Barry Leach - tenor

What do you do for a living?
I work as a Senior Manager at a local Health and Social Care Charity.
Have you lived in Gloucestershire all your life?
No, I was born in St Helen's but have lived in Gloucester since the age of five.
Where is your favourite place in Gloucestershire?
Gloucester Cathedral, hence why I moved next to it. I get to see it every day.
Which bit of the building at Gloucester Cathedral do you love the most?
The stalls in the back row of the Quire
​If you had to name your favourite choral piece, what might it be and why?
Large work: A Sea Symphony by Vaughan Williams, it's an amazing work and a great sing. Small work: there are just too many I can't choose!
Is there a choral piece that you would love to sing in, but haven’t yet?
Tchaikovsky's 'Hymn of the Cherubim'
What has been your favourite moment or event during your time with the Saint Cecilia Singers?
Singing the Parry Songs of Farewell in an empty cathedral and then in the concert in front of the High Altar.
Where in the world would you most like to visit, but haven’t?
There are three and the all begin with I - Iran, Iraq and Israel. Home to some of the oldest civilisations on earth, the history of civilisation fascinates me.
If you could read only two books from now on, which ones would they be?
I go through phases with reading on and off, even though I live in a library, at the moment no two books jump out at me... maybe 'The Communist Manifesto' and the 'Tao Te Ching'.
Which four figures from the past would you like to have at your dinner table?
Tchaikovsky (the Swan Lake one, there are others), Tony Benn, Alan Turing & Victoria Wood.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Psychology
What other hobbies do you enjoy outside of music?
Studying anthropology in all its forms and the products of civilisation, especially culture, music and architecture.
​What are you most looking forward to after lockdown eases?
Sharing a meal and wine with family and friends.