About us

In 1988, James Wild set out on a mission being to create a group of singers which could reach a high standard with just three or four rehearsals each year and who love touring. The result - Sine Nomine.

The choir is perhaps unique in that it includes a large number of singers who are themselves conductors, of adult and/or children's choirs. Some have made a name for themselves in their own right, with two former winners of the BFYC "Conductor of the Year" award and many others with award-winning choirs.

The choir sings a very varied repertoire, which includes music to suit all tastes, from sixteenth century motets and madrigals from different countries, through 19th and 20th century part songs, to spirituals, popular items and African repetoire. Sine Nomine has had the great privilege of participating in workshops with Jonathan Rathbone (former director of the King's Singers) and was proud to be asked to record a CD of compositions by Alan Bullard for OUP.

Sine Nomine has undertaken many foreign tours, including Belgium, Norway, Canada, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Italy. Whilst in Vaison-la-Romaine in the South of France, the choir performed in an ancient amphitheatre to an audience of over 5000! In 2008 we visited Leipzig and Dresden, and in 2010 we travelled to Krakow in Poland. Sine Nomine has also enjoyed performing at a wide variety of venues throughout the UK, including Dunblane Cathedral, The Sage, Gateshead, the Worcester Three Choirs Festival and the Edinburgh Festival in 2011. The choir is also honoured to have been a guest choir at The Presteigne Festival three times.

Benjamin Kirk (b. 1992) Ben was born in Beverley, East Yorkshire, to missionary parents. He spent his early years in Portugal, Brazil, and the United States, before falling in love with choral music while a chorister at Ripon Cathedral. After leaving Christ’s Hospital School in 2011, Benjamin moved to Tallinn, Estonia to begin studying Choral Conducting under Tõnu Kaljuste, at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Benjamin won 3rd Prize in the 2019 World Choral Conducting Competition in Hong Kong and is now Musical Director of the Leeds Guild of Singers, the Lea Singers in Harpenden, the Clerkes of All Saints in York, and is Conductor with The Purcell Singers in London. Since 2021 Benjamin has been Guest Conductor with the National Forum of Music (NFM) Choir in Wrocław, Poland, in a budding international career: Benjamin has also worked with the Carice Singers, the Estonian National Male Choir (2014/2016), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (2016/2018), Swedish Radio Choir (2018), and the French Radio Choir (2019).