'Hail Cecilia' was recorded live during Summer Festival 2009 in the beautiful acoustics of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Loretto Chapel and Santuario de Guadalupe by the 23-strong, mixed-voice Santa Fe, NM's Santa Fe Desert Chorale, directed by highly-respected Conductor Joshus Habermann. The program explores the myriad expressions of humanity's concept of the divine, from ancient Irish melodies and Haitian blessings to Scandinavian calls to the spirit of the wind. Some favorites are Benjamin Britten's 'Hymn to St. Cecilia,' Michael McGlynn's powerful, percussion-accompanied 'Christus Resurgens,' Sydney Guillaume's 'Dominus Vobiscum,' Ralph Vaughan-Williams' 'Full Fathom Five,' Jaako Mantyjarvi's 'Lullaby,' Matthew Harris's 'It Was a Lover and his Lass' and 'O Mistress Mine,' and Francisco Guerrero's 'Todo Quanto Pudo Dar.' The SFDC has an angelic sound and handles difficult, eclectic material with ease and grace. The extensive liner notes contain all the lyrics. 'Hail Cecilia' is a surprising, powerful and beautiful collection!

Glorious Voices, Sacred Spaces, their great cathedral programming, opened the Chorale's 26th consecutive season with a program that celebrates life and remembers death. This program consists of literature that ranges from the 16th century through the late 20th century. The selections on this program are some of the most celebrated works in the choral repertoire and were chosen to stir the heart and lift the soul. Conducted by Simon Carrington at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis with 24 singers

Over the last 25 years, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale has earned a reputation for artistic excellence as well as adventurous and widely varied programming, and this recording of the final performances of the 2007 summer season continues in that tradition! This limited edition CD captures the Desert Chorale presenting monumental works by Gregorio Allegri and Sergei Rachmaninoff live at the Cathedral Basilica St. Francis in Santa Fe on August 10 and 11, 2007. In addition, 32 Desert Chorale alumni singers - including members of the 1983 inaugural season - joined this season's choir in presenting Miserere, mei Deus. This recording is dedicated to the memory of Arthur 'Mack' Wright, a wonderful friend and enthusiastic admirer of the Chorale's 'glorious music.' It is made possible by a generous gift from Mary Wright.

Recorded live and in studio session, the works on this recording include choral settings commissioned from four American composers for the 2006 and 2007 summer seasons, in addition to folk music, sacred settings, and significant poetry. The first two tracks were recorded in August 2006 and the remaining works are drawn from the 2007 25th Anniversary summer season. The Desert Chorale is proud to give voice to these exhilarating new and recent works from composers John David Earnest, Z. Randall Stroope, Kirke Mechem, Judith Cloud, Bradley Ellingboe and Emile Desamours.

21 works from the summer festival that span a wide range of choral styles - from the early Renaissance to the Russian masters to Be Music, Night, the beautiful new work by New Mexico composer Bradley Ellingboe. Also includes the seldom-heard arrangement of Randall Thompson's Alleluia for women only.

Viva La Festividad! In the 17th and 18th centuries Latin America was alive with the musical idioms of indigenous America, Africa and Europe. On this disk we happily include the rollicking rhythms of African-influenced folk carols, naive hymns of faith from the pen of a Native American, and the sophisticated polyphony and counterpoint of Latin American composers schooled in the European tradition. Conducted by our founder, Lawrence Bandfield at the Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, NM

Throughout history, the singing voice has been a vehicle for the expression of intense emotion. In Passion, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale performs a cappella settings that reflect the heart of human existence: passion for God, country, love and life itself. Although this recording of repertoire selected from the Chorale's 2005 summer season is focused on music of the 20th and 21st centuries, it encompasses a wide variety of harmonic rhythmic and stylistic elements.

Recorded live at Santa Fe's Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, the Chorale's latest CD inlcudes beloved carols from around the world, the majestic O Holy Night, John Rutter's lilting Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, Steven Heitzeg's charming setting of the e.e. cummings poem, little tree, and much more beautiful music of the season. Christmas in Santa Fe is colored by the Mexican influence. Little lanterns adorn some of the adobe buildings and the candlelight processions known as posadas wend thru the town. The program of 20 separate selections was recorded live during two nights' performances at a Winter Festival last year in the historic Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. The intent was to capture some of the inspiration and job of this time of the year.

A study of the evolution of musical style in Hispanic churches in the New World reveals a remarkable melding of a number of cultures. Spanish colonists carried the musical traditions of the European Renaissance to the native people of the Americas, and, through time and circumstance, these traditions merged in the American Southwest to create a musical genre with a rich historical grounding. A treasury of sacred works by the finest composers from Spain and the New World - from the Renaissance majesty of Morales and Victoria to the Misa Criolla, one of the 20th century's most beloved choral works. This is the program that was performed for a tour of Northern New Mexico historic churches during the summer of 2005.

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale offers a brilliant two CD set with selections recorded at the historic Loretto Chapel, during the 2006 Santa Fe Summer Festival. Using two small ensembles, under the baton of artistic director Linda Mack, the chorale offers An American Hallelujah featuring songs of faith, joy and praise. The second disc called Romance is lead by assistant Matthew Tresler and offers a sublime view of the trials and tribulations of love, from Brahms to Lennon and McCartney.