6 Aug 2018
Regretfully, we announce that former Monteverdi Choir Soprano Jean Knibbs sadly passed away on 31 July 2018. Jean was a loyal member of the Monteverdi Choir during the 1970s and 1980s and was admired by John Eliot Gardiner and her fellow singers. Jean also sang regularly with the BBC singers and the John Aldiss Choir, and frequently recorded with the Ambrosian Singers. She will be greatly missed, and we would like to send our condolences to her friends, family and loved ones.
John Eliot Gardiner writes of “the great sadness when I heard a few days ago of the death of Jean Knibbs, one of the most respected and loyal former members of the Monteverdi Choir. Jean was for me assuredly the single most accomplished all-round professional choir singer I’ve ever encountered in the choir’s 54 years. Nothing seemed ever to phase her and no musical style was beyond her reach: she had a lovely lyrical voice, was as steady as a rock in the soprano lineup, as well as a prodigious sight-reader. She was also a wonderful colleague with a delightful sense of humour. We wish her husband John and all her family our heartfelt condolences.”
