Monday, Oct 3, 2016
Hole in the Sky, a new recording of the Westminster Williamson Voices, conducted by James Jordan, has been released by GIA Publications. Recorded last winter in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus, the recording explores many choral sound worlds, from Ola Gjeilo鈥檚 Spheres and Mendelssohn's Veni Domine, to She Weeps Over Rahoon by Eric Whitacre and the "Kyrie" from Tom谩s Luis de Victoria's 1604 Requiem. It also includes works by Westminster alumni: And Dream Awhile by Blake Henson 鈥05 and As I Walk the Silent Earth by Thomas Lavoy 鈥13. It鈥檚 available at most major recording outlets, including and , beginning on October 14, and through pre-order now.
鈥淐ertain music, certain composers, and certain performances have a way of "tearing a hole" into our spiritual core, deepening our lives and perhaps even bringing new meaning to what we do and how we live,鈥 Jordan writes about the recording. 鈥淕erard Manley Hopkins called that place our 鈥業nscape.鈥 The music for this CD has that common thread in that all the pieces, in some way, provide an illuminative hole, through both sound and text, into perhaps a deeper understanding of life and living.鈥
One of Westminster Choir College鈥檚 select ensembles, Westminster Williamson Voices has been lauded by reviewers and audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Gramophone magazine has praised the ensemble鈥檚 鈥渋ntimate and forceful choral artistry鈥 with a tone that is 鈥渃ontrolled and silken in sustained phrases as they are vibrantly sonorous in extroverted material.鈥 American Record Guide praised the ensemble as 鈥渨ithout peer.鈥 Nominated for a 2013 Grammy庐 award for its recording of James Whitbourn鈥檚 Annelies, Westminster Williamson Voices is in residence each summer at Westminster鈥檚 Choral Institute at Oxford.
James Jordan has been praised throughout the musical world as one of America鈥檚 pre-eminent conductors, music psychologists, writers and pedagogical innovators in choral music. His more than 40 books explore both the philosophical and spiritual basis of musicianship, as well as aspects of choral rehearsal teaching and learning. His book Evoking Sound was praised by the Choral Journal as a 鈥渕ust read.鈥 Professor of Choral Conducting at the Westminster, Dr. Jordan is also director of the Westminster Conducting Institute and co-director of Westminster鈥檚 Choral Institute at Oxford. A comprehensive listing of his publications and recordings can be found .