Meet NYCA singer Harry Hoyland (QLD/UK)

Tell us about your musical background… Growing up in England, I was a chorister at Wakefield Cathedral in Yorkshire. It was here under the direction of Jonathan Bielby that I began to develop a great passion for church music. After my final year as Head Chorister at Wakefield Cathedral, I emigrated to Australia in 2009. I then joined the Cathedral Singers in 2010 at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane before joining the Cathedral Choir as a Senior Chorister in 2011. I continue to sing with both the Cathedral Choir, now as a Bass Lay Clerk, and the Cathedral Singers.

How many NYCA seasons have you participated in? This is my second NYCA season, with last year's 2017 season under Carl Crossin being my first.

Why are you coming back to NYCA? My first season with NYCA was a very enjoyable and musically fulfilling experience. I'm greatly looking forward to singing with NYCA again, rekindling friendships made last year and hopefully developing some new friendships.

Favourite NYCA memory? Singing in St Mary's Catholic Church in Ipswich and discovering the excellent resonance of the building.

What makes NYCA different? The opportunity to sing with a group of young musicians who are just as passionate about choral music as you are.

What do you do when you’re not singing with NYCA? Outside of NYCA I am studying for a Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in Software, and I sing as a Lay Clerk in the Cathedral Choir at St John's Cathrdral, Brisbane.

What I’m most looking forward to most about the 2018 season is… The opportunity to learn and sing Britten's A.M.D.G. I first came across the piece a few years ago listening to the CD 'Britten: The Sacred Choral Music' by the Choir of New College, Oxford which featured a couple of the movements. Since then it's been on my (ever growing) wish list of pieces to perform.

What’s coming up for you next? After the 2018 NYCA season, my next musical highlight will be at the end of August when Roger Sayer (Organist & Director of Music at the Temple Church in London) will be coming to Brisbane to conduct the St John's Cathedral Choirs in a series of services and concerts for the Brisbane Contemporary Church Music Festival.