Libera

‘When I heard them sing, I said ‘it does remind me a lot of the Beach Boys’ – but actual boys - it actually took me to tears” - Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) The magical sounds of Libera enchant audiences across the world - from Moscow to Manila, from Westminster to Washington, from Tokyo to Toronto, from Shanghai to Singapore. The boys' distinctive white robes recall Libera's traditional origins, yet their music - which is at once both ancient and modern - reaches across the generations to a wide audience. The boys who make up the vocal band Libera have been described as “normal” and “ordinary”. However, as their recordings and performances demonstrate, the music they produce is truly extraordinary. With shimmering, mystical chords and ecstatic harmonies, they are unlike any other group you have ever heard. These are truly sounds to lift the soul. Celestial sounds for a new time. The singers of Libera who are aged seven to sixteen attend many different local schools in South London and come from a variety of backgrounds. Although they are boys and they sing, they do not think of themselves as choirboys, but rather as an alternative kind of boy band. While the unique sound of Libera may be impossible to pigeonhole, its universal appeal has endeared the group to fans all over the world Libera is known to British audiences through TV appearances and a broad range of venues - from Westminster Cathedral to the South Bank in London, to the Edinburgh Festival and many UK cathedrals. The boys are regularly to be heard on Classic FM, and last Christmas scored the top classical song download at iTunes. In the US & Canada, Libera are known through their concert tours and TV appearances including nationwide PBS specials, NBC ‘Today’ show and ‘The Tonight Show.’ The boys had their US debut at the Kennedy Center Honors, in a moving tribute to honoree Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. This was followed by Libera’s participation in the Papal Mass at the climax of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the USA. Libera have travelled across North America several times, appearing in venues as diverse as the Crystal Cathedral in California, the St Louis Basilica, St Paul and Minneapolis cathedrals, the Moody church in Chicago, the Riverside Church in NYC and other venues both secular and sacred from Texas to Toronto. They opened the annual Starkey Awards Gala in the Twin Cities, and they are top artists on the PBS network which frequently screens Libera’s ‘Christmas in Ireland’ concert in Armagh Cathedral and a special performance in Washington DC filmed at the National Shrine. During their recent European tour, Libera joined the throng of pilgrims attending World Youth Day in Poland and performed to packed crowds including their largest ever live appearance singing to over 1.5 million in Krakow. In the same tour they made their debut in Germany at the Schoenstatt shrine near Koblenz. In South East Asia, the sounds of Libera are frequently heard in mainstream TV and radio programmes and their CD’s ride high in the classical and pop charts of countries like Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the Philippines. The new album is “Christmas Carols with Libera” and was preceded by 2 successful news studio albums “Hope” and Beyond”, which are on the label Invisible Hands Music.