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“Trebles in Paradise”

And vocal paradise is just where the sublime singing of Etherea Vocal Ensemble will take their listeners with their new holiday album, Ceremony of Carols. Etherea, founded in 2008, is a unique group consisting of seven distinguished women’s voices plus the alto-range singing of founder/director Derek Greten-Harrison – who happens to be a vocal switch-hitter, performing as both a countertenor and a baritone! Together, they achieve music of rare technical craftsmanship, vocal precision and exquisite nuance – plus stunning purity and sweetness of sound. Add the scintillating harp wizardry of Grace Cloutier and subtle organ support from Alan Murchie. The end result is a sure-fire collection of seasonal classics that listeners won’t want to put away even after their family Christmas trees are taken down.

Framing a central cluster of individual holiday favorites are two beloved carol cycles with harp: Benjamin Britten’s evergreen A Ceremony of Carols and John Rutter’s Dancing Day – both heard here in definitive and enchanting performances. And we guarantee that nobody (except perhaps for those who have experienced Etherea in concert) has ever heard a performance of “Good King Wenceslas” (one of the central songs) like the one heard here, in which director Greten-Harrison sings both as a choral alto and solo baritone!

Etherea’s Debut Album.

In the run-up to Advent and Christmas, the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge under Andrew Nethsingha presents a joyous celebration of music for the festive season. The disc includes original works by John Rutter, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Elizabeth Poston, and Kenneth Leighton. These are complemented by arrangements of popular songs, and a selection of congregational hymns, all displaying strong ties to the Advent and Christmas seasons.

This disc was recorded in the College Chapel in full surround-sound, which means that it not only sounds spectacular, but recreates to a spectacular degree the experience of listening to the Choir perform in the Chapel.

The Choir of St John’s College, established in the 1670s, is today one of the finest college choirs in the world, known and loved by millions for its recordings, broadcasts, and concert tours.

An old fashioned programme of Christmas songs and carols that children will love to listen to. From the story of 'Cock Robin' to well-known Christmas carols, with a fascinating mix of sounds - bells, music boxes, accordions and pianos.

A programme of music spanning a thousand years of Christmas celebrations, from the evocative medieval plainchant of the Sarum Rite to the warmth and joy of modern Christmas carols. Ethereal choirs from Oxford and Cambridge contrast with robust organ music and some famous and well-loved carols such as 'Away in a manger'.

This Christmas CD was recorded in April 2007 and it is the first CD in a series of four. It is the first CD produced since the choir resumed its musical ambitions under its present conductor, Christoffer Holgersson, in 2001.

Few festivals are as rich in music as Christmas. And the thirst for music at Christmas seems never to be satisfied. The Christmas message of peace and goodwill is always relevant, whether we are thinking of our 'little world', our family and friends, or look out across the 'big world'. And perhaps, in times of tumult and struggle, it is all the more important to sing songs of peace and reconciliation.

In 1917 the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged Nine Christmas Carols for the choir that he got together in the ambulance unit in which he was serving in Greece. A knowledge of this background gives an extra dimension to performing these settings. How strange the carol God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, with its message "Now to the Lord sing praises… and with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace", must have sounded as it was sung by the young soldiers in the presence of war and privations.