Tony Backhouse

Tony Backhouse (born 1947) is a singer, musician and composer from New Zealand and is a key player in the Australasian a cappella movement. He played in New Zealand bands such as the Crocodiles, and formed Australian a cappella groups, the Elevators, the Cafe of the Gate of Salvation, the Honeybees and the Heavenly Lights. In NZ, he formed the Napier Gospel Choir. Currently he lives in Sydney and works as a singer, composer, author and workshop leader, in the areas of vocal arranging and gospel music. He composes and arranges mainly for a cappella choirs, always with an ear to vernacular traditions – contemporary funk, African choirs, gospel – and to anything polyphonic. Works that typify his style are Jubilation and (I've Been Given) Two Wing as sung by the Café of the Gate of Salvation.