Jim Clements - Biography

Following a childhood of musical immersion as a chorister at Rochester Cathedral, Jim’s interest in ensemble singing continued throughout his time at Tonbridge School, where he held both choral and music scholarships. Whilst studying for his degree in music at Manchester University, he established and directed two close-harmony groups, The Merrell Barbershop Quartet, and The Goo Dats, and wrote several a cappella arrangements for them. It was during this time that he was first approached by the fledgling VOCES8 with a view to writing a few bespoke arrangements for performance at weddings and corporate functions as an alternative to the available, published close-harmony repertoire. Following his graduation with a first class degree in 2005, Jim moved to Worcester to take up the position of lay clerk in Worcester Cathedral Choir, where he continued to write occasional arrangements for VOCES8. In addition to receiving commissions for arrangements from, amongst others, the BBC (broadcast on BBC Radio 3) and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (recorded on Plain Sailing), he was asked to arrange several tracks for VOCES8’s 2006 recording of Christmas music, Snowed In. The success of this disc, and his good working relationship with the group, led to him being offered a permanent position as Arranger in Residence in June, 2007. He also began to achieve success as a composer, with several original compositions being premiered by Worcester Cathedral Choir. In April 2008, Jim moved to London to pursue his career as a composer and arranger. He has continued to work closely with VOCES8, and the group has performed his arrangements in concerts across the globe and recorded them on four commercially available discs. Jim has also written vocal arrangements for The King’s Singers, the BBC (for the CBBC series, Do Something Different), Manchester Chamber Choir (performed at the Labour Party conference), Worcester Cathedral Choir (recorded on That yongë child), Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir, Dec Verse, and The Coupland Consort. He currently sings as a lay clerk in Southwark Cathedral Choir, and is a member of Stile Antico, Philharmonia Voices, and The Edinburgh Camerata.

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