London, Ontario, Canada boasts seven children's choirs, and the Youth Singers, founded in 1985, is an auditioned choir of 50 young women ages 12 to 24. John Barron directs this sweet-singing choir in the music of Canadian composter Stephen Hatfield, who were the first choir to commission him, and their early recordings of his work were very important in establishing his reputation. There are 25 cuts here, favorites are 'Uberlebensgross,' the title tune,'O-Yo-Yo,' 'Let Me Ask You,' the rhythmic 'O Sapo,' the haunting 'A Maid That's Deep In Love' and 'Dwa Serduszka.' Cuts 13 to 25 are Hatfield's sublime 'Christmas Cantata.' There's considerable non-vocal percussion, and some flute, bass and acoustic guitar and handbells on the album. The beautiful, soaring blended voices are perfect for Hatfield's excellent compositions. A very special collection by one of the best youth choirs in the world.

The young women of the Junior Amabile Singers, one of 7 choirs in the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada, are joined in this exploration of the hopes, desires and human experiences of today's young women by the Amabile Da Capo Choir, a training choir for the JAS. Artistic directors Jacquelyn Norman and Wendy Gee conduct them in this rich collection of 23 lightly accompanied songs. Favorites are the title tune, whose lyrics are from the nursery rhyme, 'Ride a cock horse to Banbury cross,' Darla Eshelman's 'A Song from the Heart,' Z. Randall Stroope's 'The Poet Sings,' Bob Chilcott's 'The Lily and the Rose,' Ed Robertson's 'Sing a Song,' Eugene Butler's 'Music is My Life,' Ruth Morris Gray's lilting, humorous 'No Thank You, John,' Ella Fitzgerald's 'A-Tisket, A-Tasket,' the Gershwins' 'Someone to Watch Over Me,' Billy Joel's 'Lullabye' and Smokey Robinson's 'My Guy.' This is a poised, confident collection by one of the finest young women's ensembles in the world, beautiful, entertaining and moving.

Since its founding in 1985, the Amabile Youth Singers of London, Canada has developed the musical talents of hundreds of young singers. This auditioned ensemble features 65 young women ages 12 to 21. No strangers to competitions, founding directors John Barron and Brenda Zadorsky have led them to wins in 11 national and 4 international competitions. 'Garden' is a lightly-accompanied, varied collection of 20 songs-some favorites are E. Elgar's 'The Snow,' J. Brahms' 'Lullaby,' Handel's 'No, divoi non vo fidarmi,' D. Gawthrop's 'Mary Speaks,' E. Daley's lovely 'Each Child,' R. Thompson's 'Choose Something Like a Star,' A. Bevan's 'Ave Maria,' C. Ives' 'Serenity,' R. Thompson's 'A Girl's Garden,' J. Mantyjarvi's surprising, eclectic 'Pseudo-Yoik Lite' the joyous, soaring 'Paruparong Bukid' and Harold Arlen's 'Over the Rainbow.' Some of these pieces are dissonant and difficult to perform, but these young women make it sound easy. If you'd like a tasty feast of tunes by one of the best young women's ensembles on the planet, the aptly-named 'Garden of Delights' is for you!

The Amabile (Ah MAH bee lay) Singers, based in London, Ontario, Canada is an auditioned choir of 50 young women, ages 12 to 23 years. It exists to give its members musical experiences of the highest caliber and to develop musical talents. Its repertoire ranges from Medieval to Broadway. Amabile rose quickly to national and international prominence with competition wins at the CBC Biennial Choral Competition, International Choral Competition, and many others. They have toured Europe several times and performed at Carnegie Hall. The music of Canadian composer Stephen Hatfield is surprising and wonderful, and it has never sounded better. 17 songs, the energetic spiritual 'Run Children Run,' the dramatic 'Vus Vet Zayn,' the lovely 'Camino Caminante,' the powerful 3-part a cappella gem, 'Three Ways to Vacuum Your House,' the sweet, plaintive 'Queen Jane,' the haunting 'When It Was Dark,' the plaintive 'Once I Had a Sweetheart,' the finger-snapping 'Sweet Tooth,' 'Crimson, Ivory and Aquamarine' and 'La Lluvia' (with percussion by Hatfield and others), the short, harmonic 'Old Fox Wassail,' the complex, dramatic, accompanied 'Ya Faraoule' and the rhythmic, primitive 'TJAK!' are favorites. This is edgy, interesting, entertaining stuff that definitely pushes the Choral envelope.

Composer's Notes: The first pieces I wrote for the Amabile Youth Singers, beautifully conducted by John Barron, were the cornerstone of my career. People often ask why they can't get those early classics on one CD. Now you can. Here in one collection are the legendary performances of 'Nukapianguaq', 'African Celebration', 'Heaven Bound Train', 'Missa Brevis', 'The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy', and more from those astonishing early sessions in 1991-95. Spanning fifteen years of recordings, the CD also features the choir under my direction in superb live performances of new material such as 'Geordie' and 'The Sparks Fly Upward', plus gorgeous concert versions of 'Once I Had A Sweetheart' and the 2nd movement of 'Three Ways To Vaccum Your House'. I am especially delighted that the CD includes several beloved performances that have never been commercially available before, such as the ferocious live version of 'TJAK!', the first, unreleased recording of 'La Lluvia' which remains my favourite version of the piece, and a radiant, mystical 'Amazing Grace', performed here with oboe instead of bagpipes.

Listen to Three Ways to Vaccuum Your House (II) in RealAudio.