Bringing festive spirit to Peterborough Cathedral, Jonathan Ansell is one of the founder members of the classical crossover group G4. Here he reveals what he’s looking forward to most over Christmas, and what to expect from the group’s winter tour…

Back In The Early Noughties, TV producers hit upon a superb idea. Programme making is expensive – famous folk are expensive – but members of the public are cheap and a dime a dozen. Hence the proliferation of reality TV shows, and specifically talent shows. The latter, we venture to suggest, had double appeal for producers. For a start we could enjoy the talent of the decent contestants, and in the following audition we could mock the less credible acts vying to be put through to the next round.

The format of Pop Idol, then X Factor and ultimately The Voice has yielded some enduring acts – One Direction, Will Young and Little Mix – amongst many who were novelty acts at best, social media fodder at worst; Susan Boyle, Jedward and Honey G.

However successful or otherwise any of the above have proven, though, there’s a single act that I can think of that serves as a defence against the format, and to justify it against accusations of it being low brow.

Back on 11th December 2004, families gathered around the TV for the grand final of X Factor, in which two very different acts were squaring up against one another. The first was Steve Brookstein, and the second was classical crossover act, G4.

The latter were unique for bringing classical music to a pop-oriented audience and for blurring the boundaries between the traditional distinction of popular culture and high culture.

One of the founder members of G4 was Jonathan Ansell, then aged 22. A week before, he and the other members of the group had still been busking on the streets.

“I’m from Bognor Regis in Sussex, originally, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, to study towards a bachelor degree in music.”

“There were only 20 singers that year among other disciplines in the performing arts, so we gravitated towards one another and we were encouraged to work together to get a feel for different styles, for working with different voices and generally to experiment a bit.”

“There I met Mike Christie, who’s another founder member, Ben Thapa and Matthew Stiff. We were classically oriented, and an agent who was allied with the School used to get us work at livery company dinners and similar events across London.”

“That was handy when you were a student, as you could earn good money on a Saturday night to help pay for University!”

“The suggestion came along that a Barbershop quartet would yield work and so that’s what we formed – albeit without the straw hats. There was a bit of interplay during the performances, but it was traditional songs like Goodnight Sweetheart.”

“We found the repertoire of songs within the genre a bit limiting and so Mike transcribed a version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody for us to incorporate into the next performance.”

“Usually at a function such as the ones we used to perform at there’s a bit of background noise as people continue to eat, drink, and make conversation but when we performed the track, they were all silent, hanging on every line. It was the only performance the agent had ever booked which resulted in an overpayment; the client paid us double what they were quoted that night, I think it was £140 compared to the usual £70 each!”

“About the same time, we auditioned for X Factor but even when we were performing on TV on a Saturday night we were still on the streets busking!”

“There was definitely a level of production in choosing which contestants to build up. Some were definitely going to get ripped apart and the producers knew that. As for acts like us, we had no real way of gauging public response but a vote.”

Mark Zuckerberg had invented a means of keeping in touch with his fellow Harvard students FaceMesh, which changed its name to The Facebook in February 2004, and wasn’t made available outside of Harvard until the end of the year, and so social media as we know it was only just in its infancy.

“There was no way to know. We just held our breath for the vote and discovered that we had come second to Steve. We were devastated, and we weren’t sure what the future held as runners up in the contest. Nonetheless we signed to Sony and created an album.”

“At the time you’d still listen to the radio on Sunday evening to hear the charts, and Louis Walsh called us ahead of the charts broadcast to tell us that we’d reached number one in the album charts in time for Mother’s Day.”

The group’s first album released in February 2005 sold a quarter of a million copies in its first week alone, going platinum twice over. A follow-up album later in the year reached number six in the charts and another album followed in 2006.

The group, though, was exhausted. They disbanded, having spent two and a half years suddenly thrust into the spotlight. When the opportunity to reform arose following a performance at the Barbican Centre in 2014, Matthew Stiff declined to reform, and the band’s line-up now comprises Jonathan and Mike as founded members, plus Lewis Raines and Duncan Sandilands who joined in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

“The second time around we knew more about the potential perils of working in such an intense profession. We’re now internally managed and much more democratic. We’re older too and we recognise the merits of getting your work/life balance right. It’s still an intense career, though.”

“The nature of our singing means there’s minimal accompaniment and amplification so your voice has to be really disciplined and strong and has to survive on its own merit. You can’t hide behind post-production during a live performance.”

During our interview, Jonathan and the band were mid-way through a six-week tour during September and October, and had already spend five weeks on tour back in early spring.

“We’ll only have about three weeks off and then in November we’ll begin our 32-date tour, G4 Christmas which pauses for three or four days on 23rd December and then continues between Christmas and New Year.”

“We try to take summer off and spend time with family, which is lovely, and taking breaks between tours allows us to make sure we’re able to perform at our best. People think that as a group touring around you go from posh hotel to hotel… not a chance!”

“In fact we invested recently in a motorhome and when we’re touring, we use that.”

“When we say that we’re living on top of each other for weeks on end that’s very literal. We sleep in bunk beds and we all hear each other snoring.”

“As band members we are also very good friends though, and perhaps thanks to our ages we’ve learned how to tolerate each others’ quirks and to get on well even when we’re tired. The motorhome does have an advantage in that we’re usually parked right outside our tour venues, or at least very close.”

“We’ve stayed in some really stunning parts of the country and I’m very grateful that we’ve had a chance to really go all over the UK and see lots of lovely cities but also some incredible buildings, like Peterborough Cathedral. “Its acoustics are amazing, and the sound really works well in the space.”

“But above all, as hard work as it is, we never ever forget how lucky we are. We never take for granted the fact that for our audiences the night out is a chance to dress up, enjoy an evening out and have a great time listening to our music. The relationship we have with our audience is definitely one of mutual respect, so we could never have an off-night, we’ve got to be as good as we can every single time.”

“That’s not to say that we won’t be exhausted on 23rd December, but it’s a lovely feeling to return home to my wife Debbie and our children Dexter and Siena.”

“Being on tour makes Christmas shopping a little tricky, but on tour we usually end up picking up Christmas gifts from Amazon delivery lockers en route!”

“When I walk through the door Debbie I reckon will have outdone herself, as usual, turning the house into a grotto. She’s phenomenal at decorating the place for Christmas and giving my children a big hug when I return home for Christmas will be lovely! Meanwhile, I’m the chef in the family so I’ll look forward to getting started on Christmas dinner and generally just enjoying being around the family.”

“I usually end up getting lots of socks for Christmas but that’s fine. I need them. My favourite gifts, though, are the homemade ones that the children make me.”

“We all love Christmas songs as well and of course on the tour we couldn’t neglect to perform traditional songs like O Holy Night and Silent Night or Away in a Manger alongside Nessun Dorma and our crossover songs.”

“We’re lucky this year, too, as we’ll have some help from the children’s choir of the Stagecoach Spalding, and their sound just adds to an already festive atmosphere, especially in a building like the Cathedral, so we’re hoping that it’ll be a full house and everyone will bring the Christmas spirit with them!”

Find Out More: Tickets are on sale now for G4 Christmas at Peterborough Cathedral. The event takes place on Saturday 3rd December from 7.30pm. Tickets £17.50-£64.50, to book, visit www.g4official.com.