New Release: Sky-Born Music

Sky-Born Music
10th Anniversary Commissions and World Premieres
Milwaukee Choral Artists
Sharon A. Hansen, director
Jeffry Peterson, pianist
with Stefan Kartman, cello
Indra Brusubardis, soprano
Leslie Fitzwater, messo-soprano

It is traditional during an anniversary year that a performing ensemble commissions a piece of music in commemoration of that milestone. Milwaukee Choral Artists went a step further by inviting ten composers to write new works for the ensemble - one for each of its ten years. Founded in 1998 as a chamber ensemble comprising professional solo singers, the Milwaukee Choral Artists is one of only a handful of professional women's vocal ensembles in the country. With its signature lush sound, MCA brings a distinctive and varied repertoire of choral and vocal masterworks to audiences throughout the region.

Track Listing:

1-Padmapani (2007)
Paula Foley Tillen
Thich Nhat Hahn
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2-Potter’s Clay (2007)
Paul Fowler
Naomi C. Rose
Boulder, Colorado

3-A Prayer for Peace (2008)
Paula Foley Tillen
Thich Nhat Hahn
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

4-Lake Song (2007)
Paul Carey
Colette Inez
Chicago, Illinois

5-Sigh No More, Ladies! (1961; 2008 premiere)
Kirke L. Mechem
William Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing, II,3
San Francisco, California

6-8 Three Emily Dickinson Songs (2007)
George L. Mabry
Emily Dickinson
Clarksville, Tennessee

• 6-Heart, We Will Forget Him!
• 7-Going to Him!
• 8-Wild Nights!

9-Sky-Born Music (2007)
Paula Foley Tillen
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Leslie Fitzwater, soprano

10-Soft Voices, Sweet Violets, & Rose Leaves (2007)
Jackson Berkey
Percy Byssche Shelley
Omaha, Nebraska
Stefan Kartman, cello
Indra Brusubardis, soprano

11-Nahuatl Hymn to the All-Mother (2007)
Gilda Lyons
traditional Nahuatl prayer, adapted by the composer
New York, New York

12-Wade in the Water (2007)
Marion Verhaalen
Trad. Spiritual, with additional words by Marion Verhaalen
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

13-The Message (2008)
James Quitman Mullholland
Christopher Pearse Cranch
Indianapolis, Indiana

14-How Can I Keep From Singing? (2007)
David Bridges
Robert Wadsworth Lowry
Nashville, Tennessee


List Price: $18.98 
Our Price:$15.98 
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Eternal Light and the East Carolina University Chamber Singers

Yesterday we told you about our new release Eternal Light by the East Carolina University Chamber Singers. So today we wanted to tell you a little more about the album and the ensemble.

Eternal Light
East Carolina University Chamber Singers
Christopher Grymes, clarinet
Christine Gustafson, flute
Christopher Uiffers, bassoon
Daniel Bara, director

One of America's great university choirs premieres new sacred works for choir and single instruments. Recorded in the sumptuous acoustics of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Greenville, NC.

Hymn to the Creator of Light — John Rutter
“O Thou Great Power in Whom I Move” * — Anthony Maglione
Veni Sancte Spiritus — Mark G. Sirett
Ave Maria — Cary Boyce
Cedit, Hyems (Be Gone, Winter!) * — Abbie Betinis
O quam gloriosum — Howard Helvey
De profundis — Ildebrando Pizzetti
Agnus Dei, (concerto for bassoon and mixed choir a cappella), Op. 167 * — Egil Hovland

1. Agnus Dei
2. Qui tollis peccata mundi
3. Miserere nobis
4. Dona nobis pacem

“I’ve Been in the Storm So Long” — Spiritual, arr. Jefferey L. Ames
“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen” — Spiritual, arr. Gail B. Poch
“Eternal Light” — Leo Sowerby
* World Premiere Recordings


American Record Guide says of The East Carolina University Chamber Singers after their recording of the Gothic Records album "Greater Love":

The East Carolina University Chamber Singers is the cream of the school's four choral ensembles-mainly undergraduate music majors... The choral tone is extraordinarily fine: warm, solid, well blended, and superbly disciplined. These qualities are enhanced by the friendly acoustic of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Greenville. I am inclined to think that the freshness and purity of sound we hear on this recording can only be obtained from well-trained young voices... Daniel Bara directs performances that are thoughtful and sensitive, with remarkable care over phrasing and nuance.