Cai was thrilled to partner with 16 year old Norwegian baritone Aksel in the duet Ave Verum by the Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins. The duet needs a light baritone and Aksel’s voice perfectly complements Cai’s soaring treble voice. Like Cai, Aksel also independently crowdfunded his debut album through Kickstarter and was hugely supportive in giving Cai’s campaign a wider reach.
Before his voice changed to baritone, Aksel Rykkvin (b. 2003, Norway) was regarded as "the world's premier boy soprano", according to Swedish Radio P2. He recorded two critically appraised albums, "Aksel! Arias by Bach, Handel & Mozart" and "Light Divine: baroque music for treble and ensemble" on the Signum Classics label, and was nominated as Newcomer of the year for the Spellemannprisen award in Norway in 2017. After receiving gushing reviews for many major child roles both at the mainstage of the Norwegian Opera & Ballet and in the Children's Chorus, he had his international debut in Paris in September 2017 Rykkvin rose to fame in Norway as a boy soprano singing baroque arias and recorded two albums on Signum Records. You can read more about Aksel here
Sir Karl Jenkins is the patron of Grayshott concerts, where Cai has performed with the resident ensembles, Excelsis and the London Mozart Players. In November 2019, Cai sang his Pie Jesu conducted by Sir Karl himself at his premiere of Miserere which was broadcast on Classic FM.