Alison Shone (Ali)
Musical Director
Ali hails from North Wales but grew up in Nottingham. At the age of 18 she was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music and successfully completed her BMus degree at the Academy along with the Licentiate Diploma. A Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Performance with distinction followed from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Ali has won numerous singing prizes including the Sir Geraint Evans Award – twice – and has sung solo under various well known conductors as well as taking part in recordings. In October 2014 Ali was appointed Musical Director of Wales’s first stroke choir – “Strike a Chord Cymru,” which acts as a rehabilitation therapy for stroke survivors. She also takes the baton at other choirs and is a great ambassador for Arts and Health, co-creating and producing a course with the Cardiff & Vale Recovery College which promotes singing for wellbeing. Her talents do not stop at conducting as Ali is in demand as a soprano soloist and singing teacher.
She now lives in South Wales with her husband and two children.
Amy Reynolds
Accompanist and Deputy Conductor
Amy Reynolds, a collaborative pianist from Bristol now based in Cardiff, is a double graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she specialised in vocal accompaniment. She balances a portfolio career of performance, teaching, and community music-making, working as a visiting piano teacher at The King’s School Gloucester and Clifton College Bristol.
Alongside her teaching, Amy works with The Forget Me Not Chorus, a charity supporting people with dementia and their families (recently featured on BBC’s The One Show). She also accompanies Barry Community Choir and leads choirs for both Tenovus Cancer Care and The Aloud Charity, helping communities of all ages discover the uplifting power of singing together.
As both soloist and accompanist, Amy has performed widely across the UK and Europe. Her work reflects not only her commitment to musical excellence but also her belief that music is at its most powerful when it brings people happiness, connection, and hope.
Wynne Evans BEM
President
Wynne Evans BEM is regularly singing to millions for the TV advertising campaign that has made him a household name as the spoof opera star Gio Compario.
Although a spoof opera star in the Go Compare insurance adverts, Wynne is a professionally trained opera singer with over 25 years’ experience, and has a debut album ‘A Song in My Heart’ that went to the Number 1 in the classical charts.
Wynne was awarded the MStJ by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2008 and was awarded the BEM in the Platinum Jubilee Honours List.
He is a regular presenter on BBC Radio Wales and has also presented on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, alongside starring in his very own TV series on BBC One Wales, ‘Wynne At the Deep End’.
He was honoured by the National Eisteddfod with the title of Gorsedd of the Bards, where he presented the BBC2 TV programme, and last year performed for King Charles III and the Queen Consort Camilla at their Welsh home.
Born in South West Wales, Wynne studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio in London.
Throughout this career, Wynne has worked at The Royal Opera House, Paris Opera De Lyon and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He sang the role of PIANGI in the 25-year anniversary performance of The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall to cinemas worldwide and has been released on DVD.
Wynne Evans’ operatic appearances have taken him to major opera houses in the UK and abroad. He regularly performs at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
As a principal tenor with Welsh National Opera, his many roles included DUCA Rigoletto, RODOLFO La Bohème, ALFREDO La Traviata, and TAMINO The Magic Flute. He has appeared throughout the UK, with companies such as Opera North, English National Opera, Scottish Opera and Grange Park Opera, and has recorded several operas including Salome, Ariadne Auf Naxos and Les Martyrs.
As a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur, Wynne was delighted to perform at the teams’ final game at White Hart Lane and reprised the song at the opening of the new stadium to 62,000 fans in 2019.
He is also a Trustee of Grange Park Opera, and Patron of Ty Cymorth and Tenovus Cancer Care.
And not forgetting, Wynne is the Celebrity MasterChef Champion of 2023!