Tuesday, Jun 4, 2019
Sunrise Mass, a new recording by the Westminster Williamson Voices, conducted by James Jordan, has been released by GIA Choral Works.
Recorded at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia with an orchestra of 24 players chosen from The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Opera Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the recording centers on Ola Gjielo’s choral masterwork, Sunrise Mass. It also includes complementary works by Duruflé, Mendelssohn, and Močnik.
“Gjeilo’s music allows us to connect to a vast wordless world that speaks directly to each of us in deeply personal and meaningful ways,” says Jordan. “His music was a gift to us, and hopefully will be a gift to the listener. All of the music on this recording connected itself to us and tethered each piece, one to the other, inside us.”
Sunrise Mass is available now from GIA Music, and it will be is available from most major recording outlets, including Amazon, iTunes and Spotify on June 7. Pre-orders are available on Amazon and ArkivMusic.
One of Westminster Choir College’s select ensembles, Westminster Williamson Voices has been lauded by reviewers and audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Gramophone magazine has praised the ensemble’s “intimate and forceful choral artistry” with a tone that is “controlled and silken in sustained phrases as they are vibrantly sonorous in extroverted material.” American Record Guide praised the ensemble as “without peer.” Nominated for a 2013 Grammy® award for its recording of James Whitbourn’s Annelies, Westminster Williamson Voices is in residence each summer at Westminster’s Choral Institute at Oxford.
James Jordan has been praised throughout the musical world as one of America’s pre-eminent conductors, music psychologists, writers and pedagogical innovators in choral music. His more than 40 books explore both the philosophical and spiritual basis of musicianship, as well as aspects of choral rehearsal teaching and learning. His book Evoking Sound was praised by the Choral Journal as a “must read.” Professor of Choral Conducting at the Westminster, Dr. Jordan is also director of the Westminster Conducting Institute and co-director of Westminster’s Choral Institute at Oxford. A comprehensive listing of his publications and recordings can be found at www.giamusic.com/jordan.