The King’s Singers, a six-man ensemble as renowned for their interpretations of early and contemporary vocal music as for their witty arrangements of popular music, have appointed a new bass.

Jonathan Howard, 23, a graduate of New College, Oxford where he read Classics and was a member of the choir, will replace Stephen Connolly in the line-up from September onwards.

“It is an absolute dream come true for me to have the opportunity to perform for a living with such wonderful colleagues and singers, particularly since almost every small consort or close harmony venture I have done in the past has been inspired by their work," said Howard.

Connolly – who, after 23 years, has been in the King’s Singers as long as his replacement has been alive – is becoming head of Vocal Studies at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. The King’s Singers were founded in 1968 by a group of choral scholars at King’s College, Cambridge.

Martin Cullingford