2010 - The Year in Review

This video was just posted by snowy0155 from Japan, and I love, love, love it! It's a review of all the Libera concerts that she went to in 2010! She has scenes from the Narita Airport in Tokyo and the concerts in Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Arundel, Dallas, Ft. Worth, St. Louis, London and Beverly! Sorry I didn't get to meet her in Nashville or Atlanta, but my mom says she met her in St. Louis! What a great fan, and what a great review of Libera in 2010!

Happy New Year!

This video was done for Libera and its fans by djkoy from the French forum. It's a little Christmas and New Year's put together. It has really cool graphics and even fireworks at the end!



Happy New Year everyone!  :D

YouTube Ranking

Libera's YouTube page shows that they are ranked 89th in number of video views this week in the Musicians category.

Congratulations, Libera!  :D

Update: And just 12 hours later, they're up to #57!!!  Wow!

Update: As of 1-1-11 they are ranked #46! Keep viewing their vids to get the # up!

Thanks to madinelover for seeing this!                                             

25,000 Facebook Followers!

Libera posted on their Facebook page before they even reached 25,000 followers:

"As we pass 25000 fans here at Facebook, we'd like to say Happy Christmas to all our supporters. We've had a really busy week, with TV appearances and carol services, and we are very much looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us."

Thank you Libera. And congratulations on reaching 25,000 Facebook followers! You did it on Christmas Day...well, it's still Christmas Day here anyway! AND MY AUNT WAS THE 25,000th!!!!!

All your fans are looking forward to a great 2011 along with you!  :D

Merry Christmas From Libera!!!

Libera wishes us a merry Christmas this time!!!!  :D



Daniel, Ralph, Stefan, and Sammy explain to us that "it's just very close to midnight" there, and they are just about to do their Christmas service, but, as Ralph tells us while gesturing with what looks like cookies in his hand, their coats are all backwards because they were having "beverages" :) before they went out to sing. Daniel seems to be the only one that remembers that they are actually there to wish us all a Merry Christmas...and then Ralph, Stefan, and Sammy agree.  :)

Mini James (who is just as cute as ever) thanks us all for supporting them this year and wishes us a happy Christmas.

Then Kavana, with the help of the rest of the boys that are there - Jakob, Mini James, 2 little boys I don't know (1 from the Peace CD pic), Barney, Matthew J, Ralph, Stefan, Sam, Daniel, Luke, Josh, Sammy, Ben, and Alex) wishes us all a Merry Christmas!

I love that Stefan is the first to run off. :) Then he kind of slides and looks back like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to go yet, but then everyone follows him.

The little newbie karate chops Kavana. Ben gives a nice Japanese bow. Kavana is jumping up and down in the middle of the throng with his hands in the air, and everyone runs off except Josh and Sammy, who stop to get their food off of the stage, Daniel who apparently is not in much of a hurry, and Sam who is attacked by Kavana. lol

Thanks for the video Libera! We love it! Merry Christmas to you, too!  :)

Merry Christmas!

This is a lovely video done especially for Libera by Pax Tecum from the French forum.




Merry Christmas to you all as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!  :)

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way; When, as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.
Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife,
And knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called his name Jesus.  Matthew 1:18-25

And it came to pass, in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxation was first made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David),
To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the gloriy of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.   Luke 2:1-20

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.   John 3:16

Peace Deluxe USA Update

The Amazon.com website says Peace Deluxe will be released in the US on February 15, 2011. It is available for pre-orders at $31.01 here.

Interview on "Inspirational Breakfast" Radio Show

Wow, these boys sure have been busy during their Christmas vacation! Daniel and Mini James did an interview on a radio show called "Inspirational Breakfast!" The radio show's website says, "Cute choirboys Libera, stars of BBC's 'Last Choir Standing' and dubbed "the ordinary boys who sing like angels", will be providing the seasonal soundtrack." Thank you to Inna for uploading it to YouTube! :)



Daniel and mini James did a really good job! Daniel says the highlight of his time in Libera was appearing on the "Last Choir Standing" TV show. When asked to explain how the choir gets new members, Daniel says, "If someone's really talented in Libera, they would automatically go into the main group. But when you're like 7, (and he says to mini James) like you were to start off with, we trained him up and now he's good." Isn't that so sweet! I love Daniel! :)

Daniel's favorite Peace song is "Lullaby," and mini James' favorite is "When a Knight Won His Spurs." The host asked what's the worst thing Libera ever did that the choir master knew nothing about. They were both pretty quiet. Ha! Are these 2 hiding something? Or are they just really, really good, and he asked the wrong boys that question. lol

I did not know that they sing at St. Philip's but tend to move to different churches maybe every couple of weeks to do different services.

And yes, they do get the gifts that fans give them at M&G's. Daniel says the best presents have been "massive, cuddly bears saying 'Well Done.'" And mini James likes the "loads of letters from everyone."  :)

Now for the big news! They said that coming up in the new year they are GOING ON TOURS TO SOUTHEAST ASIA AND HOPEFULLY CANADA!!!  Could someone please help all the Canadians up off the floor cause they just fainted! lol  Not sure when these concerts would be. Spring? Summer? What does this mean for another USA concert? Maybe they would connect a Canada and USA trip! Can't wait to find out!!! But this makes a LOT of people very happy to hear!  :D

Libera on "This Morning" TV Show!!!

Libera appeared on the ITV television show "This Morning!"



There were 12 boys - Freddie, Jakob, Stefan, Ralph, mini James, Cassius, Kavana, Carlos and Daniel in the front, and Matthew R-A, Sammy and Luke up in the back.  They sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and it was just beautiful! I loved everything about this! Mini James sang the solos at the beginning, middle and end and did a great job. I could hear Daniel singing the "aah's." The set was all sparkly and festive in gold and white. Their white robes looked great there. And all the boys looked like they really enjoyed being there and singing. I'm smiling really big! Thanks for the great Christmas gift Libera!  :D

Libera on BBC Breakfast!!!

This is an interview on the BBC Breakfast TV show with Freddie, mini James, Ralph, Kavana, Jakob, Daniel, Josh and Stefan!



The host introduced them as "one of Britain's best choirs." While showing a clip of "Deep Peace," they played musical chairs and put little Freddie up front on the couch since we couldn't see him very well in the back. During the interview mini James, Josh, Kavana, and Daniel told about their ages, how long they've been in the choir, how often they practice (1 hour 4-5 times a week), and what kind of songs they sing. Then they played an older clip of their signature song, "Libera."

Next there was more interview time, and Kavana mentioned that he was only 7 years old when they sang at Yankee Stadium for the Pope and a crowd of 70,000! They talked about their popularity and sell-out concerts in Japan. Mini James said, "The people are really, really friendly, and they just give so much support. You just really like them."  :) 

Then they sang "In the Bleak Midwinter" a cappella! Ralph sang solo at the beginning, and it looks like mini James sang solo at the end. It sounded really nice with beautiful harmonies! And Josh's hair is really, really long! He gave everyone their notes and directed them in the beginning! He can come conduct our choir any time!  :)  Another great appearance by Libera!

Descriptions of St. Philip's Christmas Services

A girl named lucyjubilate from the Dreams forum got to go to St. Philip's Church for Evensong on December 5. She said,

"There were only around 15 people. On the 5th it was not the full choir, the men's choir was missing and only less than 20 boys presented (if I remembered right, the boys who presented were: Stefan, Daniel, Ralph, Henry, Luke, Freddie, Kavana, Jakob, Sam Leggett, Alex, Sammy, Matthew RA, Cassius, Carlos, Dylan Duffy, Mine or Sere Akbopome and the boy sitting between Tom and Ralph on Peace leaflets). But the boys did a great job all the same! Stefan and Daniel's high notes were quite amazing. And in one song which emphasized the lower parts I could hear Sam's voice clearly! He sounded really great so it's a pity we did not have the chance to listen to his solos on CDs. The only thing worried me was Ralph seemed to got his left leg hurt and was carrying walking sticks... and Jakob holding the music book together with him while singing. Hope he's much better when I see him tomorrow. I also saw Eleanor that day, she said one prayer and helped to collect donations. Mr Prizeman directed the boys and played the piano, he also played the organ at the end of the service and it was really beautiful!"


They have had a lot of snow in London which has made it difficult to travel. Yesterday morning's service was attended by paul30003, and he wrote,

"Well after a much delayed journey, I arrived at St Phillips at about 9.40 am, just 5 minutes before morning mass was about to start. I received a warm welcome, (I think my presence was especially welcomed as there was very few people at the service.) The church had a special guest, The Bishop of Croydon.

The service began and the choir stepped out from the vestibule, present where only 3 older members that I could recognise, they were, Josh Madine, EDIT: (I think it was Josh with very long hair.) Sam Coates, and Callum Payne. Bit disappointed that no other current members where there, but was hopeful for the evening service. The adult choir sounded wonderful, and was conducted by Mr Prizeman."

Lucy also went to the morning service yesterday, and she wrote,

"As for the morning service, this time only part the men's choir presented. Both Big Ben and Simon Lewis sounded brilliant with their solos. They sang Agnus Dei and Creator of the Starry Height, which had exactly the same tunes as Libera'a Agnus Dei and Sempiterna, but the lyrics were different. So those two Libera songs sourced from two traditional hymns? Or are the two traditional hymns also writtern by Mr Prizeman?


Then Lucy got to go to their Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols last night! She said,

"Hello guys! I'm back to my place from Norbury and I did have a great time! The service was awesome! Forgive me if you feel I am taking it as a Christmas carols concert... lol

I arrived at the church around 6:00pm and sat in the third line on the left half. By the time the service began the church was almost full and most of those attended were the boys' families. Mr Prizeman began to play the organ by 6:15 and the service started a little bit later than 6:30. As I have imagined the choir was almost "full" today. Everyone was there except Mini Ben... maybe he's too busy with school or failed to come for the bad weather. Jonathan, Liam and Tiarnan were wearing men's choir's robes and they looked quite handsome in them. It seemed Michael H was there but he got his hair cut I could hardly recognize him... Oh, and Ralph's leg is OK now for he could walk normally. Henry seemed to have caught a cold so he did not join the choir and sat among the audiences.

The nine lessons was about the Genesis and the born (birth) of Jesus Christ. Nine different people read different parts from the Holy Bible. And two of the readings were done by Sammy and the new boy Barney! And he sounded quite good. The others who did the readings seemed to be the families or local people. I counted the porgramme and they sang 17 carols in total! And we joined the choir to sing 5 (Once in Royal David's city, O little town of Bethlehem, Silent night, While shepherds watched and O come all ye faithful) of them. It feels quite good to sing together with the boys! Stefan, Ralph, Jakob and Daniel did most of the high notes. And the men's choir sounded brilliant, too. In one song (The angel Gabriel) Josh sang the solo with his low voice and it was really beautiful! The service lasted for about one hour and a half.

After the service a nice lady sat behind me asked me whether I enjoyed it (so she recognized I'm a Libera fan, lol). And this lady was Tiarnan's grandmother! She was really really nice and encouraged me to say hello to her grandson. But I know this was not a Libera concert so I asked her to introduce me... and she did! So this was the first time I ever spoke in person to one of the boys (hope I can go to a M&G someday...). And the boys' families are soooo nice and understanding.

So this is all that I can remember. And this will be one of the best memory I have ever had."


The songs that they sang for Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols -

Conditor Alme Siderum (this hymn had the same tune as Libera's Sempiterna but with different lyrics)

Once In Royal David's City

Angel Tidings

As Joseph Was A-Walking by Terry

Hodie by Sweelinck

Wolcum

There Is No Rose by Britten

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Lully Lullah (same lyrics with the famous Coventry Carol but a different tune, and Ralph's solo and high notes here were amazing)

O Magnum Mysterium by Lauridsen

Silent Night

The Angel Gabriel

And the Glory of the Lord by Handel from Messiah

Poor Little Jesus

While Shepherds Watched

Shepherd's Pipe Carol by Rutter

Mary's Lullaby by Rutter

O Come All Ye Faithful


I can't imagine getting to go to that Christmas carols service! To sing along with them would be heavenly! What a great start to the Christmas season. Makes you remember that Christmas isn't about shopping and gifts, baking cookies or a big Christmas dinner. It's a special time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!  :)

Our nativity scene

You Can Help Libera Earn Commission

Libera just posted to their Facebook page:

"Thank you to all those who make their Amazon purchases via our link. We receive a small commission from Amazon on everything sold this way. You don't need to do anything special - just go to http://snipurl.com/libshopusa and shop as usual."

"It applies to anything you buy - not just our CDs..."

Cool! So if you're shopping on Amazon.com FOR ANYTHING, not just their CD's, go through Libera's link and Libera will get commission for it!!!! Amazing!!! That's awesome!!!  :D

Christmas 2006 Radio Interview

Aled Jones interviewed Libera on his Good Morning Sunday (Christmas special) radio show in December 2006. You can hear the voices of Josh Madine, Liam Connery, Ben Phillip, Ed Day, Tom Cully and Robert Prizeman. I have a hard time telling the difference between all the boys' voices. (I'm sure THEY can tell.) But I'll do my best. This was posted by LibeLA with special thanks to Jimmy Riddle for sharing the audio links.
 

 
 
Aled: Also crowding around the studio are Josh, Liam, Ben, Ed and Tom. Have I got that right?
 
Boys: Yes.
 
Aled: And they are the boys from my favorite boy band, of course, Libera, with their director, Robert Prizeman, hiding in the corner. How are you?
 
Boys: We're good.
 
Aled: Are you tired?
 
Boys: Yes.
 
Aled: You were singing last night in Midnight Mass. How did it go?
 
Boys: Kind of cool, ?, so early in the morning.
 
Aled: And I used to love Midnight Mass for the simple reason that I used to sort of sit there. Just before the bell hit midnight, I used to say to my fellow choristers, "What are you going to get from Father Christmas tomorrow?" And then suddenly the bell would go, "Dong!" And we'd go, "What are you going to get today?" You know it was the latest I was ever up. It just shows how really old-fashioned we were in Ba? Cathedral, I suppose. You've had a fabulous year. You've done all kinds of things. You've got lots of tours lined up in the future as well?
 
Boy:  Yeah, we're going to Japan. We're going to Germany. Places like that.
 
Aled: Fantastic.
 
Boy: Cool places, so cool places.
 
Aled: A week ago I know you were singing at the Albert Hall with Jose Carreras. Now come on, what was that like?
 
Boys: It was well good. He makes a big ending of every song. It's so cool. Everyone was, at the end, banging their seats like that. It was well good.
 
Aled: I think you should pull a few crackers (Christmas poppers with prizes in them). Go on. There you go. Grab a few....I won again.
 
RP: I won at last.
 
Aled: I won a huge paper clip. Does anybody want it?
 
Boys: (happy noises) Ooh, look! What are they called? Marbles!
 
Aled: Don't eat them! Please.
 
RP: Dont' lose them either. (That's a joke that means please don't lose your mind.)  :)
 
Aled: (laughs) No, please don't lose your marbles.
 
Boys: I got a Japanese fan!
 
Aled: See! You've got a Japanese fan for your trip to Japan! It was meant to be.
 
RP: That's extraordinary. What a coincidence that is.
 
Aled: I think you've just knocked out your musical director, but hey-ho! They're two a penny!
 
RP: (laughing)
 
Aled: Any jokes?
 
Josh: What kind of birds can write?
 
Aled: I don't know. What kind of bird can write?
 
Josh: A PENguin.
 
Aled: Oh dear.
 
Tom: (not sure what he says)
 
Aled: They really are. Any more?
 
Liam: Why didn't the skeleton go to the New Year's Eve party?...He had no BODY to go with.
 
Aled: (laughs)
 
RP: That's not bad.
 
Aled: You won the prize, and for that you have a chocolate Father Christmas.
 
Boys: (gasps)
 
Aled: That was a tremendous joke. Well done. Help yourselves to some of these chocolates before you go.
 
Boys: Oh, yes, please. I'm getting that one.
 
Music: "Silent Night"
 
Aled: It could only be Libera singing "Silent Night." And they're back. Tom, Josh, Liam, Ben and Ed. What do you feel like when you hear yourself singing like that?
 
Boys: You feel like it just sounds different.
 
Aled: Are you proud that your voices are on record?
 
Tom?: It's really good, cause your like friends go, "Oh yeah, I've got a CD out." And they go, "What?!" He goes, "Yeah?" I'm like, "Yes."
 
Boy: They say stuff like, "Ah, I saw your face in Sainsbury's."
 
Tom: And they're like, "In the meat section." (everyone laughs)
 
Aled: It's quite unusual on this CD, the Angel Voices one, is that your photos are on the front for the first time. So you've been anonymous up until now.
 
Boys: I know. It's kind of cool. We've revealed ourselves.
 
Aled: You just carry on.
 
Boys: Oh, yes. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
 
Aled: We'll just run into Kerry W's show. He won't mind at all. Now one question, Thomas, I'm NOT going to ask you is, "What are you going to do when your voice breaks?" I used to get that ALL the time as a choir boy. It used to drive me mad. Do you get it?
 
Tom: Sometimes it's like I don't think about it at all. It's like, "What am I going to do?" And I don't know myself. I'm just going to go, "Yes," and just walk away. Actually I've changed my answer. I'm going to make a hit album.
 
Aled: Is that what you've decided to do?
 
Tom: Yes called "Tom."
 
Aled: Just "Tom?"
 
Tom: Just "Tom."
 
Aled: I think Tom Jones might have done that before you, but I'm not quite sure. But you'll sell more than him anyway.
 
Tom: Definitely.
 
Aled: (laughs)
 
Tom: By far.
 
Aled: But your ambition, by the sounds of things, is to carry on singing with Libera?
 
Tom: Yeah.
 
Aled: You seem to all love it.
 
Boys: Yes. We're all good.
 
Aled: And good luck in Japan.
 
Boys: Thank you.
 
Aled: You get the best gigs. I think I've got Southend and Worthing coming up. But you know, it's with joy in my heart that I go to these places. You, Japan! Fair enough. Well, you're all going home for Christmas now. What are you hoping for?
 
Josh: Electronic stuff.
 
Boys: That's all of the cool stuff this year. Yes.
 
Tom: An iPod? Why do you want an iPod? Do you have a PSP, Josh? You have videos, MP3, pictures. What else do you need?
 
Aled: He's trouble, isn't he? Well, listen, happy Christmas to all of you. Thanks so much for coming in this morning. Let's pull a few more crackers. I know that you've been eyeing up the chocolate all morning.
 
Boy: We have.
 
Aled: So feel free. There we go! You won one! Well done. (noises) A circular dice?. There is a theme going on here.
 
Boy: A pack of cards! A pack of cards!
 
Aled: Well listen. You're already into the chocolate, I see. Feel free to take everything. We've got a little bag of minced pies for you as well. There you go. For you to nibble on the way back home. You haven't got very far to go, I know that. Have you got a message for everyone listening at home from Libera?
 
Boys: Merry Christmas!
 
Aled: Thanks guys for coming in. Merry Christmas to you, too.
 
Boys: Merry Christmas. Oh, thank you, Ed.
 
Aled: Well, as the boys tuck into their chocolate, let's have some music, shall we? This is Brenda Lee. I might have a bit of chocolate myself.

Sam Coates

Steven Geraghty & Sam Coates 2002 - "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day"

It's always great to hear about former Libera members going on to be successful. Sam Coates was a Libera member from 1997-2005 (I'm not positive on those dates). He is 22 years old now and still works for Libera behind the scenes. (I actually met him at the Nashville concert!) He is listed, along with Ian Tilley and Robert Prizeman, as a producer and audio mixer of the Peace album. I found a website for Best Shot Theatre that wrote about him:

"Sam is an established singer and pianist, a multi-instrumental woodwind player, a music teacher, producer, music technologist and both choral and musical director. As a member of the World Famous Boy Choir 'Libera', he toured Europe and the Far East extensively where the group have had No.1 records. He has recorded six albums with them and has sung on film soundtracks such as Romeo and Juliet and Hannibal. He has recorded with artists such as Bjork, Elton John, Pavarotti and Hayley Westenra. Now he is a freelance producer for the group and for other classical crossover artists including Aled Jones. He has musically directed amateur and youth groups such as the Magdalene Players, Purley Youth Theatre and Graveney School - including West Side Story and Bugsy Malone."

Fuchsia - Sam is on the left

Sam has now helped to form a 5-member a cappella group called Fuchsia. They have a nice classical/jazz sound. On December 22, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. they will be singing Christmas a cappella music in the Front Room of Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank, London.

You can click on the links to view their website, Facebook page and MySpace page. Each page also has nice samples of their music.

TV Appearance on Dec. 22, 2010!

This is so exciting!!! Libera will be giving a live TV performance in the UK on December 22, 2010 at 10:30 a.m.! They will be on the ITV television show "This Morning." The ITV website's videos are only viewable in the UK, so hopefully someone will put it on YouTube so we all can see it. Thanks to Jimmy Riddle for alerting us to this! Wonder what Christmas song they will sing. Maybe it'll be mini James' "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!"  :)

Update from Libera on Peace Deluxe

Libera knows about the current shortage of Peace Deluxe. They posted on their blog this morning:

"Apologies to our US supporters who were expecting Peace: Deluxe Edition to be available this week. Due to some logistical issues EMI tell us that the release has been delayed. You should see it becoming available at Amazon.com and the like from next week.

In the meantime we understand that Amazon.co.uk does ship to the USA and that some of our American supporters have had good experiences."

Everyone I've heard of has gotten their Amazon UK order VERY quickly, so for now click on the link in the post from Aug. 8th to order.

I think a lot of people in the Philippines keep asking for it to be sold IN their country, because they don't have credit cards to order it from Amazon UK. They need some smart business person to buy 1,000 CD's from the UK and sell them at a store. They could make quite a profit.  :) 

Peace Deluxe USA Release

Well, the December 7th US release date for Peace Deluxe has come and gone. I know that many people in different countries are having a difficult time finding Peace Deluxe. As you know from prior posts, we ordered ours from HMV in Japan. But we wondered if the rest of America would be able to buy it starting yesterday.

We went to Borders Bookstore (which always carries Libera) and Barnes & Noble Bookstore last night. I didn't think we'd find a huge Libera display, but there's NO Peace Deluxe in sight! We had employees of each store look it up. It's nowhere in their systems! Nothing at BestBuy either. The B&N guy said it looks like it's available only through Amazon.com. 

The US and Canada Amazon sites both show Peace Deluxe as "Temporarily Out of Stock." When you go to Libera's Facebook page and click on Peace Deluxe, orders through the US or Canada Amazon send you directly to Amazon.co.uk.

So here is a compilation of sites we know carry Peace Deluxe -

USA            Amazon                   $16.98              Release date Feb. 15, 2011  link

Canada       Amazon.ca              $18.99              Release date Feb. 15, 2011  link

UK*            Amazon.co.uk           12.99 BPS       In Stock  link *
                   HMV                          12.99 BPS       In Stock  link

France       VirginMega                9.99 Euros     Appears to be In Stock  link 
                   FNAC                         9.99 Euros     Appears to be In Stock  link
                   Amazon.fr                  Currently unavailable   link

Germany    Amazon.de              27.98 Euros     In Stock  link
                    JPC.de                     24.99 Euros     In Stock  link

Italy            Space1999records   16.10 Euros     Backordered  link 

Japan          HMV.co.jp               3372 Yen         In Stock  link 
                     tower.jp                   2698 Yen         In Stock  link

So. Korea     YesAsia                   $21.99              In Stock  link

Singapore    HMV Citylink Store    ?                   Someone bought it there

*by ordering through this particular link to Amazon.co.uk, Libera gets a percentage of the sale.


To get the Japanese green Peace Deluxe - New Edition with the extra Japan video footage -

Japan only   Amazon.co.jp          2809 Yen         In Stock  link
                      HMV.co.jp               3500 Yen         In Stock  link
                      tower.jp                   3500 Yen         In Stock  link 


If anyone knows of any other places to find Peace Deluxe, please let us know.  :)

Libera on a New Japanese Christmas Album

Libera is featured on a new Christmas CD from EMI Japan called "Aura Christmas." There are 12 songs on the CD, and "Silent Night" with solo by Tom Cully is track 3.

Interestingly, track 10 is "White Noel - Sketch Piano Version" written and performed by Akira Senju who also wrote the music for Libera's "Eternal Light."

The CD is 1800 Yen at HMV.co.jp or Tower.jp.

Peace Deluxe Korea Version

I am wondering if this will help anyone in Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines. YesAsia.com has the Peace Deluxe - Korea Version available for DVD Region Code 3 (well, that is what the YesAsia web site says. See comment below). It is $21.99 and is eligible for free international shipping. They will not ship to Hong Kong, however. You can see their site here.

I received a comment that I'd like to share here also just in case you don't click on "comments."

Anonymous said...

I bought the Korean edition while in vacation in Korea. The calendar is actually stapled together. And I can confirm that the DVD is actually region-free like the edition from other countries.

I took some pictures of the merchandise here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/115695052236112610647/LiberaPeaceDeluxeEditionKoreanEdition?feat=directlink.

Thank you so much for this! If you click on the link, you can see the pictures taken. I especially like the picture of the store display showing Peace Deluxe at #6 on the Korean charts! Also, the Korean version looks like it has the words to the songs printed on the back of the mini-poster. Very helpful! That area of mine is blank, because the English words are already on the back of each calendar section.

Christmas Fan Video

Well, Libera hasn't put out a Christmas Greetings video like last year yet (hope they will), so until then, this is a really nice video done by djkoyottes from France. It's set to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with James Mordaunt's solo. And djkoyottes includes all my favorite scenes from the new Peace Deluxe videos! Great job!

Libera on a New Classical Album

EMI just released a classical compilation 2-CD album, and Libera has a song on it! The previously recorded "Gaelic Blessing" (Deep Peace) with solos by Stefan and James T. is on Disc 1, Track 8. The album can be purchased at Amazon.co.uk for 8.99BPS here.

Tom Cully's Privacy

2 days ago Tom Cully posted this status on his MySpace page:

"please do not take my pictures and videos and post them on to other websites, this is one reason i keep my privacy settings so high.” Mood: annoyed

A few of you wrote wondering what I thought about this. Thank you for your notes. I didn't answer right away, because I wanted to think about it. I don't have a MySpace page or any way to ASK Tom what he means. Only HE could really answer that. 

I don't think he is referring to photos taken while he was in Libera or while he is now working for Libera as Assistant Sound Technician. He obviously knows those pictures are being taken by fans, and he smiles and poses for them. I think he doesn't want his PRIVATE pictures taken and posted (like the ones that only his friends can see), and he doesn't want his new song videos put up on YouTube by other people.

I've seen a few people who took his MySpace profile picture and made it their avatar. He may not like that. But I think his biggest concern is videos on YT that have the actual recordings of Tom's songs, pictures (these look very private) and videos. I'm not sure what this fan's motivation is for doing this. While they ARE really good advertisements for Tom, if the real Tom wants to post stuff on YouTube, he can do it himself. I wish he would.  :)

Tom has the potential to be very successful in music, but he's still only 16. Now he has to deal with fans without the protective umbrella of Libera. And now that he's advertising himself on MySpace, it opens him up to fans more than ever. Someday he may even have the paparazzi chasing him. :) I like the way Ben Crawley handles himself. Stay warm and friendly with your fans, but keep your private stuff private. Only let your friends see your private pics, and know who your real friends are.

Tom took his songs down over a month ago saying that he's going to put out an LP in 3 months that we can buy. I hope that he is copywriting all of his songs. There ARE people who would like to steal his intellectual property and claim it as their own. And he shouldn't sign anything without a good lawyer. Think Paul McCartney.  :)

As fans, we should just keep supporting him. He's very talented and learning all he can in school. And in return we'll get to hear his new music when he puts it out. 

Update: On Dec. 5, 2010 Tom updated his MySpace status again saying, "one example of how pictures are being misused" and gives a link to a Korean blog. "Mood: angry" Well, now we know what he's talking about. Overly zealous fans have somehow gotten his private pictures (which look like pictures my friends and I put up on Facebook) and put them on a public blog. I'm very sorry about this. Hopefully these "fans" will see his message, remove his private pictures and be more careful next time about what they post.

As a fans we walk on a very fine line. I have gotten Libera pictures that I've chosen not to post. It's hard to explain. Let's just say that they were on tour but did not know their picture was being taken, so I chose not to post those. These pictures of Tom are a step beyond that. The Korean blog may not be the one that broke into his MySpace or FB (if he has one). They may have gotten them from somewhere else that also got them from somewhere else. It may be other kids at his school that are posting them. Who knows? But each of us must be careful not to spread them around and respect his privacy.

Update #2: On December 6 the Korean blog that Tom mentioned posted this message in English: "I feel deeply sorry Libera. I promise that I am going to close my blog and make an apology to all of you. Tom, One of these days I will apologise to you, Libera and all the fans of you."

I feel badly for this blogger. He/she is probably a big fan of Libera and just went too far in their enthusiasm. They may be just a kid, too. Now they know what is and is not acceptable. I'm all for learning from our mistakes and forgiving each other.

Snow In London!

If you've been watching the mini-angels spinning weather map, you know it's been snowing in London! I love snow! Wonder if the schools are closed? Our's never close. We had NO snow days off school last year. We did have one "cold day" though. lol The snow plows and salt trucks just come out and keep everything going - even the airports.

I found this AP picture taken 2 days ago in a Croyden park. It's soooo pretty!

Libera on a New Christmas Album

EMI has released a new 2-disc Christmas album called "Songs of Praise and Radio Times Christmas Carols Album." Libera has 2 previously-released songs on it.

1. "Silent Night" - solo Tom Cully, Disc 1, Track 8
2. "The Lamb" - solo Benedict Philipps, Disc 2, Track 21

It is selling on Amazon.co.uk for 8.99BPS. Click here to see it. 

Christmas Services at St. Philip's Church, Norbury

Mr. Prizeman and many of the members of Libera attend St. Philip's Church in Norbury. The church website has posted the schedule of their Christmas services here. Give the schedule time to come up. When I did it, it was a little delayed. Thank you to Viabuona for watching out for this information.  :)

Sunday, December 12th, 9:45 a.m. - Toy Service where you bring toys to donate to the needy. How nice!

Sunday, December 19th, 6:30 p.m. - Festival of 9 Lessons and carols by candlelight, with full choir.

Friday, December 24th, 11:30 p.m. - Midnight Eucharist. Choral Eucharist to welcome the infant Jesus, with full choir. A joyful service to start the celebration of Christmas.

Saturday, December 25th, 10:00 a.m. - Christmas Day Family Holy Communion.

Sunday, December 26th, 10:00 a.m. - Feast of St. Stephen. No services or Choral Evensong at St. Philip's today. Joint service at St. Stephen's Parish Church.

So now you know how Libera members celebrate Christmas! It's very different than here in the U.S. We go to church on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights plus Wednesday night (youth group). All our choir numbers and special music/offeratories this month will be Christmas music. And we have a Christmas cantata on Sunday the 19th, which is Handel's Messiah every 2-3 years. But we don't have church on Christmas Eve! That sounds really nice!  :)

London & Beverley Screenshots

I made some screenshots from LibeLA's amazing video at the London and Beverley concerts. These are sooo good! And all the boys were so kind after the concert!

Tom Cully & Sam Coates working at the London concert.

Tom Cully after the London concert.

I think he's smiling at LibeLA cause she brought him chocolate!  :)

So cute!

Matthew, Alex, Josh

Sam, Matthew, Alex

Great picture!

My favorite cause Josh is looking at the camera!

Stefan!

Ben - I liked the pic better with LibeLA in it.  :)

Really cute pic of Ralph!

Sam & Tom after the London concert.

After the Beverley concert - Jonathan, Sere, Liam,

 Luke, Sammy & Jakob with Steven in the back.

Liam, Luke, Sammy, Jakob, Matthew R-A,

Carlos, Freddie, Barney? & Dylan.

Hope Jonathan is not waving good-bye for the last time.

Steven & Tom at Beverley.

Tom

Sam & Tom

Ben Crawley. Aww, is that a present from LibeLA?  :)

Kavana, Freddie & Robert Prizeman Interview

Classic FM radio aired an interview with Kavana, Freddie and Mr. Prizeman. Click here to listen.

Kavana and Freddie do a really good job speaking in the interview. And if they think their singing is easy and fun, it just shows what a great choir director Mr. Prizeman is!

In case the interview is removed or to help those who don't understand English, I typed out the introductory article and what they said in the interview.

UPDATE: The interview has now been posted on YouTube, which is helpful in case Classic FM ever deletes it. Click here for the YouTube "video."

Libera Conquer the USA
Friday, 26 November 2010 14:28


As it gets colder outside, could the heat be rising on the quest to crown the UK’s best young singers? With Isabel The Choirgirl on the hunt for a Christmas number one, Libera could be facing stiff competition in an outstanding field of artists.

It’s heartening news for young British singing talent, with quality and depth in the rudest health for years. Libera, the young singers from south London, have been leading the pack for some time now and continue to scale incredible heights.

When Classic FM spoke to them, they told us about their amazing feat of conquering America and how they’re coping with the enviable pressures of performing to the Pope.


Kavana: Hi. I’m Kavana. I’m 11. I’ve been in the choir 4 years now, and I origin from Thailand.

Freddie: Hello. I’m Freddie. I’m 10. I’ve been in the choir for 3 years. We all live in South London.

Kavana: At a younger age I very much enjoyed singing. And either most of the boys join through relations or even school. In fact I was at my primary school, and my music teacher called in, and I went for an audition, and they pick you. Well, not really, but it’s more like you get chosen. But it’s very good, because they let you use the most of your ability, and they make you turn into such a really good singer.

Interviewer: Now Libera have got quite high profile, so I guess this is a taste of being a rock star almost.

Kavana: (laughs) Yeah, it is. I mean we have fans, but it’s more the enjoyment of singing than the enjoyment of fame. I’m pretty sure both of us love going to Libera. I mean we get to see all our friends, we get to travel with our friends, and we get to have like something to do after school.

Interviewer: Now is it very hard work?

Kavana: Not really. I mean it does require a lot of effort, but I mean it’s like a lot of fun, if you understand. So it’s not boring at all. I mean it’s fun, even if it is long, it’s fun, it’s enjoying. It’s a hobby, do it with all your friends, and yeah, so it’s not an effort much at all.

Interviewer: And your plans for the future. Is this something, do you want to make a singing career of your life?

Kavana: When you are in Libera, you do think forward. You do think of, “Should I become a singer,” but most boys in the choir do want to become singers, because they’ve already had all this experience. And it just changes your thought in music.

Interviewer: And Freddie, was it the same with you? At what point did you start singing?

Freddie: I started singing 3 years ago in 2007.

Interviewer: And was it something that you’d always wanted to do?

Freddie: I did want to get better, but I never thought I was very good at singing. We do meet up a few times a week, but it’s not too hard to learn to sing with a group. If you’re taking on from someone else, it’s not too hard.

Interviewer: What do the other people in your class think about you being part of Libera? Do you tell them for a start? I guess there’s no hiding from it, is there?

Freddie: Not really.

Interviewer: Because they probably spot you on the television.

Freddie: Yes, they spot me on the television. Whenever there’s anything to do with Libera, they’re always watching. They always come to concerts when they can, and they think that I’m doing really well.

Interviewer: What do you like most about being part of Libera?

Freddie: I like doing the concerts, because you have the enjoyment of hearing all the music and the parts in harmony.

Interviewer: And Kavana, can I ask you again, because you’ve got a tour coming up, haven’t you, of cathedrals. Is that quite daunting if you have to perform in a place like that?

Kavana: It’s never daunting. I mean if anything it would be very much fun. I mean we get to travel at so many different places, get to see so many historic churches. I mean some people would think, “Oh, that’s boring.” But trust me, if you go into a really big church, you’ll stand by the architecture, and the accoustics sometimes, when you sing in it, it just sounds heavenly.

Interviewer: And of course you’ve got a CD as well. It must be great to be looking along the CD’s in you’re home and thinking, “Well, actually that one there, that’s mine.”

Kavana: (laughs) Yeah, it’s great to have a feeling that you know that you’ve got something to show of all this achievement. And it’s great to hear yourself on a CD singing. Yup, that’s me.

Interviewer: Robert, can I ask you, are they talking it down? Because it is a lot of hard work, isn’t it? I mean they all sound very confident.

Robert: Yes, I mean the thing about it is that they are all doing it of their own free will. It’s their hobby. They don’t have to be there. And so we have to honor that. It’s the only way I’d want to run it anyhow is that everyone actually enjoys the process of doing it. It is a lot of hard work. I mean they learn to read music properly. They sing quite a range of full choral music as well as all the Libera music. So they’re doing an aweful lot of different types of musical activity. And obviously when they go on stage, they know everything by heart. And they learn all of the harmonies. And they even move around on stage. I mean they don’t dance, but there is choreography involved. They might sing the Mozart’s “Requiem” or the Handel’s “Messiah” or something like that as well in a different context. So they have a fantastic range of musical activity, so we try to make it fun and also very varied really.

Interviewer: You travel the world. You appear in some of the biggest venues that can possibly be. So I guess you must have to pinch yourself because you’ve created something amazing.

Robert: Yeah, it’s funny that, isn’t it? I suppose that most things happen gradually. It sort of moves one at a time really, and then you suddenly think that it didn’t do it in one step, if you know what I mean. As you say, it is surprising sometimes. And like a couple of years ago we were out in the Yankee Stadium singing when the Pope visited New York. And there was about 70,000 people in the stadium, and we were actually the only British act that was performing at that. And you do think it’s a great honor, but you never perceive that that sort of thing could happen when we first started. And similarly with the sort of going around all the different churches and concert halls around the world where we do get an amazingly reassuring, a very warm welcome. It’s fantastic.