The Choirboys (boyband)
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The Choirboys are an English boyband, made up of cathedral choristers. They are: Charles John "CJ" Porter-Thaw from Sheffield, Patrick Aspbury from Chelmsford, and Ben Inman, from Yorkshire. Porter-Thaw and Aspbury both sung in Ely Cathedral and Inman sings in Southwell Minster. In the summer of 2005, they were selected from cathedral choristers around the UK for a recording contract with Universal Classics and Jazz, and released their self-titled first album in November of that same year.
The album sold 100,000 copies in the first week, making it the fastest-selling classical debut album ever in the UK and earning The Choirboys a Gold Disc which was presented to them on the popular BBC children's TV programme, Blue Peter. It has since gone platinium and has to date sold over 750,000 copies.
After an intensive promotional tour of TV and radio stations, they have since performed at several events, including the Southwell Minster St. Cecilia Concert, the Ely Cathedral May Day Concert and charity concerts in major London venues such as the Royal Albert Hall.
A second album 'The Carols Album' has now been released (December 2007). However, it does not feature any of the three original members, with the record company citing that their voices have changed too dramatically to continue the choirster theme. The new members are Andrew Swait, William Dutton and Bill Goss.
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[edit] Original Members (2005)
[edit] Patrick Aspbury
Full Name: Patrick James Aspbury
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Blonde
Birthday: 9 June 1993
Choir: Ely Cathedral Choir
From: Chelmsford
Patrick has now retired as a treble chorister from Ely Cathedral.
[edit] Ben Inman
Full Name: Eskricke Francis Benedict Inman
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Brown
Birthday: 19 March 1993
Choir: Southwell Minster Choir
From: Yorkshire
Recorded as solo artist on the James Newton-Howard soundtrack for the remake of the movie King Kong (2005) Retired as a treble chorister from Southwell Minster on 21st January 2007. He won the Trebby Award for 'best solo treble track' in 2007 for the track 'Fairest Isle' (recorded 2005).
[edit] Charles John (CJ) Porter-Thaw
Full Name: Charles John Hamish Porter-Thaw
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Birthday: 11 December 1994
Choir: Ely Cathedral Choir
From: Sheffield
CJ has now retired as a treble chorister from Ely Cathedral.
[edit] New Members (2007)
[edit] Andrew Swait
Full Name: Andrew Swait
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Blonde
Birthday: 2 October 1994
Choir: Cheltenham College
From: Gloucestershire
Andrew has featured as principal soloist in recordings by The Abbey School Choir - Light of the World - Signum Records, available here. He has also featured in the CD Landscape and Time, available here by the Kings Singers, and appeared in the children's documentary A Different Life about his life as a chorister.
[edit] Will Dutton
Full Name: William Dutton
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Blonde
Birthday: 20 January 1995
Choir: St Mark's Church, Harrogate
He was awarded the BBC Radio 2 'Young Chorister of the Year' Award in 2006. He is the son of the famous former treble Paul Dutton, and his younger brother Christian also sings in his choir. Will also is an excellent violinist, and is part of the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain, with whom he was co - principal violinist this year. Will is also "singing friends" with Claire Macfadyen, a cellist whom he met at the National Children's Orchestra six years ago. His most recent performance was in Derbyshire where he sang The Rose and O Sole Mio.
[edit] Bill Goss
Full Name: Bill Goss
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Birthday: 11 December 1994
Choir: St Olaves's School, York
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- The Choirboys (2005)
- The Carols Album (released UK 3rd December 2007)
[edit] Singles
- Tears in Heaven
- Ave Maria (released on the same CD as above, not on the album). The famous Bach/Gounod 'Ave Maria' sung by Ben Inman.
- Fairest Isle. This track, by Henry Purcell and again a solo by Ben Inman, was recorded but does not appear on any CD. However, it is available as a pay-to-download file from various sources (see below).
