Blake (band)

Blake
(l-r) Baines, Bowman, Knight, Berney
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Classical, Crossover
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Universal Classics and Jazz; "Blake Records"
Members	Ollie Baines Stephen Bowman Jules Knight Humphrey Berney
Past members	Dominic Tighe
Website	www.blakeofficial.com

Blake are a classical vocal quartet. They are widely known as the group who formed on Facebook.

They released their debut album "Blake" in November 2007, which won the Album of the Year Award at the Classical BRIT Awards in 2008. The album contains covers of popular classical songs and themes from the movies, to create a more commercial classical-pop crossover sound.

They sang for Shirley Bassey at her 70th birthday party, and performed in front of 80,000 football fans at Wembley Stadium. In the summer of 2007 their version of the ‘Swing Low’ was chosen as the Official Anthem of the England rugby team for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. They sang at the opening of the 2008 Melbourne Cup in Australia and supported Katherine Jenkins on her UK tour. During Children in Need 2007, over £1,000,000 was raised while Blake were performing God Only Knows.

Blake's second album, "And So It Goes", was released in September 2008. This contains more arrangements of pop music than the debut album, as well as a negro-spiritual and the Intermezzo from Cavelleria Rusticana.

In February 2009, baritone Dominic Tighe announced that he was leaving the group, shortly before their maiden tour, to return to his acting career. The group continued with their use of social networking websites, by advertising for a new member on Twitter. After two weeks, and 55,000 subscribing to their "tweets", Humphrey Berney (better known as "Barney") joined the group. The quartet's good looks are an important part of their appeal. Founder member Jules Knight said, "We had a few people who looked like Paul Potts, one or two who were 75 and even had a few girls, but Barney is great and things are working well".

The quartet, comprising Ollie Baines, Humphrey Berney, Jules Knight and Stephen Bowman, undertook their first full UK-tour, supported by Natasha Marsh in Spring 2009, and their third studio album, Together, was released on 12 October 2009 on their own label, "Blake Records".

Though many of their live performances have been at sporting events - most notably singing the anthem for the Rugby world cup in 2007, multiple appearances at Twickenham and Wembley Stadia and the opening of Wimbledon Centre Court in 2009 - Blake have made a name for themselves by regularly singing for charity; particularly for cancer charities such as Marie Curie, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation; and Forces Charities such as Help for Heroes, the Royal British Legion and the Army Benevolent Fund. Blake released the song Beautiful Earth as the WWF's anthem for Earth Hour 2010.

Formation

The quartet formed when Jules Knight and Ollie Baines (two school friends) contacted Dominic Tighe (whom Knight had studied with at Central School and had seen sing at the Old Vic) and Stephen Bowman (a student with Ollie at the Guildhall) on Facebook. Baines organised a rehearsal at the Guildhall, and after working out some successful harmonies, they wowed the audience at a house party with their arrangement of Moon River.

The quartet then contacted Daniel Glatman, former boss of the boy band Blue and orchestrator of the success of the Fron Male Voice Choir, via Facebook. After a successful audition, Glatman agreed to manage the band, and shortly negotiated a £1m, five-album deal with Universal Classics and Jazz, following an intense bidding war.

They chose the name "Blake" from a mutual appreciation of the poet William Blake, whose peerless thirst for innovation is much admired amongst the group. Also, 2007 was the 250th anniversary of the poet's birth.

Current members

Oliver Baines

Oliver "Ollie" Baines (tenor), born 23 November 1982 in Oxford, received classical music training from the age of 8 as a chorister at both New College, Oxford and Winchester Cathedral. He was educated at New College School, an independent school in Oxford, to which he won a choral scholarship, followed by Marlborough College, an independent school in the market town of Marlborough, Wiltshire. He was a member of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain from 1999 until 2005. Aside from vocal training, Baines also learned the French Horn and the Trumpet, playing in several orchestras, and is a pianist. He studied degrees in Music and Music Technology, and whilst at University sang with the choirs of Magdalene College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Cambridge before going on to study at the British Institute of Florence and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was formerly a Maths and English Tutor.

Humphrey Berney

Humphrey "Barney" Berney (tenor), born Humphrey Berney on 26 July 1980, is a classically-trained opera singer who joined the group in 2009 to replace Dominic Tighe. He made his recording debut on Hayley Westenra's album Treasure. Berney was educated at Taverham Hall School, an independent school in the city of Norwich in Norfolk in eastern England, followed by Gresham's School, an independent school in the market town of Holt (also in Norfolk), and completed his training at the Royal Academy of Music in 2005. He has sung throughout Europe. Operatic roles include Macheath (The Beggars Opera), Alfred (Die Fledermaus) and Monostatos (The Magic Flute) for Glyndebourne Opera and Garsington Opera. Barney also appeared in Channel 4's opera film View from the Moon. Following a search on the social networking website Twitter, Barney joined the group in February 2009.

Stephen Bowman

Stephen Bowman (bass-baritone), born 22 August 1980 in Bath, was educated at St. Stephen's Church of England Primary School, a voluntary aided school in the city of Bath in Somerset in south-west England, followed by Prior Park College, a Roman Catholic independent school (also in Bath). He won a coveted place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the age of only 17.

Bowman was born to a British opera-trained mother and German ex-rockband guitarist father. Although proclaiming at age five to family friends that he wanted to be a ‘rockstar’ when he grew up, it wasn’t until his late teens that he found out that he could actually sing. Without any traditional vocal training, Stephen started performing with indie and jazz bands in Bath, before being convinced to train towards an audition for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. At seventeen, Stephen became the youngest baritone ever to win a place at this prestigious college. After three years of studying classical voice and electronic music at Guildhall, he left to pursue a career in sales and marketing with a number of international technology firms, whilst writing music in his home studio in the evenings with help from friends in the pop group ‘Tears for Fears’. Stephen completed his first studio album of songs, entitled ‘Bamboo Haze’ in the summer of 2004. The album received great interest from independent record labels and gave Stephen his first entry into the UK music industry. In his spare time Stephen is a keen motorcyclist, skier and snowboarder

Jules Knight

Julian "Jules" Knight (baritone), also known as Julian Kaye, was born 22 September 1981 in Sussex, and is the youngest of four siblings. He was a chorister in the Winchester Cathedral Choir from the age of seven, and was educated at The Pilgrims' School, an independent school attended by all Winchester Cathedral choristers, in the English south coast cathedral city of Winchester in Hampshire. After touring the world with the cathedral choir and recording several albums before he was 14, Knight won choral scholarships to Eastbourne College, an independent school in the large town of Eastbourne in East Sussex (also on the English south coast), followed by Wells Cathedral School, an independent school in the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset, in south-west England. At Eastbourne he developed a passion for acting, and in particular, musical theatre. After completing an MA in Art History at St Andrew's University, Knight studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. where he specialised in acting for screen. He has enjoyed success as an actor, singer, model and TV presenter.

Previous member

Dominic Tighe

Dominic Tighe (baritone), born 20 April 1983 in Devon, is a talented singer and established actor. He was educated at Newton Ferrers Primary School in the English south-west coastal city of Plymouth in Devon, and became a chorister at Buckfast Abbey School, a former independent school in Buckfastleigh (also in Devon), which closed in 1994, followed by Downside School, an independent school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse in Somerset (also in south-west England), where he recorded three albums at Downside Abbey. He sang at the Queen's private 80th birthday celebrations, and has also sung for Prince Edward and Nelson Mandela. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre for seven years, before studying at the Central School of Music and Drama. After graduating, Tighe was acting for two years, working with Alan Ayckbourn, Edward Hall and Kevin Spacey, among others. He came straight from a world tour with the Old Vic to record Blake's debut album.

In 2009, Tighe announced that he was leaving the band to return to his acting career. In 2010 he appeared in Trevor Nunn's Aspects of Love at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Discography

Untitled

Blake (2007)

Following numerous television appearances, and singing at venues as diverse as Twickenham Stadium and Waterloo railway station, the group were caught up in a "whirlwind of public attention". Celebrities such as Keira Knightley, Will Smith, Ewan McGregor all proclaimed their support for the band, and Hans Zimmer asked them to sing on the soundtrack to The Da Vinci Code movie sequel, Angels and Demons, after hearing their arrangement of his theme for Gladiator.

Their debut album was released on 5 November 2007 and immediately went to the top of the UK Classical Album charts, and reached the top 20 of the UK Pop Album chart. The "polished fusion" of classical and pop, as heard in arrangements of the Beach Boys' hit God Only Knows, the themes to Gladiator, 1492 Conquest of Paradise and several classical favourites recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra proved a huge hit, and the album went Gold within three weeks. Early in 2008, the album was nominated for a Classical BRIT Award and was named "Album of the Year" in May. It was only the second time in nine years that the award for best album, as voted for by listeners to Classic FM, was won by a debut album (following Russell Watson's The Voice in 2001.

Tracklist

1. "Yo Te Voy Amar (I'll Make Love To You)"
2. "In Paradisium (Gladiator)"
3. "Moon River"
4. "1492 Conquest of Paradise"
5. "God Only Knows"
6. "I Knew I Loved You (Deborah's Theme)"
7. "Hallelujah"
8. "Ashokan Farewell"
9. "Celebration"
10. "Vide Cor Meum"
11. "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"
12. "E Sara Cosi"
13. "Jerusalem"
14. "Toglimi Il Respiro (Take My Breath Away)"
15. Bonus Track: "In the Bleak Midwinter"

Untitled

And So It Goes (2008)

Blake's second album contains a wider range of material than the debut album. There are no film score arrangements this time, but tracks range from Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, through to the arrangement of Sancta Maria from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana and the negro-spiritual Steal Away. Knight explained that the album has "a different sound to it, it's more contemporary, more pop-py. Combining both classical sounds and pop sounds is a winning combination, and we’ve taken it a lot further on this album."

Tracklist

1. "Look to the Mountains"
2. "And So It Goes"
3. "Chasing Cars"
4. "Wild Mountain Thyme"
5. "Because We Believe"
6. "Up Where We Belong"
7. "Steal Away"
8. "Heaven Can Wait"
9. "Closest Thing to Crazy"
10. "Fantasia Prelude"
11. "Nella Fantasia"
12. "Time to Say Goodbye"
13. "Sancta Maria (Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni)"

Untitled

Together (2009)

The third album, Together, and the first to include Barney, was released on 12 October. The album again contains tracks from several genres, including opera, musical theatre, film themes and pop songs. The album was recorded with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra with arranger Paul Bateman, once again produced by Nick Patrick and Adrian Munsey. The album was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the 2010 Classical BRITs. The album was released on the band's own independent label, "Blake Records", distributed by EMI Label Services.

Tracklist

1. "With or Without You – U2
2. "Bring Him Home" (Les Misérables)
3. "Bridge over Troubled Water" – Paul Simon
4. "Abide with Me"
5. "La Califfa" – Ennio Morricone
6. "She (featuring Julian Smith, saxophone) – Charles Aznavour
7. "I Vow To Thee, My Country" – Gustav Holst
8. "She Was Beautiful (Cavatina) – Stanley Myers
9. "Ave Maria" – Bach/Gounod
10. "Nessun Dorma (Turandot) – Giacomo Puccini
11. "Unsung Hero" (featuring Caroline Redman Lusher) – Denise Rich
12. "Titans - Vangelis
13. "When a Child Is Born" – Johnny Mathis (Christmas bonus track)

Special Edition (remixed and remastered), released 22 March 2010.

14. "Here's to the Heroes" - John Barry (Band of Brothers theme)
15. "Voice of an Angel"
16. "Beautiful Earth"

External links

• Official website
• Official Australian website
• Blake at AllMusic
• Official fansite
• Official Record Label Website