Libera Dreams

Surpinto wrote: Although I am no expert, it is my understanding that the choir is a rather prestigious one indeed. The fact that several of the Libera choristers are there is a testament to their skill and talent.

I remember being in my middle school orchestra; I certainly did not look forward to waking up early twice a week for additional rehearsals. These guys are quite admirable.

henrylonghorn wrote: It amazes me how these children manage to excel in two top choirs simultaneously. We don't get to see their effort backstage, but it must have been enormous. I remember being in my middle school orchestra; I certainly did not look forward to waking up early twice a week for additional rehearsals. These guys are quite admirable.

Speaking for myself, I have found that getting up at dawn on a Saturday morning to be driven 45min to a music lesson actually increased my enjoyment of those lessons and made me more eager to practice. Not that I'd want to do it again, but it required that I take my music seriously. Being able to ride with friends helped enormously, because it felt like we were in a sort of club.

henrylonghorn wrote:

Surpinto wrote: Although I am no expert, it is my understanding that the choir is a rather prestigious one indeed. The fact that several of the Libera choristers are there is a testament to their skill and talent.

It amazes me how these children manage to excel in two top choirs simultaneously. We don't get to see their effort backstage, but it must have been enormous. I remember being in my middle school orchestra; I certainly did not look forward to waking up early twice a week for additional rehearsals. These guys are quite admirable.

Yeah, the dedication is incredible, but they have to love what they are doing otherwise they will not stick with it. Many of us wonder why a rising star in Libera suddenly disappears and why a number of choristers are turned over every year. I think that like everyone else, only a few can handle the workload of being in such a high pressure musical group especially the older they get, as demands on their time from school and other activities increase.

From what I have heard in interviews, Libera does an excellent job making rehearsals a fun and social event while still maintaining a high degree of professionalism. In fact, I remember from a radio interview that they get a lot of breaks during rehearsal to play table tennis or xbox; so it becomes an important social event for the boys.

But despite that, I think that many of them realize that their interest in music or in being in a choir is just not great enough to maintain the workload. It's also an age thing. Many kids are signed up for all kinds of sports or lessons or activities at young, single digit ages by their parents. At that age they mostly go along with whatever parents do and accept it blindly. But by the time they reach around 12 or so and are in secondary school, they begin asserting their own wishes as to whether or not to continue. Many are just too busy with schoolwork, sports, or other activities to remain in something as demanding as Libera in addition to the other things many of them do. I personally dropped out of playing a sport at around that age because I wanted to focus on my studies which were getting intense at the time.

Those who feel passionate about it and see these choirs or other things as a big part of their lives tend to re-double their efforts and are not doing it anymore just because they have always done it or just because their parents tell them to; they take true ownership of their musical education/work. You can see this in those former choristers who now do solo musical projects or are still involved in Libera. I think that those boys who are in multiple choirs have a true and admirable dedication to singing and to music. You have to admire and respect that.

By the way, Henry, I like your "L" avatar. Does it stand for Longhorn or for Libera? Both?

The Furby wrote:

Surpinto wrote:They are clearly very good. In fact Steven Wilson, a very talented rock musician, used the choir in 3 tracks on his latest album Hand Cannot Erase. In particular, the soloist is Leo Blair the former PM's son.

Are you kidding me?! I'm a huge SW fan and I've been listening to this album in a loop over the last couple of months. I had absolutely no idea it was the schola cantorum performing these great choir parts - I should have checked the credits ! Thanks for the revelation Surpinto, I'm going to listen to it again with a new ear

Steven Wilson is fantastic. His new album is probably the best he has ever put out.

henrylonghorn wrote:I certainly bet that it will not be a waste of time! However, as the concert is free and the basilica is the #1 attraction in the city, I would suggest arriving early! Good luck persuading your sister!

Thank you, and somehow I have done it. It didn't take as much begging as I thought it would, to be honest. However, there must be a LOT of interest in this concert, either that or, as the posts above have said, the basilica is quite an appealing attraction. All of the moderately priced hotels in about a 10 mile radius of it were booked! I know that the Twins are playing the Brewers on Saturday as well, but I don't know where the field is compared to the church. Anyway, we found a fairly decently priced hotel about 45 minutes away, and I'm looking forward to hearing this choir for the first time!

I can't imagine balancing the work of 2 such amazing choirs, as some of these Libera boys are doing. It's one thing to just sing in a regular old choir, but these choirs are phenomenal choirs! When I was younger I had a difficult enough time just balancing the practice of sport (basketball) and band, and neither of these were at any type of "good" level. Some people's kids are simply amazing! (Not my parents' though, lol).

Surpinto wrote: By the way, Henry, I like your "L" avatar. Does it stand for Longhorn or for Libera? Both?

I appreciate your detailed insight about Libera rehearsals, Surpinto! I totally agree that the passion for music is the most important factor here. I can think of quite a few former Libera singers who either continue to work with the group or have musical endeavors of their own. Pretty much all of those guys were the top of their respective classes. Meanwhile, bravo to Mr. Prizeman for maintaining the same fun and familial feel through the decades.

And to answer your question, the monogram stands for Libera; I'm using Libera's "clouds in the sky" color scheme.

Amazing find, FDL! Thank you.

The "Alice Theme" from Through the Looking Glass, featuring Alessandro as the soloist. He does a great job!

alcesalcesobservator wrote:The "Alice Theme" from Through the Looking Glass, featuring Alessandro as the soloist. He does a great job!

I was able to view the video before it got removed. You are right he does a great job.

Surpinto wrote:

alcesalcesobservator wrote:The "Alice Theme" from Through the Looking Glass, featuring Alessandro as the soloist. He does a great job!

I was able to view the video before it got removed. You are right he does a great job.

Ah, the copyright police got to it. The good news is, it's available on Amazon and i-tunes!

Another of Alessandro's projects courtesy of Lauren on Twitter:

Pickwick

Thanks Yorkie

A few others infos,

The back of the CD :




A few audio samples from the label website, sadly none with Alessandro :
http://www.retrospectopera.org.uk/Liste ... m_3-1.html

 
Some photos from the recording session, but again nothing about Alessandro...
http://www.retrospectopera.org.uk/Galle ... humbs.html
 
 
 
 
 

I stumbled across this video featuring Alessandro singing as part of a large community choir, in what appears to have been a concert put on to help raise money for the survivors of the June 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.

Alessandro also sings a small solo part near the beginning of the piece alongside a little girl.
I’m guessing the reason Ali was part of this is that he possibly lives in the same London borough where the tragedy occurred (Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea), and his school is also in that same borough.




A little background into the tragic events of that night:



I remember watching in horror as the fire just shot up the floors so quickly. You could see people at the windows above the fire, yet within minutes those same windows were billowing fire and smoke. Not something any of us Londoners will ever forget, and to this day no one has been held accountable for the catalogue of failures that lead to the catastrophic loss of lives.