KJV Community Children's Choir

Ian Cross is Emeritus Professor of Music and Science at the University of Cambridge and an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. In 2001 he founded and built the Centre for Music & Science in the Faculty of Music at Cambridge; amongst other topics his research has embraced the psychoacoustics of violins, the evolutionary roots of musicality, the effects of group music-making on the development of children’s empathic capacities, and the relationships between music and language. He is Editor-in-Chief of SAGE’s Open Access journal Music & Science, has sung in many choirs (from childhood contributions to the Scottish Junior Singers to the present-day Wolfson College Choir), and is a Trustee of SEMPRE (the Society for Research in Psychology, Education and Music) and the Music Therapy Charity. He is also a classical guitarist.

Rupert Curwen is a founder of Ubisense Limited, a Cambridge hi-tech company, which builds real time location systems used in companies such as BMW and Mercedes. He has over thirty years of experience in software engineering, is a lead developer of the company’s innovative software products, and also manages the software test team. He has always been a keen amateur choral singer, beginning as a child, and continuing as a bass in University College choir, Oxford. Since moving to Cambridge in 1999, he has sung with the Wolfson College Choir and the Wolfson Chamber Singers, including several baritone solos. In 2009 he was one of the singers representing Wolfson in the massed Cambridge University choirs at the 800th Anniversary Prom, in the Royal Albert Hall. The same year he also sang Mahler’s 8th with Stephen Cleobury and the CUMS Chorus at Ely Cathedral. His two daughters sang in KJV in the choir’s early years.

Sarah is a Legal Director at an international law firm based in London, but has lived in Cambridge since 2009. Both her children have sung in KJV; the youngest is still an enthusiastic member of the choir.

Sarah has been a keen singer since school days, and for many years sang with her local choir in London, the Hackney Singers, as well as joining other projects for amateur singers with the Hackney Empire theatre (performing in a Jonathan Dove opera) and the English National Opera (a staged performance of Bach’s St. John Passion).

In her role as Parent Trustee of KJV, she represents the views of the parents of choir members, and also provides legal input when needed. She helps at choir rehearsals as a parent volunteer, which is one of her favourite ways of spending a Saturday morning!

Nicola is a senior research associate and veterinarian in the Centre for Pathogen Evolution in the Department of Zoology. An alumnus of Wolfson College, Cambridge, her research interests focus on the antigenic and genetic evolution of viral pathogens, particularly influenza A viruses in both wild and domestic animals. She leads several international collaborative projects in a number of developed and developing countries, which focus on both internationally important scientific questions and encourage capacity building in the local animal health sector.

Nicola was educated at Wells Cathedral School from the age of 7, where she was both an academic scholar and in receipt of a specialist provision music award. As an oboist she studied with Robin Canter and Douglas Boyd, performing in masterclasses with Celia Nicklin and Lady Barbirolli and toured extensively throughout Europe and the Far East, including concerto performances in Germany. She began choral singing from 7, performing with all Wells Cathedral School choral ensembles in diverse musical styles, which ranged from musical theatre to Britten’s Noyes Fludde; from Chapel Choir to Rutter’s Gloria conducted by the composer. At the University of London, although training to be a vet she continued her love of music, playing oboe under Stephen Jackson with the University of London Symphony Orchestra, Gilbert and Sullivan pit orchestra work and singing in numerous Cathedrals throughout the United Kingdom with the University of London Chamber Choir. On qualification she continued to dep for weekend services in various London churches including St Martins in the Fields. When she embarked on a PhD at Cambridge in 2006, she joined Wolfson College Choir conducted by Lyn Alcántara and both of her daughters sang in KJV when they were younger.

Gillian Perkins founded the Cambridge Music Festival and directed every festival until 2010. Under her directorship the festival became a national event, famous not just for its world class concerts, but especially renowned for the scope of its education and community programme. In an earlier life Gillian worked for BBC Radio 3, the Performing Right Society and for Eastern Arts (now Arts Council England East). Gillian lives in Cambridge with her husband who plays violin in a local orchestra. Their two sons were both choristers at King’s, and Gillian also worked with Stephen Cleobury to set up Easter at King’s, a series which she managed for the college until 2010, when she retired from both King’s and CMF. In retirement Gillian is a member of New Cambridge Singers, and a trustee of the London Mozart Players, the Ouseley Trust as well as KJV.

James is Dir of Music at King’s College School, Cambridge.

Lucy is a Conservation Officer at the local Wildlife Trust with a specialism in surveying the wider countryside and providing local landowners with conservation advice, but she also enjoys carrying out practical habitat management and botanising around the county. When not out in a field or woodland, Lucy is a keen amateur choral singer. Her singing career started as an undergraduate singing in St Edmund Hall Chapel Choir (Oxford) and after moving Cambridge in 2002 to undertake her PhD in Earth Sciences she quickly joined Wolfson College Choir and Wolfson Chamber Singers. Under Lynette Alcántara’s musical directorship, Lucy’s singing has thrived and includes highlights such as singing in the Royal Albert Hall at the Prom in celebration of the University of Cambridge’s 800th anniversary in 2009 and several choir tours throughout Europe. It was only natural, therefore, for her two children to join KJV and they both wholeheartedly enjoyed the experience.

As a governor at her children’s primary school for four years, Lucy has gained much experience in the governance of educational settings. She has also been on a variety of other committees within her village and is currently part of the management team for a small nature reserve on Adams Road and also a volunteer on the Ffestiniog Railway, working on the track. Lucy is responsible for designing and maintaining the KJV website and is KJV’s safeguarding Trustee.

Jennifer works as a legal consultant specialising in responsible business conduct and human rights. Based near Cambridge, she provides policy advisory services to a wide range of organisations, including the United Nations, the OECD, the Council of Europe, various human rights agencies and some national governments. She is also an Associate Fellow in the International Law Programme of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) where her work is mainly concerned with finding ways to better align trade policy with human rights concerns. She is passionate about music, having studied piano, clarinet and voice as a young person, and for several years now has been attempting to master the organ in her village church. She has sung in several (mostly German language) choirs and is the proud parent of two former members of KJV Community Children’s Choir. She is also a volunteer rowing coach for the junior squad of a Cambridge-based rowing club. Jennifer is an Australian and was educated at the University of Adelaide and the University of London before moving to Cambridge in 1998 to embark on her PhD in international law. The extraordinary educational and cultural opportunities on offer to the young people of our community, of which the KJV Community Children’s Choir is a shining example, are just some of the reasons why she has never left Cambridge, and probably never will!