The Elora Festival Singers

The Elora Festival Singers (EFS), a professional chamber choir, was founded in 1980 by Noel Edison as the principal choral ensemble of the Elora Festival. In 1992, the Elora Festival Singers was incorporated as a separate organization to manage its year-round activities. Since 1997, the choir has been the professional core of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Mendelssohn Singers, and is the choral ensemble-in-residence of the Elora Festival for four weeks each summer.

Through regular concert series, recordings, broadcasts, and touring, the Elora Festival Singers has established a reputation as one of the finest chamber choirs in Canada and beyond, contributing to the musical life, not only of the community, but on an international stage. With twelve releases on the NAXOS label, the Elora Festival Singers is known for its rich, warm sound and clarity of texture. The choir is renowned for its diverse styles, from early music to spirituals to contemporary, for its commitment to Canadian repertoire, and for its collaborations with other Canadian artists.

Discography

Eric Whitacre Choral Music

Her Sacred Spirit Soars A Boy and a Girl Water Night This Marriage Luz Aurumque Little Tree When David Heard Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine I Thank You God for this Amazing Day Sleep Little Birds

Eric Whitacre's dedication to the beauty of sound, paired with exquisite texts, results in a poetic combination that creates a unique sonic experience. These works are existential choral moments, beautifully crafted, and harmonised to express a compressed moment in time. Such sublime sonorities transcend descriptions such as 'warm', 'glistening' or 'shimmering', although these features of his choral works do suggest affinities with the sound worlds of Arvo Pärt or John Tavener, for instance.However, Whitacre's fluid lines and blossoming harmonies give his music its own highly personal and irresistible magic.

O nata lux Ov'e, lass', il bel viso Quando son piu lontan Amor, lo sento l'alma Io piango Luci serene e chiare Se per havervi, oime En une seul fleur Contre qui, rose De ton reve trop plein La rose complete/ Dirait-on Lament for Pasiphae Like Snow She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep Mid-Winter Waking Intercession in late October  O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen is America’s preeminent composer of choral music. Characterized by long, arching and highly expressive lines, his works are enjoyed by performers and audiences worldwide. O nata lux, perhaps Lauridsen’s most popular work, is a serene evocation of heavenly light, while the searingly intense and technically demanding Madrigali inhabit a more feverish and earthy realm. The refined Les Chansons des Roses employ a design reminiscent of the formal gardens, filled with roses, found in the grounds of the great French châteaux. The unforgettable final movement is the now-famous Dirait-on. The Mid-Winter Songs for chorus and piano are a stunning example of compositional virtuosity. O magnum mysterium, for a cappella chorus, is a setting of a Christmas text that has inspired composers from Victoria to Poulenc.

O Jesus Son of God, Have Mercy Upon Us O Most Holy Birth-giver of God, Save Us O Holy Saint Nicholas, Pray to God for Us Tribute to Caesar Nunc Dimittis Ode VII I am the True Vine The Woman with the Alabaster Box Dopo la Vittoria Bogoroditse Djevo

During the past 20 years, Arvo Part has consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary composers with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. Dating from between 1990 and 2001, the works on this recording exemplify Part's mature idiom at its most harmonically expressive. If Triodion represents his music at its starkest and most unadorned, Kanon Pokajanen, the composer's largest work after the 1982 St John Passion (Naxos 8.555860), is music of a dark-hued and intensely felt contemplation. Part's emotionally-charged Bogorditse Djvo, is a vibrant tribute to the Virgin Mary.

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