Oliver Putland was a chorister and soloist in Angel Voices (Libera's old name) from 1987-1993. He was born in 1979, so that would mean he started singing at age 7 or 8 until he was 14! And what a voice he had!
The earliest video I can find of him is a Christmas 1991 appearance on a TV show called "Going Live." The St. Philip's Choir does the happiest version of "Winter Wonderland!" Oliver is the tallest one on the front row. He is wearing blue with gold tinsel hanging crookedly around his neck. To the left of him is Anthony Maher. Oliver jumps up and down around 1:03 and 1:08. lol He makes it all look so fun! :D
During the summer of 1992, Angel Voices/St. Philip's Boys Choir appeared on Alan Titchmarsh's BBC TV show "Titchmarsh on Song." It was a 6-part series exploring religious music-making in Britain. Oliver sang the solo for the show's opening song, "Praise to the Lord." If you click here you can watch all 12 of Angel Voices songs from the show. I noticed that Oliver is the soloist for nearly every one. His "O For the Wings of a Dove" is amazing!
Another video from these shows is "Pie Jesus." It has a short interview with Oliver at the beginning. You'll see Aled Jones there also! Oliver then sings from a church balcony. Daren Geraghty (Steven's older brother) and Anthony Maher join in.
Angel Voices also released an album in 1992 titled "Angel Voices."
Of the 20 songs on this album, Oliver is the lead soloist for at least 14 of them. Some call this his solo album. :) The same album was re-released in 1993 under a different record label.
Then in the summer of 1993, Angel Voices appeared on the TV show "Thora on the Straight and Narrow." This was a 4-part series where Thora and the boys explore the narrow path to Heaven and the wide road to Hell. This is a beautiful video of "Amazing Grace" with Oliver singing the solo at the beginning.
After singing with Angel Voices, Oliver went on to perform in musicals with the South Manchester Amateur Operatic Society in Manchester, England. Click here to read a review from 2004 that mentions him in "La Cage Aux Folles." I also read somewhere that he appeared in "Oliver!" but don't see him mentioned in that review.
Well, Oliver is apparently not just a talented singer. He grew up to become an artist and animator, too! He actually started working toward this goal when he was about 12 years old!
He has worked as an animator for 10 years. Part of that on the "Bob the Builder" cartoon! My 4-year-old cousin LOVES Bob the Builder! :D He currently works for Aardman Animation which produces "Wallace and Gromit."
He has a really cool website you can view here, and a YouTube channel with some of his other animation on it. This is a clever cartoon he did called "Foley Flip."
It's really nice to see that a former chorister has gone on to do great things! :)
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