Since their last visit to Bermuda in 2019, The Queen’s Six have kept busy — touring, performing at Windsor Castle, and recording new albums. The acclaimed vocal ensemble are excited about their return trip next month, for a fundraiser in support of Amber’s Wings, a charity that uses horses to help children manage trauma, develop confidence and build meaningful connections.

“It’s wonderful to be doing something for an incredible charity like Amber's Wings,” said Simon Whiteley, a bass singer and founding member.

The Queen’s Six are an a cappella group based at Windsor Castle. Established in 2008, their members regularly perform for the Royal Family, and in 2022, took part in the committal service at Queen Elizabeth II’s official funeral.

Beyond the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, the group has sung at renowned venues such as the MET Cloisters in New York, the Salzburg Bachgesellschaft in Austria, the Margravial Opera House in Germany, and the St Louis Cathedral Basilica in Missouri. Their upcoming tours will take them to the United States, Germany, the Baltic States, Poland, China and Bulgaria.

“We loved it in Bermuda when we were there before,” Mr Whiteley said. “We're just really sad that we can't stay for any longer. Unfortunately, we have to come back. We have some duties with the [Choir of St George's Chapel] in the castle.”

The show next month will be produced by Bermudian Carl Paiva and TJ Armand, a former executive director of the Bermuda Festival, and will include songs from The Queen’s Six’s 2022 album of pop love songs, From Windsor with Love.

“Both sets of concerts [in Bermuda] will have been based around Royal music and a Royal link, but the new programme revolves around our latest album. So there is quite a lot of difference in the actual repertoire that we sing but the themes are broadly the same,” Mr Whiteley said.

Another difference from the previously all-male group is the addition of a female vocalist, Lissie Paul.

“The two altos that came last time are no longer with the group,” explained Andrew Thompson, a baritone who joined The Queen’s Six about a decade ago.

“Previously we were an all-male a cappella ensemble, and now we have one male alto ― a countertenor who sings in his falsetto range ― and then we also have our female member, Lissie, who is a mezzo-soprano.”

The addition of a female voice has not brought dramatic change, Mr Whiteley said.

“I've heard countertenors that sound like female voices. I've heard female voices that sound like countertenors. I think every voice is very different from one another, and so when we change any one member of the group, the sound is going to change a little bit, because all voices are unique.”

Three days before they arrive in Bermuda The Queen’s Six will be in the studio recording.

“One of the wonderful things about The Queen’s Six is we sing a very broad variety of different genres and styles. The group was originally formed from members of the St George's Chapel choir at Windsor Castle,” Mr Whiteley said.

“With that choir, we sing exclusively church music ― sacred music, going all the way back to the 1100s and all the way through a period known as Renaissance music, where we sing music written in the 15th and 16th centuries. [With] this next record, we're going back to those roots, and we're recording English music from the Renaissance period.”

Songs such as Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle, Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx and The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News are among the list of well-received tracks featured on From Windsor with Love.

“It's quite a mixture of different periods. So we've got a couple of songs back from the 1960s and 1970s, and then through the Eighties and Nineties as well,” Mr Whiteley added.

“There is a bit more of an Eighties slant than anything else but then we ended with a very recent song by a chap called Sufjan Stevens, who wrote the music for a film Call Me By Your Name. His song, Mystery of Love, was the most up to date song that we did, I think.”

Like both shows here, the album was produced by Mr Armand.

“He has a huge amount of experience in the pop world, and so we worked with him as the overall producer of the record,” Mr Whiteley said.

“I'm the person who has done most of the programming for the group over the years, although it's a collaborative process. I put the nuts and bolts together, and then we discuss things. But that album was put together mainly between me and TJ, with some input from the rest of the group.”

He believes what people find appealing about performances by The Queen’s Six is that they don’t just sing; they also share stories about life at Windsor Castle and offer glimpses into other aspects of the group’s experiences.

“I always say that we don't put on concerts. We like to put on a show and one of the main things we like to do is make the audience laugh and make them feel at home, which I think a lot of people who come to see us don't expect.

“I think they hear ‘The Queen’s Six’ or ‘Windsor Castle’ and they're expecting the British stiff upper lip kind of thing,” Mr Whiteley said.

In practice, the group typically starts with a serious tone, a piece of Renaissance music, before the members grab the microphone and the jokes begin.

“You can kind of visibly see the audience relax,” Mr Whiteley said. “So it's that mixture of something which is obviously very seriously curated musically, but then also with this much more relaxed side to it as well. I think that's what makes our appeal fairly wide.”

• The Queen’s Six will perform at St Theresa’s Cathedral on April 4 and 5 at 8pm and 8.30pm respectively. Tickets start at $49. To purchase, visitwww.amberswings.netor contact amberswings7@gmail.com. For more information, visitthequeenssix.co.uk