10 questions with Chris Bruerton
3 Mar 2026
As Chris Bruerton bids farewell to the Kings Singers, we ask him
10 questions about his musical journey so far...
1. Do you remember the first time you sang in public?
I have vague memories of singing at St Matthew’s Church in St Albans (no longer there) after Sunday School aged about 5, but I remember more vividly singing at the Canterbury Choral School with Lynley Clarke and Murray Lennox. I also remember performing in the Town Hall as part of the Special Choir at the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival with the likes of Charles Levings, Murray (Lennox), Russell Kent and Richard Oswin doing their thing! So inspiring for young singers!
2. Did you have a favourite singer or group growing up?
My childhood hero was the Welsh boy soprano Aled Jones. I used to listen to that cassette tape on repeat! I was then pretty obsessed by Celine Dion as a twelve-year-old!
3.
Singing in Smolny Cathedral in St Petersburg was incredible. I joined the touring choir in 2004 (3rd year of that cycle) but they’d been together for a few years and some of them for 7,8,9 years. So it was a very experienced lineup with some really mature voices in their mid-late twenties and the quality of the sound was incredible to be a part of. Performing Rachmaninov, Schnittke, Martin, Mendelssohn, Kodály etc in that space was mind-blowing.
4. You conducted a choir at The Big Sing while still in the Youth Choir - how was that experience for you?
I was handed the reins of the Male Voice Chorus at Burnside High School by the late Jean Cumming, the year after I left Burnside. It was just after her husband had sadly died, so I was initially going to be shadowing her whilst in my first year at uni. But it soon became apparent that it was mine to run with. Obviously, I was completely green and therefore learned on the job. I made lots of mistakes but I also grew quickly into the role with the support of Jean, Hugh Stevenson, Elise Bradley, Karen Grylls and Brian Law. Not a bad set of mentors! I watched other conductors at Big Sing intensely and found myself asking the question, ‘what can I hear, what can I see, and what would I do differently, if anything, in that situation’, which was a great way of learning. I encouraged my boys to do the same – easy to be a passive listener on those regional days with choir after choir coming on to sing their set – and would be asking them what they thought to keep them engaged as well. It was great fun though and getting to a few national finals with what was possibly the only un-auditioned choir at Finale was something I was really proud of. Those boys loved singing for each other, and I learned a lot about how important it is to create an atmosphere where everyone got the best out of one another. And that it was cool for young guys to sing!
5. Was there a specific moment when you knew you wanted to become a professional singer?
From 1997 onwards, as a chorister at the Cathedral, members of Christ Church, Oxford – Lay Clerks and Choral Scholars – would come over every year to sing with us for a month in August. Hearing the level of musicianship that they brought was inspiring and by my late teens I knew I wanted to do that for a living. I did, however, take a leaf out of the playbook of Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Jared Holt and Jonathan Lemalu by having another qualification under my belt: in my case, teaching. Then after a few years at Burnside teaching full-time, I knew that if I didn’t go now, I’d always regret it and I felt I it wouldn’t benefit me to be a teacher with a chip on my shoulder by not having followed my own advice to the students and pursued my dreams. So, I bought that one-way ticket and headed over in 2010, wide-eyed and eager to see if I could make it as a small fish in a very big pond!
6. Who are some of the people who have shaped your musical journey the most?
David Childs was my director at the Cathedral and really supercharged my development as a young treble with daily tutelage. Hugh Stevenson then nurtured that promise as a teenager. Elise and Karen opened my eyes to a whole new world of singing and conducting. Brian Law shaped me holistically in all manner of things. Dame Malvina Major and the late Vernon Midgley took a rough diamond and shaped me into the singer I am today. Finally, Dr Stephen Darlington took a chance on this enthusiastic Kiwi and gave me a foothold into the UK choral scene where the next adventure began!
7. If you could choose just one choral piece to take to a desert island, what would it be?
St Matthew Passion. I return to it time and time again whenever I need a sense of perspective or to help with any overwhelm that I’m carrying. Even just that opening movement (if I can’t take the whole piece!).
8. Of all the performances you’ve done so far, is there one that stands out as a highlight?
Making my Carnegie Hall debut to a sold-out audience and giving four encores – they wouldn’t let us leave! A real pinch yourself moment!
9. What are you most looking forward to about performing back home in Aotearoa?
Dad used to always say ‘it takes a village to raise a man’. Having that awareness of being able to look out into the audience and recognise so many people who’ve shaped my journey and to be able to thank them in the best way I know how: singing beautiful music with some of my best mates.
10. What’s next for you after 14 years with the King’s Singers?
