LIBERA - DEEP PEACE
They come from the mean streets of south London but sing like little angels
(The Evening Standard)
The British boy band Libera have recorded their fifth CD for EMI Classics, entitled Peace. The programme comprises songs drawn from plainsong and traditional hymns, based on themes by Mozart, Saint-Saëns, César Franck and Chopin and by Robert Prizeman and John Rutter. The iTunes bonus track is Bayan Ko (My Country), a patriotic song that has become the unofficial national anthem of the Philippines.
Peace follows the success of Liberas best-selling albums Angel Voices, Free, Visions and New Dawn. Each CD has been characterised by the ensembles distinctive celestial, shimmering sound with mystical chords and ecstatic harmonies.
Liberas founder, the composer/arranger/conductor Robert Prizeman, said, It is a great privilege to work regularly with the young singers of Libera, an honour to play a part in their musical development, to be fired up and challenged by their talent, bubbling enthusiasm and freshness. Each new Libera album offers me unique opportunities to write and arrange music to suit the particular sounds and talents of the current group of boys. The writing and arranging responds to the singers and vice versa there is a mutual inspiration.
The name Libera comes from the bands signature song based on the Libera Me portion of the Requiem Mass. The boys who make up Libera are between the ages of seven and fourteen, come from a variety of backgrounds and attend local schools. Normal boys who still love to play football, skateboard, listen to RnB and punk music, through their involvement in Libera they have travelled the world, recorded movie soundtracks and CDs and served as backing singers to Elton John, Björk and Pavarotti. But, as one of the boys said, The travelling and filming is fun but even if we didnt go anywhere Id still want to do it because I just love singing. That joy of singing comes across clearly in their performances and on their recordings.
Liberas original sound is both ancient and modern. Their flowing white robes symbolise the traditional origins of their style but their music reaches out across generations to a mainstream audience. Over the past decade, Libera have established an enthusiastic fan base in many countries, particularly the US, UK, Japan, the Philippines and Korea.
Libera is well known to British audiences through TV appearances and staged concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Grassington Festival, Abbey Road Studios and Arundel Cathedral and at services in cathedrals and churches across the country. They have appeared as guests on BBC-TVs Last Choir Standing, on the soundtrack for a Waitrose TV campaign and as the subject of a documentary on Songs of Praise. In recent months, the boys have appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, Dublins National Concert Hall and Belfasts St Peters Cathedral.
In the US Libera is known through its concert tours and TV appearances including a nationwide PBS special filmed in Holland. The boys performed a tribute to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007 before an audience that included President George W. Bush and celebrities including Robert de Niro, Cameron Diaz, Diana Ross and Steve Martin. Libera also participated in a Papal Mass at the climax of Pope Benedict XVIs first visit to the USA in 2008 at New Yorks Yankee Stadium before a capacity congregation of 65,000. In 2009, Libera toured the US with dates in, among others, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Disneyland. The boys performance on the Hour of Power was transmitted via television and internet to millions of people around the world.
In East Asia, Liberas music is frequently heard on mainstream TV and radio and their CDs ride high in the classical and pop charts. The boys have sung the music for several feature films and television programmes. Their most recent tour packed out major concert venues in Tokyo for three nights and the boys were feted by thousands of enthusiastic fans who queued for hours to meet them and collect autographs. During their debut tour in the Philippines, Libera topped the album charts and sang in major concert halls in Manila and Cebu crammed full of excitable fans.
Libera tours are currently being arranged in Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US. Tout dates will be announced on Liberas website when they have been confirmed.