The King's Singers release "Swimming Over London" on May 25th

By -

Follow-up album to the Grammy Award-winning "Simple Gifts," featuring new works and arrangements of popular fan favorites from extensive touring

After the 2009 Grammy Award-winning Simple Gifts and a world premiere recording of Pachelbel Vespers in March 2010, internationally-acclaimed vocal group The King's Singers return to the studio to record Swimming Over London, available on the Signum label on May 25, 2010. Featuring a diverse array of songs, this latest release captures jazz classics, current hits, and more, all arranged, performed, and recorded with the meticulous attention to detail and artistry that has established The King's Singers as one of the finest vocal ensembles throughout their history.

There are sample tracks from the album on their website. The rich tones and sumptuous harmonies are in true form, a definite delight for the ears.

Swimming Over London includes five original songs, commissioned specifically for the disc and written by Mia Makaroff, composer and arranger for Finnish vocal ensemble Rajaton; Ysaye M. Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock; Roger Treece, arranger and performer in Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra ensemble; Alexander L'Estrange, composer and arranger for the Swingle Singers; and Bob Chilcott, a former King's Singer. Chilcott, a respected composer of vocal music, wrote the title track for the album, an evocative tale of a woman stretching her way over London to the coast based on a poem by Charles Bennett. Roger Treece, renowned arranger for groups including Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices, composed an original song ("Keeper of the Seasons") and arranged two contrasting songs: Sarah McLachlan’s beautiful "Angel" and Pat Metheny’s "September 15th." This release also marks the final King's Singers recording to feature bass Stephen Connolly, who departs the group in September to serve as Head of Vocal Studies at Cheltenham Ladies' College in the UK. A new group member will be announced later this spring.

Praised by Gramophone for "enchanting the ear from first to last note," The King's Singers are one of the most artistically adventurous and highly sought-after vocal ensembles in the world. With a musicianship that reaches effortlessly between the classical field and the lighter end of the repertoire, The King's Singers infuse each performance and recording with impeccable vocal blend and intonation, flawless articulation and timing, and remarkable sensitivity. Described by The Times (UK) as a group that has "stayed in character over four decades, yet retuned itself to the times," The King's Singers have a discography of well over 100 recordings and a host of international awards.

Active as a performing ensemble as well, the 2009/10 season sees The King's Singers performing at London's Cadogan Hall, Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, York, Oxford, and the Sage Gateshead in the UK. An extensive international tour includes performances throughout the USA, Europe, and Scandinavia, with additional concerts in Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. While on tour in the USA, The King's Singers will make an album with renowned Concordia College Choir for release in summer 2011. The ensemble has an incredible record of television appearances and performances as well, ranging from the 2002 Winter Olympics to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's 2007 Christmas Concert and a special 40th anniversary BBC Proms performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

Passionate about supporting new choral music, The King's Singers have commissioned over 200 works from a host of prominent contemporary composers, including Richard Rodney Bennett, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, Gian Carlo Menotti, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ned Rorem, John Rutter, Toru Takemitsu, and John Tavener. This season, the group will premiere works by Ivan Moody, Gabriela Lena Frank, John McCabe, Bob Chilcott, and Eric Whitacre. In addition to their sold-out concerts worldwide, The King's Singers share their artistry through numerous workshops and master classes. With over two million pieces of sheet music sold worldwide through publisher Hal Leonard, The King's Singers' arrangements are performed by schools, college choirs, and amateur and professional ensembles all over the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more