Early Life
Ansell was born in Bognor Regis in 1982, where both his parents were Primary school teachers. Influenced by his mother’s tapes of Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Ansell joined the West Sussex Boys' Choir conducted by Arthur Robson, at the age of eight. He toured extensively with the choir to Florida, Germany, and France, performed in the Royal Festival Hall and sang many times in Arundel Cathedral. Ansell stayed with the choir until his voice broke at the age of 16 when he lost the ability to sing treble but after puberty found he had developed a high tenor voice instead.
He attended the Anglican Bishop Luffa School in Chichester. Ansell achieved his Grade 8 as a treble at 13, and received his Grade 8 as a tenor at 17. He published a solo album in 2001 with his savings.
After a performance of Love Changes Everything at a choral society concert in Littlehampton, his local MP Howard Flight, who was in the audience, arranged for him to have a preliminary audition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Ansell suffered from Glandular Fever from early September 1999 to mid-February 2000, and so the audition was rearranged. After working with music teacher Martin Elliott, he won a place at the Guildhall two years later.
Whilst at the Guildhall Jonathan's singing teacher was Adrian Thompson who has a similar voice to Jonathan and he described their lessons as working together. At that time Jonathan tried his hardest at the academic studies but fell below the standard. Diagnosed as dyslexic, an agreement was reached where by he stayed as a pupil.
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