Libera is Going to Moscow!!!!

Moscow concert poster!

Oh my word! This is unbelievable news! Libera is going to Moscow, Russia to perform a concert there! How exciting is that?! The boys must be thrilled. I wonder what songs they will sing. Will they sing or speak in Russian? What will they get to see and do while they are there? The venue is huge and beautiful! And how cool is it to see a concert poster where the only word I can read is "Libera?!" :D There's not a lot of notice for this concert, so if you live in Russia and can get to Moscow, tickets are already on sale. Go see Libera! You will be so happy that you did!

Moscow, Russia  
       Sunday, January 18, 2015, 6:00 p.m.
       Svetlanov Hall, Moscow International House of Music
       наб. Космодамианская, 52, стр. 8
       Phone: +7 495 730-10-11
       www.mmdm.ru
       Seating - 1,735
       Tickets - available at Ticketland.ru
       Price -  400 - 2,500 Rubles

Exterior

Exterior

Interior

Interior

Seating Chart

Moscow map

Many Russian fans and our friend, Patrick, are going to this concert! Please let me know if you know of any other lucky people going!  :D

 

 

Libera Christmas Greeting Video 2014

Merry Christmas to all you Libera fans everywhere! Hope you are having a great day! Libera posted their annual, cute Christmas greeting to fans! They say "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year" over and over. There are so many newbies that I can't even identify them all. Let's see how we do.

Cute mini-boy newbie ? & cute newbie Merlin Brouwer

Henry Barrington & Matthew Jansen

Sam Wiggin & Matthew Madine

Cute mini-boy newbie Taichi Shinokubo

Shay Balsekar & Timothy Lee

Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti & Alex Montoro

Camden Stewart & cute mini-boy newbie ?

Big boys Kavana Crossley & Matthew Rangel-Alvares

Do you know any of the little newbies that I couldn't identify? Thanks to Patrick for help identifying Merlin. :D
 

London "Almost Christmas" Concert 2014

UPDATED December 20 & 21, 2014

Happy last Saturday before Christmas! I'm very happy to be home! And I know there are a lot of people in London who are very happy, too, because they are at the "Libera by Candlelight" concert at St. John's Church in Norbury. It looks like a perfect night for it.

Cloudy but not too cold in London ~ photo by Patrick

St. John's Interior before the concert ~ photo by Patrick

Stage before concert ~ photo by Libera

Libera on stage at St. John's ~ photo by Luke Avery

There are 24 boys singing tonight. There are also 13 junior boys, or little newbies as I like to call them, who are singing in their very first Libera concert. They sing on some but not all of the songs. I wonder if Samuel Collins is Luke, Jude, and Gabe's little brother. There ARE 4 boys in the family, so... :) And maybe Finn Wood is Lucas' brother. There are so many newbies!!!!! Just imagine them all on the stage at the same time!

1.   Marc Alvares
2.   Shay Balsekar
3.   Ciaran Bradbury-Hickey
4.   Merlin Brouwer*
5.   Gabriel Collins
6.   Thomas Delgado-Little
7.   Alex Gula
8.   Matthew Jansen
9.   Timothy Lee
10. Isaac London
11. Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti
12. Matthew Madine
13. James Menezes
14. Michael Menezes
15. Alex Montoro
16. Jakub Niedermaier-Reed
17. Cassius O'Connell-White
18. Matthew Rangel-Alvares
19. Bertie Smart
20. Camden Stewart
21. Rocco Tesei
22. Mark Ustynovych-Repa
23. Sam Wiggin
24. Lucas Wood

*newbie

Juniors - all newbies

1.   Leo Barron
2.   Ben Bywater
3.   Samuel Collins
4.   Tom Cooper
5.   Tadhg Fitzgerald
6.   Adam Izghouti
7.   Neo Parson
8.   Taichi Shinokubo
9.   Cameron Taylor
10. Sejus Toussaint-O'Neill
11. Oliviero Veneri-Thomas
12. Joseph Walshe
13. Finn Wood 

I love that they added an oboe, and the staff listing always looks like a Libera reunion. :D Everyone is pretty much doing the same jobs as at Arundel in May, but Tiarnan is now working on stage management. Congratulations to him!

Musical Director - Robert Prizeman
Assistant Musical Directors - Sam Coates & Steven Geraghty
Keyboards - Joshua Madine
Percussion - Jonathan Ormston
Strings - The Silken Strings
Flute - Candice Hamel
Clarinet - Jessie Grimes
Horn - Raoul Neumann
Oboe - Jesse Bescoby

Stage Management - Jonathan Barrington, Kavana Crossley & Tiarnan Branson
Lighting - Luke Avery
Libera Management - Steven Philipp
Libera Tour Co-ordination & Chaperoning - Barbara Geraghty & Eleanor Lewis
Production Co-ordinator - Andrew Winter


The song list is amazing! Alex Gula had his first solo, and he has a great voice!

1.   Joyful Joyful - sung by all 37 boys
Speech - Cassius told that Cameron Taylor is the youngest at 7 years old, and Jakub (Kuba) is the oldest at 15.
2.   Joy to the World
3.  What Child Is This
4.  The Prayer - solo by Isaac with Ciaran
5.   Sanctus - middle harmony and last "Sanctus Sanctus" by Bertie, high notes by Lucas
Speech - Alessandro & Ciaran
6.   Voca Me - the crazy high note at the end sung by Lucas!
7.   Wexford Carol - solo and verse in Gaelic by Isaac
8.   Carol of the Bells - high notes by Isaac & Lucas, last "Ding dong" by Isaac
Speech - Alex & Gabe
9.   Ave Maria - listed but the did not sing it
10. How Great Thou Art - solo by Sam

-Interval_

11. Conditor Alme Siderum - sung a capella as plain song while walking back on stage
12. Angels We Have Heard On High
Speech - Alessandro & Ciaran with Moose
13. Away In A Manger - solo by Alex Gula
14. Wayfaring Stranger - solo by Sam
15. Amazing Grace - solo by Isaac
16. Gaudete - solo by Lucas?
Speech - Ciaran with boys speaking in their families' native language
      Alex G (Poland), Lucas (Mexico), Sam (France), Isaac (Ireland), Alex M (Italy), Taichi (Japan)
17. Song of Life - solo by Isaac
18. How Shall I Sing That Majesty - solo by Alessandro & Lucas
19. Silent Night - solo by Isaac
Speech - Taichi (he is so small and quite young!)
20. In Dulci Jubilo

Encore - What a Wonderful World - solo Isaac


Tom Delgado-Little did not sing any solos in the first half, and they skipped "Ave Maria," so he may be feeling ill.

Concert program ~ photo by Yuki

Choir members, instrumentalists, & staff ~ photo by Yuki

Song list ~ photo by Yuki

What a wonderful "Almost Christmas" concert! :D

Josh Madine on PBS TV in Buffalo!

UPDATED - December 19 & 20, 2014 to show the new DVD/CD cover!

This is the second year in a row that Josh Madine has helped to host the premiere of a Libera DVD at WNED-TV in Buffalo, New York. This time they were showing the new "Angel Voices - Libera In America" DVD. Josh does such a great job talking about the choir.

Our friend, Kent, got to see the premiere live on TV and recorded the interview parts during the pledge (donation) drive. It's in 2 parts. Thank you, Kent!!



Part 1 opens with Cassius asking us to please stay tuned for their new concert, Angel Voices - Libera In America. "We're the boys of Libera. We're here, and we're ready to sing." Excellent!

Josh tells how he was 10 years old when he joined Libera. He also talks about how Libera likes to perform songs unique to the country they are visiting, so they performed "America the Beautiful" on this DVD filmed in the US. Starting at 8:00, you can hear a part of "Wayfaring Stranger!" :D





You can hear the phones ringing a lot in the background. I hope that lots of people donated to the PBS station and get the new DVD or CD. We got a sneak peek at what the cover will look like. :D

 

DVD & CD covers shown on PBS

It's beautiful! The official release date is March 3, 2015, but maybe it will be ready early. I hope so!

The First Airing of Libera's Washington DC DVD!!!

UPDATED - December 15 &18, 2014

Aaaaah! The first airing of Libera's new DVD filmed in Washington DC in August is tonight! And you lucky people in Buffalo, NY get to see it first! It's airing on Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. EST on PBS station WNED. It looks like it will then be replayed from 9:30 - 11:00 p.m. on the same night. You can see their schedule here.

We also know that the name of the new DVD/CD will be "Angels Sing, Libera In America." :D

Buffalo also got to be the first city to see Libera's Christmas DVD, "Libera - Angels Sing, Christmas In Ireland" in October 2013. That one was special because Josh Madine flew to Buffalo to be on the live show. See here. Is there anyone who is able to watch the Buffalo station that would record, not the Libera DVD part, but the part where the hosts talk about the DVD? But we'd still love to know what you thought of the DVD! I've heard it all turned out beautifully. 

Libera fan, Kent R, uploaded WNED's promo commercial for the new DVD. You can hear Cassius O'Connell-White speaking! :D



Here's what is said -

Cassius - Angel Voices - Libera In America. We've traveled all the way from London for our first production for PBS to be recorded in the U.S. We're singing in the amazing Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, and the music is, well, Libera-like.

Announcer - Thursday night at 8:00 on WNED. 


You can get the CD/DVD as a gift by donating to WNED here. Just fill in the donation form and scroll down to choose the Libera CD for $72, DVD for $96, or CD+DVD for $156. 

I wonder if this means that the release date for the CD and DVD will be earlier than March. :D   

Libera Christmas 2014 Concert in London, UK

Great news, Libera fans! Libera will be having their 5th annual concert in London, UK called "Libera by Candlelight." Tickets just went on sale today! Get your tickets now as they will sell quickly. There are many fans in the UK, and the boys' families can all attend as well. What a great way to celebrate Christmas!

Beautiful concert poster!!!

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
   St. John's Church
   Auckland Road, Upper Norwood, London, UK
   Seating - 311
   
Tickets available at Ticketsource or by calling 0844 8700 887.

Prices -  
   £20.00 + booking fee - Main Seating adults
   £15.00 + booking fee - Main Seating children under 16 & POA's
   £15.00 + booking fee - Restricted View adults
   £12.50 + booking fee - Restricted View children under 16 & POA's

Church Exterior

Church Interior

Church Stage

Church Interior

Seating chart

What's exciting about this concert (other than that it's Libera and it's Christmas) is that Libera has performed at St. John's Church many times. The earliest concert poster I've seen was of a concert there in March 2002! It was a concert by candlelight also! The details of that concert are here.

Do you remember these old pictures from Norbury from a posting I wrote 2 years ago? Do you recognize any choir members? :D

This is the Songs of Praise video for "Sanctus" that goes with these old photos from 1999.

 

The church is quite distinctive with the statues on top of the arch wall. There are videos of songs performed at St. John's in 2002 - "Veritas"




"Salva Me" with solo by Steven Geraghty can't be embedded, but you can watch it here. 

"Mysterium" with solo by Ben Crawley.



Hope everyone enjoys the Libera concert! Merry Christmas! :D