HISTORY Helen Massey and Jonathan Rathbone met at Cambridge University in 1976, whilst singing together in "Iolanthe" by Gilbert and Sullivan. Jonathan went on to the Royal Academy of Music, and Helen to work in the city. Whilst in this situation, Helen found she needed a flat-mate, and Jonathan found he needed somewhere to live. As they had always been very good friends, Helen asked Jonathan to move in. Four years later, they were married!
Jonathan worked as a free-lance singer for about a year after leaving college, until he heard that the Swingle Singers were needing a replacement for Ward Swingle. He auditioned and joined the group in August 1984. Helen carried on working in the city until 1986 when she also became a free-lance singer. Later that year, a vacancy came up in the Swingle Singers for the very high voice. So in September 1986 Helen too joined the group. They then had three idyllic years touring the world singing concerts. Helen became pregnant at the end of 1988, and had therefore to leave the group. Rupert, was born in July 1989. 2 weeks before the birth, Helen was still singing with the group in Sweden! Jonathan was by now the Musical Director, arranger and manager of the group. Their second child, Jemima, was born in October 1992. On the day that Rupert started school, Jonathan decided he would have to leave the Swingle Singers.	: Grasmere (as painted by Jonathan). The family love to holiday in the lake district. Helen's father used to own a caravan near Kendal.