Patrick Dunachie
Wednesday 28 February 2024
FIRST COUNTERTENOR- Kings SingersJOINED SEPTEMBER 2016Patrick was born in 1993 into a family of musicians and at the age of five started learning piano with his father, and singing in my local church choir. Later becoming a chorister at Hereford Cathedral under Geraint Bowen, and it was here that his love of choral music took hold. He developed a passion for early music in particular, and became fascinated by the countertenor voice. When his voice changed a few years later, he decided to give it a go. Sure enough, his falsetto voice worked alright, so he committed to it. On leaving HCS he won a scholarship to Cambridge University to study Music, and to sing in King's College Choir under Stephen Cleobury.During three unforgettable years there, he toured all over the world, recorded CDs and sang in national radio and television broadcasts each year. But his main joy during that time was singing the daily services in one of the world's most beautiful buildings, while studying music history, analysis, and composition. All of this encouraged him to pursue music beyond university, so after graduating he moved to Oxford to become a Lay Clerk at Christ Church Cathedral. During this time he taught at a local school, performed as a freelance soloist and in a number of ensembles (including Ex Cathedra, The King's Consort, Gesualdo Six and Westminster Cathedral Choir). He found time for his other interests too with lots of walking in the countryside, cooking, a good deal of graphic design work, and on top of all that a few rounds of auditions for The King's Singers, who had invited him to audition! He was appointed to the group in January 2016.During the seven years siince he has had a wonderful time as a member of this group. He has loved performing many hundreds of concerts in amazing places around the world with his five brilliant colleagues, meeting thousands of people from many different walks of life, and having once-in-a-lifetime experiences almost every month. But he also loves how much he learns in this role.