Saturday, February 26, 2011

Libera Is Coming to North America!

There is an online UK magazine called Time & Leisure and in the interview section there is an article about Libera! It says "Libera comes to the Epsom Playhouse for the very first time on 18 March, before they embark on yet another tour to North America." Aaaahhh!!!!!!! :D So maybe 6-7 boys will go to Japan to promote the new song around April 12 then meet everyone in Canada or the US! I hope I can go see them! And I wonder which boy lives in Epsom. lol

You can read the article here. And here's the article by Chris Wood titled "Treble Tops" in case it ever gets deleted. Thank you again to Jimmy Riddle for finding this!  :D


"When 24 very ‘ordinary’ south London schoolboys get together to sing, something very extraordinary happens.

With ages ranging from as young as seven through to mid-teens, they are into all the things that boys of their age enjoy, but when they don their flowing white robes and become Libera they produce a pure, timeless, mystical music that transcends musical boundaries and confounds the sceptical. Their stunningly original sound freely moves between liturgical, classical and contemporary styles to produce a music that communicates directly with modern mainstream audiences.

Surprisingly, perhaps, given that they and their artistic director Robert Prizeman are all south London orientated (one boy even comes from Epsom), Libera comes to the Epsom Playhouse for the very first time on 18 March, before they embark on yet another tour to North America. Even more surprising is the fact that, despite their huge popularity here in the UK, they are greeted with an almost fanatical adulation overseas.

‘When we visit countries like Japan and the Philippines we regularly visit shopping centres and encounter 50,000 or more screaming fans,’ Robert explains. ‘When we visited Manila we sang a Philippine traditional song and got a fanatical reception. We also topped the album charts while we were there. In this country it’s a little harder to gain acceptance that young boys can sing.’

In east Asia the sounds of Libera are frequently heard on mainstream TV and radio programmes and the group’s CDs ride high in the classical and pop charts of Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. In North America they have performed in front of huge crowds in cities and stadia from New York and Buffalo, Hartford, Albany and Pittsburgh in the east to Los Angeles in California.

Libera – the name comes from the Libera me, a part of the Latin Requiem Mass – are ‘a team’ in Prizeman’s words. ‘There’s a great sense of camaraderie, with the older boys looking out for the younger ones. It’s their hobby, so they have to enjoy it. We make it fun – like the other things they choose to do around their school day.’

Like many things young people do, if they enjoy it the boys will learn quickly. ‘All the Libera repertoire has to be learnt, from the simplest of plainsong through to complex seven or eight part harmonies,’ Prizeman explains. We teach them to read music. The classical pieces we sing have to be reproduced accurately."

14 comments:

  1. Good news - much thanks!:)

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  2. Hi, everyone! I am still hoping for a concert in Kitchener, Canada. I don't know if it will be in the near future, since the Centre in the Square set out its schedule before the fall of 2010, and unfortunately, Libera was not included. I'm not sure about any summer performances, either, since the Centre was apparently not open for major performance last summer due to cost - cutting. I did e-mail the Centre after I got home from the concert in St. Louis, and left some information with the programming manager. Hopefully, they will consider Libera for the 2011-12 season. Realistically, I think that this is the best that can be done, but it remains to be seen what actually does happen.

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  3. Great stuff! I'm hoping for details to surface soon about their North American Concert. I know I'd love to catch them live & State-side. Otherwise I'm going to have to bust out my passport! Here's hoping they make a pit stop somewhere in the East Coast.

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  4. hi lexi. how are you? been a while. am asking permission if i could "highlight", rather copy/paste the 4th part of the write-up which mentions mr. prizeman's manila visit. thanks so much. regards and take care! (as always, will credit you & your site.)

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  5. Thelma L. Guzman ‎---taken from a UK magazine "time & leisure". an article by chris wood "treble tops".. again, thank you lexi (mini angels) for sharing an updated information about libera.
    a few seconds ago · Like

    ---lexi, this is my FB comments on the status i posted (the 4th part of the article stated by robert prizeman). thanks so much.

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  6. Hi everybody! Hope we get to meet you all at a concert in Canada or the US. It's so hard to wait to find out where the concerts will be. Maybe we'll find out next week. :)

    Hi Mrs. Guzman! Sure you can copy any time, but I just copied the article from Time & Leisure Magazine. And Jimmy Riddle found it for us all. :)

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  7. I Wonder If Tom Will Be There , Even Though He's Not in Libera Anymore But He is Still Involved and Helping Behind the Scenes..I Would Love to Meet Him Along With Josh, Jonathan, Ben, Sam, Alex & Kavana <3

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  8. Hopefully they'll come to New York :)

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  9. Wow, Anon! I didn't think of that! That would be AWESOME if Tom Cully came!!!!! :D

    Hi Alex! I'd LOVE to go to New York. My aunt works in New York City! :)

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  10. Thanks for sharing this post "again"! :)
    and dear Lexi, kindly allow me to get this post to my blog "again" and I'll translate this into Koreans for my fan community to know.
    Thanks again to you and Jimmy Riddle, plus, Time & Leisure magazine :)

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  11. Hey Lexi!!
    Although I cannot go to Epsom next month, maybe they will go to NY (my home) and I could see them there!!! I chatted with some other fans and they tell me not to worry about not making it to Epsom...there is always another time!! :)

    So I am waiting for a another miracle announcement for them saying they'll coming to NY!!!

    Have you ever been to NY? I have never been to Chicago but I could've swear when I was a toddler I've been to Chicago lol :P

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  12. Mini-Angels!
    it's great news.
    may I take a scrap about this to my blog?

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  13. Hi, Hyunju Lee! Yes, you may copy! Thank you for stopping by! :)

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