Christmas past and present: thoughts from Jonathan Hanley

Born in Suffolk, Jonathan was a chorister and choral scholar at St Mary-le-Tower, before reading History at the University of York, where he was a choral scholar at York Minster. After graduating, he spent three years as a lay clerk at Peterborough Cathedral under the direction of Steven Grahl and has been a member of the 'Genesis Sixteen’ programme for young singers (2016/2017). He is now a freelance singer and a member of the vocal ensemble, Stile Antico. 

Jonathan has performed as a soloist in the UK and Europe, including at the Trame Sonore Chamber Music Festival in Mantua, the York Early Music Festival, the Anghiari Festival, and the Malcolm Arnold Festival. 

As an ensemble singer, Jonathan works regularly with some of the finest vocal ensembles in the UK, most notably Stile Antico, of which he is a member, the Monteverdi Choir, Tenebrae, the Sixteen and SANSARA, the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and the Oxford Consort of Voices, with whom he recorded Pelham Humfrey Symphony Anthems, released in 2018. 

Jonathan's website is here, where you can read about his performances and projects, and view his upcoming diary!

We asked Jonathan to share his memories of his time at the Tower and his plans for Christmas this year.

"Christmas is usually one of the busiest times of the year for a musician, and it feels strange to be looking ahead to a December which is looking rather restrained. Though we would all usually be busy with Christmas parties and frantically running around shops to source Christmas presents, I think the prospect of a completely different Christmas has made us all realise what’s actually important at this time of year. Rather heart-warmingly in this increasingly digital age, and at the risk of sounding like a character in a Richard Curtis film, that is human contact and experiences in real-life. There’s no substitute for sharing a Christmas feast with family, singing the final verse of ‘O Come all ye faithful’ at the top of your lungs on Christmas morning, or the hush at the beginning of a Christmas Carol service before the treble sings the first solo verse of Once in Royal. 

I was a chorister and choral scholar with at St Mary-le-Tower from 2000-2011, and am so grateful for my time there, which has had an enormous impact on my life, and career choice as a professional singer. My memories of Christmas at the Tower are crammed with those wonderful experiences: the start of the Advent Procession with candles being lit and an unaccompanied verse of ‘Come, thou redeemer of the earth’; carols at Rendlesham Church in the freezing cold with wonderful receptions afterwards hosted by the Bunburys; or singing In the Bleak mid-winter music on a tour to Wittenberg, Germany amidst snowfall outside. It has always been my favourite part of the year, and it’s great that communities are finding ways of adapting to our ‘new (and hopefully temporary) normal’. Being part of a community like a choir or church through Advent to Christmas has a wonderful anticipation and collective excitement to it – I’m sure that this year will be the same, even if in different ways. 

Because of course, this Christmas is going to look and feel a little different. We might not be able to see all of our friends and family, go to Christmas parties or pile into cathedrals and churches to hear carols and Christmas music. Most of my concerts this Christmas are live-streamed, and those with audiences are with severely restricted numbers. Nobody is quite sure that they will happen, but we have to remain optimistic. I’m looking forward to spending a quiet but indulgent few days with my family and not feeling completely burnt out after one too many Messiahs. It’s a great time to sit back, take stock and think about what makes Christmas really important."

Jonathan Hanley, Nov. 2020