Andrew Sims
Voice: Director
Nationality: British
Occupation: Interpreter
Joined: 1999
Favourite performance: So many - perhaps singing late on a summer evening in a ruined monastery at the top of a mountain on the German-Polish-Czech border
Started singing: I was desperate to join the village church choir when I was seven, and haven't stopped singing since then.
Favourite music: B minor mass, Tristan und Isolde
Hobbies: Cycling, swimming, (directing choirs!)
Gabriele Rink
Voice: Mezzo-soprano
Nationality: German
Occupation: Teacher
Joined: 2016
Favourite performance: Singing in Kreuzberg Kunstraum Bethanien (the project about the human shields in Iraq)
Started singing: When I was eleven
Favourite music: Gustav Mahler
Hobbies: Singing, reading, gardening, travelling
Katie Griggs
Voice: Alto (except for the occasional descant at Christmas)
Nationality: British but with a German passport
Occupation: Director of accommodation for especially vulnerable refugees from all over the world
Joined: 2007 (I think)
Favourite performance: Singing in the Wintergarten (accompanying acrobats and exotic dancers)
Started singing: my first singing memory is aged three, singing and dancing to Barbara Dickson! I enjoyed singing in primary school and won the Radio Kent search for a star talent contest aged eleven.
Favourite music: West End musicals
Hobbies: Singing and socialising with my choir buddies, obviously. I also enjoy fundraising for a family I support in Afghanistan. And I love cycling too, especially on bike paths around Brandenburg lakes and forests in the sunshine.
Roland Willareth
Voice: Tenor
Nationality: German
Occupation: Retired teacher
Joined: 2014
Favourite performance: "Night songs" in the Tieranatomisches Theater, March 2016
Started singing: When I was ten
Favourite music: Currently Herbert Howells (Nunc Dimittis) and Thomas Tomkins (When David Heard)
Hobbies: Music, philosophy, photography
James Denman
Voice: Bass / baritone
Nationality: UK, German
Occupation: Finance manager
Joined: 2016
Favourite performance: Tieranatomisches Theater with Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Stars
Started singing: Morning chapel hymns at school, occasional choirs in adulthood, more properly with the Embassy Singers
Favourite music: Bach St. Matthew Passion, Mass in B minor; Monteverdi Vespers; Rachmaninov Vespers
Hobbies: Running, cycling, climate, sailing, languages
Rhian Chilcott
Voice: Alto
Nationality: UK / German
Occupation: Government relations advisor
Joined: 2023, when I moved to Berlin
Favourite performance: I’m a sucker for Christmas carols, so the performance in the Frauenkirche, Dresden, last December.
Started singing: With my mother – always. In a choir, at the age of twelve
Favourite music: Eclectic, and always happy to be introduced to something new
Hobbies: Talking politics and baking cakes
Neil Whitton
Voice: Tenor
Nationality: Scottish and German
Occupation: Retired scientist
Joined: 2014
Favourite performance: Lunchtime carols at the British Embassy
Started singing: In the church choir, aged six
Favourite music: Goldberg variations
Hobbies: Food and wine
Andrea Zielinski
Voice: Mezzosoprano
Nationality: German
Occupation: Research and teaching, mediator
Joined: 2023
Favourite performance: Carols in the Frauenkirche in Dresden
Started singing: When I was four
Favourite music: Chamber music and madrigals
Hobbies: Singing with friends
Monika Kneifel-Grobler
Voice: Alto
Nationality: German
Occupation: Drama teacher
Joined: 2010
Favourite performance: I love singing in the Marienkirche in Berlin.
Started singing: I started singing in a group when I was at school in year nine.
Favourite music: Peter Fox, Stevie Nicks, Kate Bush
Hobbies: Contemporary theatre, yoga, listening to plays on BBC radio
Ann Cartwright
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: UK / Scottish / German
Occupation: Retired business consultant and former chief executive
Joined: 2010
Favourite performance: Singing in British Embassy for the Royal Wedding on 29 April 2011 (it was also my wedding anniversary that day)
Started singing: About nine years old - I sang "Beautiful Dreamer" in a school concert.
Favourite music: Most types and styles
Hobbies: Reading, cooking, knitting, swimming
Ulla Matussek
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: German
Occupation: Artist
Joined: 2013
Favourite performance: Carols in the Frauenkirche in 2015 (or was it 2016?), also (James is right) one of the Tieranatomisches Theater concerts
Started singing: When I was five, with serious voice training from the age of 54 (N.Y. Julliard evening division)
Favourite music: Bach, Schumann, Brahms, Purcell, Strauss, Weil
Hobbies: Accompanying myself on the piano singing 1920s music, gardening
Phoebe Blackburn
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: UK and French
Occupation: Circular economy and communications
Joined: 2020
Favourite performance: Berlin variety show in 2024, with pop-up Zadok The Priest in the audience
Started singing: When I was 6, in my Parisian primary school, where I was a lone tall alto with the boys
Favourite music: Queen, Chava Alberstein, Mozart’s operas, Pink Martini, swing or poppy music to dance to
Hobbies: Photographing dustbins, new words, exploring cities, art museums, cycling and hiking
Ellen Löhr
Voice: Mezzosoprano
Nationality: German
Occupation: Manager of sheltered accommodation
Joined: 2009
Favourite performance: The Abba concert
Started singing: With my family when I was tiny; in a choir when I was ten
Favourite music: Renaissance
Hobbies: Piano, gardening, reading
Alison Hulstine
Voice: 2nd alto
Nationality: British
Occupation: U.S. Embassy Berlin
Joined: 1999
Favourite performance: The weekend in Liverpool Cathedral and all of the Christmas services in the Frauenkirche in Dresden
Started singing: I can't remember a time when I didn't sing!
Favourite music: Generally non-classical
Hobbies: Singing (including karaoke), travel, meeting up with friends, reading
Ankitha Sarvesh
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: American
Occupation: Commercial Manager at a biotech startup
Joined: 2022
Favourite performance: King Charles III Coronation performance
Started singing: When I was five
Favourite music: Rock
Hobbies: Swimming, painting, baking, writing, watching and reviewing movies
Caroline du Vinage
Voice: Soprano
Nationality: German
Occupation: Judge
Joined: 2002
Favourite performance: From many wonderful events I have chosen: the planting of an oak tree in Tiergarten and singing evensong in Hereford Cathedral.
Started singing: When I was a child
Favourite music: Dido and Aeneas and Schubert String Quintet
Hobbies: Playing cello in a symphonic orchestra, travelling, cycling
Katalin Peckham
Voice: Alto 1
Nationality: Hungarian/British/German
Occupation: Research Officer/Translator (retired)
Joined: 1999
Favourite performance: Christmas carol services in the Frauenkirche in Dresden, the weekend in Liverpool Cathedral, and - of course - the Mátyás templom in Budapest :)
Started singing: As a baby, with my parents ;) and in choirs throughout my school years
Favourite music: Liszt, Beethoven, Smetana, Dvořak, Albinoni, classical opera - lots...
Hobbies: Travelling, choir-singing, photography, reading, concerts, theatre
Keith Peckham
Voice: Bass 2
Nationality: British/German
Occupation: Director of Marketing (retired)
Joined: 2002
Favourite performance: Frauenkirche 2009, with "O magnum mysterium" by Lauridsen
Started singing: At about age 15 in my school choir
Favourite music: Albinoni, Adagio
Hobbies: Travelling (not too far ;), swimming, reading interesting articles/analyses about political, social and economic issues
Patricia Heimann
Voice: Alto
Nationality: German
Occupation: Civil servant
Joined: 2003
Favourite performance: Liverpool Cathedral 2019 (there are many more)
Started singing: Joined my first choir in 1981
Favourite music: Opera, Springsteen, Groememeyer (and more)
Hobbies: Singing, travelling, reading