Often times when describing a choir or large group of individuals singing in unison, one thinks of members dressed in robes singing before a congregation in a house of worship, being universal in most religious faiths and denominations. The 25 to 30 all male young performers who make up the artist title Libera with ages ranging from 7 to 16, is most often a white robed choir, but normal assumptions and what you have pictured in your mind of the music they produce ends there. The unique blending of genre with a new age pop influence and easy listening classical vocals is something special to behold and will definitely surprise you.

Most of the young boy singers are from the parish choir of St. Philip’s Church in Norbury London, performing under the direction of Robert Prizeman, who began as choir director at a young age himself in 1970 at age 18. The artist choir of Libera is a non profit group with many accomplishments including 16 albums having topped mainstream and classical album charts in many countries, with concert appearances in the United Kingdom, United States, Korea and Japan, a large number of BBC television, soundtrack, and radio recordings, while also performing before 60,000 people in Yankee Stadium on April 20th 2008, during papal mass when Pope Benedict XVI made his first visit to the U.S. With such impressive accomplishments of the boys as young adults, it makes me wonder how many of the boys will continue their individual music careers as New Age musicians upon reaching full adulthood. That would be great news to all New Age music fans!

The Libera album Free released under the EMI Classics in 2004 has full flowing choral vocals and solos that do remind you of being part of a congregation at moments, yet there is something particularly special about this music group that I haven’t quite put my finger on. One song titled Stay With Me which is highlighted below this article includes both song and video to help shed some light onto the subject so that you may discover what I have yet to fully describe. To me, this is a classic example of the many ways New Age music can be redefined when combining separate music genres into one soulful entity.

For their full discography and to learn more about the talented young artists, check out the official libera site.