Robert Jones, Class of 1975

Robert is an English countertenor who began his musical journey at Trinity, directing a parish choir while still a student. A talented pianist and organist, he earned an Exhibition to the Royal College of Music Junior Department. As a music scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, he sang in the Christ Church Cathedral Choir. He held esteemed positions at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and Westminster Cathedral.

He flourished as a consort singer, featuring on awardwinning recordings with the Tallis Scholars, the Orlando Consort, and the Gabrieli Consort. Robert’s particular passion is for early music, but he has also sung in the premieres of contemporary works, including Jonathan Dove’s The Far Theatricals of Day and Tarik O’Regan’s Scattered Rhymes. His dedication extends to teaching and conducting choirs, notably as the conductor of the Eastcote Choral Society.

Can you tell us about your time at Trinity and how your musical journey began there?

My earliest memory of Trinity is of loving the atmosphere of the school when I came for the entrance exam and being really insistent that I wanted to go there (despite also having an offer from the other place). Luckily, my parents were persuaded, partly because the school was beginning to develop a reputation for music, even though David Squibb had only been there for a couple of years. I was already playing the piano and doing well in festivals and exams – I also loved singing in a small parish church choir at St Edmund’s, Riddlesdown. When I first joined, aged seven, the choir was run by the priest-in-charge, Richard Lewis, who was probably the first musician I really admired, even though he was not a professional (I met him again many years later when he was Dean of Wells).

My first new musical experience at Trinity was beginning to learn the organ with Chris Dowie, although he moved to Royal Russell School after my first year and later became organist of Wimborne Minster

During your time at Trinity, you ran your own parish choir. How did this experience shape your passion for choral directing, and how did you balance it with school commitments?

I had great fun, both musically and socially, directing music at St Mary’s, Addington. The choir was very diverse. It ranged from a 76-year-old bass, whose father had been organist of the church from 1895 until 1961, to the daughter of the Director of the RSCM, and a number of my fellow Trinity Choristers. (I had an unofficial competition with David Squibb, who was then at Sutton Parish Church, to see how many Trinity boys we could recruit – I think it was a tie at eight each!) School work was not always a priority (one of my plans for the future is to resume my German studies and actually read one of the A-level set books!), but I did enough to get by.

As a junior exhibitioner at the Royal College of Music and a pianist, how did your training with Robert Langston and experiences as a musician contribute to your overall musical development?

Saturday mornings at the RCM (where I had piano lessons with John Barstow, and theory and musicianship training from Robert Langston) were a constant exposure to high musical standards, which gave me a wider perspective on music outside the organ and choral world.

You mentioned giving an organ recital at St Bride’s Church in 1974 and wanting to become Director of Music. How did this early ambition manifest in your career, and how did it lead you to St Bride’s in 1988?

My ambition from a very early stage was to combine the life of a professional consort singer, such as the ones we encountered when Trinity Boys Choir did professional work with London choirs, with a church organist/choirmaster post. I only landed on St Bride’s because I had that early experience of doing a recital there, but it seemed to be the right place for me when the job came up in 1988.

Reflecting on your time as a music scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, how did these experiences shape your approach to singing and your career as a consort singer?

Christ Church choir was another example of working to the highest possible standard, under the inspirational directorship of Simon Preston (who was also a role model for organists). I think my skills as a sight-reader and an ensemble singer, which were well-developed at Trinity, were enhanced further at Oxford. I was lucky enough to be in the right places at the right time when the professional consort and early music scene began to take off in the early 1980s.

Could you share some highlights from your career as one of Britain’s leading consort singers, featuring on recordings with the Tallis Scholars, the Orlando Consort, and the Gabrieli Consort?

I am particularly proud of being involved in two iconic and prize-winning recordings, both from fairly early in my career. One is the Tallis Scholars’ recording of two Masses by Josquin, which won the Gramophone Record of the Year award in 1987 – this was completely unexpected, as the recording was made with eight singers, two of whom were ill and almost voiceless at the time of the recording! The other is the Gabrieli Consort’s recording of A Venetian Coronation, which was made in 1989 and put that group on the map. This was also my first visit to Brinkburn Priory in Northumberland, where I later played the organ for a Radio 3 broadcast of music by S S Wesley, again with the Gabrieli Consort. The organ is one Wesley would have recognised, so it was quite scary to manage, particularly as I had a bad back at the time.

There are so many memorable moments from concerts – I frequently sang in the solo quartet in the Tallis Scholars' performances of the Allegri Miserere in venues ranging from Allegri’s own choir loft in the Sistine Chapel to the top of a lift-shaft in the Sydney Opera House!

Maintaining a lifelong interest in piano, organ playing, and choral directing, how do you balance these different aspects of your career, and do you have a particular preference among them?

I’ve never had a particular career plan, but have always responded to offers of work as they came along - flexibility and open-mindedness are the key to success, something I learnt from David Squibb. I am slightly sad that I now do little professional singing, but I’m not sure how I would find the time to fit it in.

You succeeded your former tutor at St Bride’s in 1988. Can you describe the challenges and rewards of directing the choir for services, concerts, and recordings, with a notable highpoint being the service attended by the Queen in November 2007?

St Bride’s has been an immensely rewarding experience – it has been a particular pleasure to see a succession of young choral singers coming through into the professional singing world, including some who are now very eminent (and a number of Trinity boys!). The service attended by the late Queen (for which we commissioned an anthem from Bob Chilcott) was one high spot, but there have been numerous services attended by famous people - notably the wedding of Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall. Our recording of Bruckner motets is apparently one of the bestselling discs on the Naxos label.

As a teacher and examiner for the Associated Board since 2004, how do you approach music education, especially in the Far East, and what insights have you gained from examining?

Overseas examining has not fully recovered from Covid, although many Far East candidates now take recorded performance grades, which we mark from home. I have had several trips to Singapore, which have been an interesting mixture of hard work (very full days of examining, often after long train journeys, with no absent candidates because any gaps in the schedule are filled from a waiting list) and relaxation (no work at weekends, which is novel for any professional musician).

Finally, how has your personal and professional life, including being married to a music teacher and having four sons, influenced your musical journey and the values you instil in the next generation of musicians?

My wife has always kept my feet on the ground, and it was inspiring to see what she managed to achieve in a state school with minimal resources for music (I still do some piano teaching there, even though she retired from school teaching a while ago). It has been a great joy to us both that all our sons caught the choral music bug – they were choristers in a variety of places, including St John’s, Cambridge; Christ Church, Oxford; and St George’s, Windsor. They have all sung professionally as adults (though only one is now doing so full-time). For the past few years, my sons and I have all sung together during the Edington Festival (a festival of music and liturgy that takes place at the end of August at Edington Priory in Wiltshire).