About the Author

Paul-Ethan Bright is the author of this blog.  He is a notorious insomniac, and has been living with a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome since 2001.

Born in Derby in 1990, he was educated locally, completing his formative education at Derby Grammar School.  From 1998, he was a member of Derby Cathedral Choir, becoming Deputy Head Chorister and earning the Dean's Chorister award from the Royal School of Church Music.  He sang many prestigious solos as a Treble, including the famous top C's in Allegri's Miserere, the Agnus Dei from Mozart's Kronungsmesse, and a Pickled Boy in Britten's cantata St. Nicholas.  During his time as a treble, he toured to Wells, York Minster, Derby's twin City of Osnabruck, and diocesan concerts too numerous to mention throughout the county.

In 2004 when his voice changed, he returned to the choir after a short break and started his career as a Countertenor. During this time he took voice lessons with Coral Gould, who introduced him to a repertoire other than (but of course including) the songs of John Dowland.  Tours to Exeter and the Rhineland in Germany with the Cathedral Choir were also complemented by joint German and History department tour to Berlin in 2006 with the Grammar School.

After completing A Level courses in Philosophy & Ethics, Music and Music Technology, Paul-Ethan joined the Music department of the University of East Anglia in 2008.  Here he expanded his repertoire substantially to include old Italian Opera arias, arias from the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Operas of George Friderich Handel, and American art song from the turn of the 20th century.  In his second and third years, he worked with the pianist Jonno English, presenting recitals of the work of Charles Ives, the second New England School and Aaron Copeland, even finishing one recital with the infamous Erlkonig by Franz Schubert.  He became a mainstay of the the University chamber choir as directed by Nannete Nielsen and Alan Howard, performing C.H.H. Parry's Songs of Farewell, and the settings of the Mass for both 4 and 5 voices by William Byrd.  As a member of the main UEA Choir, he had the opportunity to perform in both Norwich Cathedral and St. Andrew's Hall, and was a soloist in the UEA Symphony Orchestra and UEA Choir concert in St. Andrew's Hall on the 7th of November, 2009 (Handel's coronation Anthems).  Also in 2010, Paul-Ethan was featured as part of John Kramarchuk's project, 'The Trysting Tree'.

Although not finding any permanent choral post in his first year, Paul-Ethan could often be found propping up the back row of the choir of the Church of the Parish of St. Nicholas, North Walsham. In 2009 he successfully applied for the post of Choral Scholar at the Church of the Parish of St. Peter Mancroft, which he held for two years. 

In preparing for his final recital of Handel Oratorio arias, he worked with the Norwich Pianist William Fergusson and performed to some academic acclaim, earning a first class mark.   His dissertation on Organ building in England in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries also earned a first class mark.  It was after completing his dissertation that he needed to focus on his strengths in choral performance, and applied for choral scholarships at various Cathedrals.  After a successful audition, Paul-Ethan was elected to the post of Countertenor Choral Scholar of the Choir of the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Truro, his current post.  He is set to become the seventh Lay Vicar of Truro Cathedral Choir from September, 2013.

 Outside of his choral commitments, Paul-Ethan has several other strings to his bow.  As a self-taught instrumentalist, he has been a Tenor Banjo player since 2004, playing a recital of the complete first suite for unaccompanied Violoncello, BWV 1007 in St. Mary's Aisle of Truro Cathedral in September of 2012, using a Tanglewood TB-DLX.  Picking up the Double Bass while still at Derby Grammar School, he earned a name as the Demon Bassist, and was the School Swing Band's principal Bassist from 2005 to 2008, and made a return in 2009 for a charity gig at Chatsworth House.  He was the Bassist for UEA DramaSoc's Cabaret shows in 2009 and 2010, using not only his usual Squier J-Bass but also a Violin Bass rescued from the Maida Vale studios.  He hopes to return to lessons sooner rather than later.

As an Organist, he made a significant advance in technical and musical ability by also being awarded the Organ Scholarship at the Church of the Parish of St. Peter Mancroft in Norwich, which he held for two years alongside the choral scholarship, both studying with and acting as page turner and registrant for Julian Haggett.  Here, under Mr. Haggett's tutelage, Paul-Ethan was fortunate enough to learn on one of the country's most important Neo-classical instruments, built by Peter Collins in 1984.  He has played for the past two years in Truro School's Lent concert on the Mander Organ in the School chapel, presenting baroque music from the Old English, French Classical and South German Schools of composition.