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."

German Fan Site

There is another great Libera site for German fans run by our friend mawi. It is called The German Libera Song Page. You can see it here - http://www.libera-songs.de/index.html 

It shows all of Libera's albums with a separate section for Japan-only albums. Click on the album and you can see the song list. The concert section lists all concerts from 2005 to the present. The video section is not completed yet. My favorite section is the song list. It lists each song and which albums that song was featured on. If you click on the song, it gives you the lyrics. I did not know that "Gaudete" has been on 5 albums!

Keep up the good work, mawi!

Libera Promotion in Japan!?

According to an article on Barks.jp that you can read here, (click on the article from Feb. 25), 6 or 7 members of Libera may be going to Japan to promote the new song "Song of Life"!!! It doesn't say WHEN they are going, but the new song debuts on April 12. I'm guessing Ralph will be going, since he sings the solo. Not sure about the others. This is very exciting for the Japanese fans. Will keep watching for more details. Thank you to Jimmy Riddle for the link and to Hagy for the interpretation!  :D

Libera Japanese Mini Album "Miracle of Life"

A mini album of Libera songs called "Miracle of Life" is being released on April 13 by EMI Japan! There is no picture of the CD cover yet. Thank you to Hagy for information and help with the Japanese translation. It is available for pre-order for 2,000 yen.

Amazon Japan        link
HMV Japan             link
Tower Records       link
Vanda Japan           link


The songs listed are:

1. "Song of Life" - Theme song of "Madonna Verde" (Takatsugu Muramatsu composer, Robert Prizeman lyrics)
Ralph is apparently the main soloist joined by mini James! See here.  Thank you to Fan de LoK for finding this!  :)

2. Far Away (Theme song of "Ice Wall" Takatsugu Muramatsu composer)

3. You Were There (Theme song of movie "Nobody To Watch Over Me" Takatsugu Muramatsu composer)

4. Salva Me (Theme song of NHK drama "Storm One Day")

5. Eternal Light (Theme song of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Shanghai Expo, Akira Senjyu composer)

6. I Am the Day (Ending song of NTV "person who wanting encounters it most in space")

7. and another (not sure what this is)


So, it looks like Libera has at least 1 new song!!!  I can't wait to hear it!!! And it's composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu! He also composed "Far Away" and "You Were There." The new song will be the theme song for a Japanese TV show called "Madonna Verde." It premiers on April 12 at 22 o'clock on the NHK TV station. The next day the mini-album is released as well as Takatsugu Muramatsu's soundtrack album for the show. That is 2,800 yen here.

"Madonna Verde" was originally a book written in 2008. The story is about a grandmother being the surrogate mother and giving birth to her daughter & husband's child. The daughter can't have any children due to sickness. Is that confusing? :)  You can read about the TV show here.

Two of the stars of the TV show. I think they will play the mother and daughter. :)

Please let me know if I have any mistakes on the translations or any other information! Thanks! :)

Epsom Concert Is Sold Out!

Only 29 days til the Epsom concert, and it has completely sold out! It is a small venue with only 450 seats which will make for a very intimate concert. I have a friend from the US who got the last 3 seats! That is so exciting! Congratulations to all the lucky people who will be attending! Take lots of pictures please! :)

Peace Deluxe Now Available in the US

Peace Deluxe has now arrived in the US! So if you've been waiting to buy it, now is the time! Our local Barnes & Noble store just got it in today! It's in their Classical Vocalists section for $16.99. Our Borders does not have it in store.

It is also in stock at Amazon.com! The price is $16.98. Remember to buy it (and everything else you buy on Amazon) through Libera's snip url so that Libera gets a commission. Just click here to buy Peace Deluxe, and Libera will get the commission.

I also found it available at these sites:

Barnes and Noble         $15.29         link
CD Universe                  $15.39         link
Dearborn Music            $12.78         link
Tower Records              $16.98         link

Fan Poster for Epsom

Only 37 days until the Epsom concert! Getting very excited to see who is singing with the group and what songs they sing! Libera has not released an official poster for it yet, but Libera fan tumtum made up a really nice one. Thank you for sharing this, tumtum! :)

Joe Snelling On YouTube

Joe Snelling left Libera back in 2008. We haven't heard much about him until this song popped up on YouTube. Joe is now 15 years old and featured in a song by AbolishKidd. Don't really know who that is except that he does the rap part. Joe is the high singing voice you hear at the beginning and then throughout the song. Thank you to Treble on the French forum for finding this.

Oli Putland Wrote Back to Me!

Before I posted about Oliver Putland, I wrote to him to see if he would like to check it and make any corrections. And he wrote back to me!!!!

He is so nice and funny and interesting! Wow! I corrected some of the article which you can read here.  I had his starting date totally wrong. I will print his VERY interesting letter IF he says it is OK. Thank you for writing to me, Oli! You're the best! :D

Libera News for 2011

Aled Jones gave an update on his radio show about Libera! Thank you to Jimmy Riddle on the dreams forum for posting it for us to hear. Click here. In case it gets deleted later, here is what Aled said.

"The choir Libera is evolving. Robert Prizeman, their musical director, has been in touch to say that a new team of 7- and 8-year-olds will be starting with them (ah, bless them), most of whom have not sung before. Indeed, they may not even have any concept of what the whole thing's about. They're in for a shock. But we know that several of them will soon be singing in front of thousands and thousands of people, perhaps in a vast concert hall the other side of the world or maybe a small evening service in South London. They'll each add their special character and talents to the group which is constantly changing and challenging. With several international tours planned for this year, a new album and some new songs on the way already, we at GMS wish them all well."

Everyone who is going to the Epsom concert is so lucky. You'll get to see the little newbies! Take pictures! Take pictures! :) AND A NEW ALBUM! AND NEW SONGS! Woo-hoo! 2011 is going to be a great year! :D 

Josh's Hair

Some things in Libera never change. The great music, the amazing treble voices, and the boy's immensely differing PERSONALITIES. :) But there are also many things in Libera that do change. The boys that come and go as their voices change, who is singing the solos, the ever-changing heights of the boys, and the lost teeth. But few things in Libera have changed more than this one: Josh's hair. He has a different hair style every month! Of course, part of the reason is that his hair seems to grow so quickly. Most guys stick with one length and get a trim every now and then. Josh seems to like to...experiment. :) Watch the changes during 2010.

This picture was taken at the Korea concert on April 11th. He looks good, of course, but his hair is maybe a little too short, because you can't really see those curls. ;)

This picture was taken at the Arundel concert on May 15th. Look how long it's gotten in only one month! I'm starting to like it more here, but we still can't really see the curl. And personally, I like guys' hair a little longer. :) At my school, this is as long as the guys are allowed to have it.

Ah! Perfection! Or something very close to it! And it's not just because I took this picture myself. :) I think that it's a really good length here. I took this one in Atlanta on August 10th. His hair has had the whole summer to grow out and personally, I think it's perfect. lol. I like the length and the curl. Wow, I feel really weird saying this. lol. :)

OK, this is where my mom says it's perfect, and I don't entirely disagree. I like the length here as well. It's curly and long, but not TOO long and not in his eyes. I don't know, maybe just a little too long in the back for me. This was taken at the Bristol concert on October 27th.

Now, this one was taken in London on November 19th. I can hardly look at Josh because of how cute Matthew is in this picture and the fact that we don't have many pictures of Matthew yet. But I'll try to yank my eyes off the little cutie to his big brother (who is also a cutie...lol). Here Josh's hair is starting to get too long. Definitely. It's in his eyes, and it just looks like it would be a pain to deal with in the morning (although I'm speaking from a girl's perspective). It's not terrible, but he looks like he's ready for a trim. My hair-stylist aunt always says that right when your hair looks the best, you'll need it cut a week later. I hate that. :p lol

And finally a picture from a TV appearance on December 20th. OK Josh, now it's hit the point of being too long here. Why? Because we can't see his beautiful eyes! He's still cute...it's just DEFINITELY time for a trim. So I'm hoping that if he hasn't already gotten a haircut, he'll get it trimmed or cut now so that it can be back to those middle two by the time they come to the US this Spring or Summer! lol And, oh yeah, please do come back to the US this Spring or Summer. No matter what your hair looks like. Just so long as we can see your eyes. :D

The Very 1st Album

The first full album that St. Philip's Choir (now Libera) ever recorded was "Sing For Ever" in 1988. It is no longer commercially available and very hard to find second-hand.

Well, Liberic is a member of the French forum, and he found one for sale here. This is a site called "In Quires and Places Where They Sing." Colin is in charge of it, and it has an amazing discography of pre-CD recorded church music. That means music only on LP's, 78rpm records or tapes. On the left side of the home page is an online shop, and this is where Liberic was lucky enough to find this rare St. Philip's tape!  :)

I had seen the front of this recording before. Thank you to Liberic for the pictures of his.

But I had never seen the back of it before. How cool is this?!!!  :D

It says, "In the course of one week recently, the boys of St. Philip's Choir appeared on 'Top of the Pops', sang a Mozart mass at Chichester Cathedral and recorded backing vocals for a film soundtrack. It wasn't a typical week, but the span of musical style and presentation was quite familiar.

With the serenity of songs like 'Sing For Ever' and 'Deep Peace,' the calm of hymms like 'The Lord's My Shepherd', and the catchy rhythms and sheer joy of 'San Damiano' and 'Light the Candles', the choir has won a name for itself on a variety of TV programmes from 'Wogan' to the 'Val Doonican Show', from 'Blue Peter' to 'The Rock Gospel Show.'

The boys - who come from schools in Croydon - sing the regular services at St. Philip's church, Norbury. They range in age from 8 to 13 though many stay on when their voices change to sing with the men's section of the choir. With the choir's mix of traditional and popular, new boys to the choir have to show that they can cope with basic dance steps, as well as sit perfectly still for a 15 minute sermon!"

There is so much new information for me there! Wish we had videos of the "Wogan Show" or "The Rock Gospel Show." But the part I like best is the very last line! Basic dance steps and sitting perfectly still?! If you can't sit still in church by age 7, I'll loan you my parents. lol That ought to do it! I was sitting still by age 3! :D 

Fan Video for Jonathan

Yesterday was Jonathan Barrington's 16th birthday! You already know that I think he seems like one of the nicest Libera members. (See here to read it.) This is a video that was made by Brittany from the Philippines. It's one of the nicest fan videos I've ever seen! She has so many great pictures and video clips of him. And the ending is very sweet. Hope he gets to see it! :)