian Myers-min
      • IA1575_GE_AM_1044-min
    • CORO Records
      • CORO_Recording_Catalogue_2021-2022
      • Download CD booklets
    • News
  • Get Involved
    • Schools
      • 3
      • DSC_1870
      • Gladstone Primary Academy Peterborough
      • image_00029 – Copy
      • schools
    • Young People
      • 16-1819
      • ACM_4268-min
      • byc-harry-christophers-saturday-157
      • DSCF3319-min
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-7240
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-7240-min
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-8146-min
    • Adults
      • 1
      • 16CAS-49
      • Choristers
      • IMG_2821
      • Lead
    • Sounds Sublime Choral Festival
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-6846-min
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-7343-min
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-7448-min
      • SoundsSublime-BenTomlin-13thJuly2024-7949-min
  • Genesis Sixteen
    • Current Members for 2024-25
      • genesis sixteen logo high res
      • Genesis Sixteen logo white
      • webgenesis
    • New Members for 2025-26
      • sixteen logo +HC
  • Watch & Listen
  • Shop
  • Support & Join
    • Supporters
    • Donate
      • byc-harry-christophers-saturday-061
      • byc-harry-christophers-saturday-189
      • edit -AIMG_1750 Faber Book Launch 2019-min
      • edit IMG_1645 Sounds Sublime 2019-min
      • John Suchet 1
      • photo (22)
      • SCC-8786 Chichester 2016-min
    • Become a Patron
      • AIMG_2109 Faber Launch 2019-min
      • edit AIMG_2605 Royal Collection 2019
      • edit dinner 3 2015 sixteen club
      • IMG-3069 Michael Watt
    • Support a Recording or New Commission
      • edit AIMG_2129 Faber Book Launch 2019-min
      • edit AIMG_2477 Royal Collection 2019
      • edit DSC_1776 August 2008 Recording-min
      • edit IMG_4381 Choral Odyssey Penshurst 2020-min
      • edit IMG_4551 Choral Odyssey Hatfield 2020-min
      • IMG_3059 Bach May 2013
      • Monteverdi 1650 still
      • monteverdi recording still
      • true englishmen still
    • Leave a Legacy
      • AIMG_2274 Faber Launch 2019-min
      • edit -AIMG_1795 Faber Book Launch 2019-min
      • edit AMIC_1011_JS_210418_2913 2018 Sistine Chapel-min
      • edit IMG_3271 Barbican MacMillan 2019-min
      • edit IMG_3500 Messiah 2019-min
      • IA1102_GEN_AM_5256 2019 EIF MacMillan-min
      • Leaving a legacy to The Sixteen in your will
      • SCC-8883 Chichester 2016-min
  • My Account Login
  • Basket

Help our story continue

We rely on the generosity of our supporters to carry out our ambitious plan of work each year.

Donate Now

Help our story continue

Donate Now
Logo
Donate now
Menu
Back

Tim Jones

Bass

Tim Jones

Bass

What is the best thing about singing with The Sixteen?
The camaraderie, without a doubt. It is such a friendly group, and whether we are making music, eating or drinking together, or relaxing backstage, it is always fun.

What is your favourite Sixteen anecdote or memory?
I was present on the last occasion Harry ever wore a cummerbund as part of his concert dress. We were doing a concert (about 30 years or more ago) in Thaxted Parish Church, and as we started singing the ‘Agnus Dei’ from Byrd’s 4-part Mass, there was a loud metallic crash, caused by the metal clasp of his cummerbund falling on the floor, having inexplicably come undone. This was the cue for much thinly disguised mirth among the singers, and Fran Steele (bass), being completely incapable of singing. Harry’s face was a picture, too!

Is there a piece you have fallen in love with since performing it with The Sixteen?
Anything with a really good baritone part. There are several candidates by Byrd, such as Infelix ego, Tribue, Domine or Tristitia et anxietas, but one of my very favourites is Vox patris by William Mundy.

If you could go back in time and be present at any historical performance, what would it be?
Given that I sang for many years in the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, I would love to have been in Old St Paul’s at Christmas 1554, when, following the marriage of Queen Mary to Philip II of Spain, the Spanish musicians who had accompanied him to this country and had sung at their wedding in Winchester Cathedral in July, joined the Chapel Royal and St Paul’s choirs for the Christmas services. It has been suggested that Tallis wrote his Mass Puer natus est nobis for this celebration, and certainly the style of the music suggests influence from the continent.

What has been the most challenging piece of music you have ever performed?
My first encounter of Orpheus behind the Wire by Hans Werner Henze, which was in about 1985. I had no experience of attempting such atonal music at the time, but luckily, I was singing with a number of BBC Singers, for whom such things were their staple diet (they also spotted every time the conductor made an error in performance)! With The Sixteen, it has probably been Figure humaine by Poulenc.

Does anyone in The Sixteen have any unusual habits?! If so, what are they?
I’m sure everyone is going to mention Dan’s changing routine before concerts!

What do you do to relax in your spare time?
In the summer, I try and watch as much cricket as possible. I also read and watch TV and am addicted to crime drama, which keeps me going wherever I am.

Was there anyone who inspired you to become a singer? Is there anyone who continues to inspire you today?
My first choirmaster, the legendary George Guest, did as much as anyone to inculcate in me a love for singing – and for the repertoire – but the singer I most admired when I was a teenager was Benjamin Luxon, with his rich, honeyed tone. When I was a choral scholar, at St John’s, Cambridge, we recorded Faure’s Requiem with him as the baritone soloist, and we were all in seventh heaven.

What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t a musician?
Almost certainly teaching, but of course that’s what I have done alongside my singing, in any case. Maybe painting and decorating.

What would your ultimate desert island disc be?
If not Bach’s B minor Mass, which would keep my spirits up, it might have to be some Ravel orchestral music.

What would you eat for your last supper?
Roast lamb – with lashings of gravy, roast potatoes, and mixed veg – rounded off by cheesecake (as presumably calorie intake would no longer be of any significance), and a dessert wine.

 

 

Stay connected with The Sixteen

Subscribe to our mailing list for monthly updates

Sign up
Logo
  • Jobs
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
Classic FM Lottery Logo

The Sixteen Ltd. Reg. No. 1930741. The Sixteen Productions Ltd. Reg. No. 4252277.

Registered Office: Mary Sumner House, 24 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3RB

Registered charity No. 326917

Heading to the box office

You’re going to the venue’s website to book

Be part of something bigger

We rely on the generosity of our supporters to help fulfil our mission of bringing choral music to the widest and most diverse audience possible. Be a part of our story by donating today.

Donate Now