2023 - Two UK Concerts in December

[JimmyRiddle]

Well the world has surely stopped turning... a full set concert without 'Sanctus' Libera's harmonical showpiece.

Still looks like a great setlist and i'm sure the lucky attendees will enjoy every minute of it.

[Luckdragon]

Once again, thanks to those of you who sat outside in the cold to bring us this early info.

We must also come to terms with the realization that Ave Verum has probably been sung for the last time (by Freddie, at least).

[Mercurial909]

Interval time at SJSS and there are a number of very noticeable things with the boys:

► Show Spoiler

Mitchel sang his O Beata solo in a very low key.
Luca sang his Lighthouse solo in its normal key - couldn’t detect much of a change in his voice.

Laurence Davy is m.i.a.

Looks like Orlando has gone for good,

Most of the bigs from the US concert are back except for Dominik. Nathaniel B-F also returns.

Ethan B, Jack and Ludwik are back too.

Nathan’s younger 8 year old brother Caleb has joined Libera. Looked very assured.

Nathan just gets better and better.

Cameron has grown so tall since the summer and it was very noticeable, along with Mitchel and Freddie M.

Freddie M, no solos so far, but he didn’t leave the stage with all the other lads with lower voices for one of the songs.

The Hill brothers are gonna dominate the soloing soon. Both are so accomplished.

Lewis Q - criminally underused. His voice is bell-like and very steady, which is why I’m miffed as to why he hasn’t had more opportunities to shine. Another ‘Matthew Jansen” situation here, in which by the time they give Lewis Q a chance his voice will be close to breaking.

Thomas Mushrafi - WOW, WOW, WOW!!

Will write a full review in the next day or so.
Getting ready for part II.

[Luckdragon]

Interval time at SJSS and there are a number of very noticeable things with the boys:

Good stuff! The river flows on.

Hopefully some better photos will show up. We all want to see Caleb.

► Show Spoiler

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GAXwNKSWkAApNuA.jpg (352.42 KiB) Viewed 11750 times

[Mr W]

Interval time at SJSS and there are a number of very noticeable things with the boys:

► Show Spoiler

Mitchel sang his O Beata solo in a very low key.
Luca sang his Lighthouse solo in its normal key - couldn’t detect much of a change in his voice.

Laurence Davy is m.i.a.

Looks like Orlando has gone for good,

Most of the bigs from the US concert are back except for Dominik. Nathaniel B-F also returns.

Ethan B, Jack and Ludwik are back too.

Nathan’s younger 8 year old brother Caleb has joined Libera. Looked very assured.

Nathan gets gets better and better.

Cameron has grown so tall since the summer and it was very noticeable, along with Mitchel and Freddie M.

Freddie M, no solos so far, but he didn’t leave the stage with all the other lads with lower voices for one of the songs.

The Hill brothers are gonna dominate the soloing soon. Both are so accomplished.

Thomas Mushrafi - WOW, WOW, WOW!!

Will write a full review in the next day or so.
Getting ready for part II.

Lawrence D was in the audience sporting a shorter hairstyle. Ill? Voice changing? Obviously still supporting the choir so may reappear in the back row…

[Jack]

I noticed that Mitchel didn't sing Love Shine a Light. They went with a group version where everyone sang the solo parts.
Maybe Mitchells voice has changed?

I was missing some action in this concert. Songs like Ave verum, Sing For Ever, Far Away or maybe even Vespera.

A good concert nonetheless!

[Surpinto]

Sounds good so far! Can't wait to read a few more full/proper reviews.

No doubt that the voice changes, whether partial or complete, are contributing to changes in soloists, but that's the nature of a boy's choir. We know several of them are at that age where changes like that will happen.

[Luckdragon]

A good concert nonetheless!

The brothers. Nice picture.

Talk about shorter hair styles. Cameron.

[Jack]

A good concert nonetheless!

The brothers. Nice picture.

Talk about shorter hair styles. Cameron.

Oh, that's Cameron?!

Didn't recognize him at first. I wonder what his reason was for a buzz cut. His previous hairstyle was far from short.

Also, can anyone name me the guitarist? He seemed familiar.

[Mercurial909]

Does anyone who has attended a Libera concert ever remember a boy singing a solo part, even a very small part, on his debut concert?

Caleb Slater, now the youngest member (Ben H is now 9), sang the end part of Carol of the Bells. This little one performed throughout the concert as if he’d been in Libera for quite some time. No sign of nerves, no missed steps and his little solo was so cute.

As for Ben H, he sang the last verse of “In The Bleak Midwinter” so sweetly. I can’t wait for him and his brother to hit the core age group because I’m sure they’ll dominate the soloing.

Full review coming anon…

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IMG_0190.jpeg (1.74 MiB) Viewed 11552 times

[Mercurial909]

Okay so here goes my best recollection of Libera’s SJSS 2023 Christmas concert.

Bigs - Nathaniel Bates-Fisher (welcome back dude), Alex Menuet, Mathias Montoro, Koji Shinokubo, Laurence Taylor, Victor Wiggin
Other tenors - Ethan Barron, Ludwik Kowalczyk, Jack Spicha
Tenor/Alto - Daniel White
Alto - Mitchel Guy
Alto and 3rd Treble - Freddie Mushrafi, Ethan Hutchinson
- The rest are trebles, with Joseph Hill and Nathan Slater being the most notable 1st trebles. Thomas M and Cameron were also singing top notes.
- Hosting was brilliantly done by Oscar James, along with Pietro, Samuel, Daniel, Lewis Q, and Theo.

On Lewis Q: criminally underused and underrated. His voice is bell-like and very steady, which is why I’m miffed as to why he hasn’t had more opportunities to shine. Another Matthew Jansen/Freddie M type situation here, in which by the time they give Lewis Q a chance his voice will be close to breaking.

Conductor - Steven Geraghty


Beati Quorum - The opening part was sang by Nathan and (I think) Pietro.
This was one of the strongest numbers of the night. It seems the more intricate the harmonies, the better they perform.

Ding Dong Merrily on High - Full choir performance executed perfectly. You really hear the 1st trebles hitting the top notes with that bell-like quality in this one.

In the Bleak Mid-Winter - one of my favourites of the night, and Benjamin Hill’s solo on the last verse almost had me tearing up. His voice is so sweet and anytime you have a miniboy performing solos you know something special is coming in the near future. Imagine the Hill brothers next Christmas when Ben will be 10 and Joseph 12.

O Beata - Was very happy to see Mitchel standing at the front of the stage ready to perform this song. Was very surprised to hear him sing his solo (his only one of the night) in a very low key, at least an octave lower than in the summer. He’s looking more like a mid-teen now and I’m pretty sure that if he stays with Libera into next year he’ll be among the Bigs.

Noël Nouvelet - Performed by Morgan with exactly the surety we’ve come to expect from him. The duet in the middle was sang by Morgan and Ethan Hutchinson. Ethan H’s voice has hit that countertenor range now, sounding not too dissimilar to how Freddie M sounded this past summer. This song is always enjoyable.

Total Praise - Joseph starts us off with strong low notes and leads the line perfectly for this one, backed by Thomas S-H and Morgan, then the whole choir blends in. I’ve seen this one performed by other choirs and this version is right up there. It’s an easy one to mess up so total praise (npi) goes to the boys for perfectly executing this Richard Smallwood classic.

Kizuna - Joseph and Morgan are a dab hand at this song now, and it sounds so much richer with the full choir. Morgan is as steady as always. Interestingly I’m not detecting any difference in Morgan’s voice from earlier in the year despite him approaching 13 years old.
Joseph employs vibrato whenever he holds a long note and his confidence is high. Cannot praise this kid enough.

The Angel Gabriel - This was definitely a favourite and performed so beautifully that I closed my eyes for much of it. I do remember now that Pietro and Thomas M sang solo parts, and I was absolutely blown away by how beautifully pure and crystalline Thomas’ voice is, not too dissimilar to another Thomas many Libera fans fondly remember (i.e. TDL). There is no tremor in his voice and he hits high notes so true. Not sure why he isn’t given more to do, unless it’s a confidence thing. I hope Libera keep this carol among their Christmas selection.

The Lighthouse - Luca performed this as perfectly as you’d expect. He seems so much more relaxed and assured now that he doesn’t have to stretch his voice or sing too many solos. He was definitely one of the stand outs of the evening despite his reduced solo role.

Libera - And here comes Master Daniel White with his increasingly deep voice to conduct the choir to show the audience how many harmonies they can blend simultaneously. Every Libera choir has performed this one with aplomb since it was first performed, and rightly so!

Other reviewers have a much better memory recall than me, and I’m in general agreement of their post-interval analysis.

Part II coming anon…

[justin]

Okay so here goes my best recollection of Libera’s SJSS 2023 Christmas concert.

Bigs - Nathaniel Bates-Fisher (welcome back dude), Alex Menuet, Mathias Montoro, Koji Shinokubo, Laurence Taylor, Victoria Wiggin

Didn't realise there's a female chorister in Libera...

Great review though! I'm expecting great things from the Hill bros

[john45]

Does anyone who has attended a Libera concert ever remember a boy singing a solo part, even a very small part, on his debut concert?

Daniel White Westminster Dec 2017, This is what I wrote at the time:

"Lovely performance of “Carol of the Bells” (over 6 million plays on YouTube) came next with new miniboy (and certain future star performer) Daniel White singing the final Ding Dong. He later gave a very confident speech about the “miniboys” relating that they were all aged eight but that he had just turned nine!"

[in2dwww]

Does anyone who has attended a Libera concert ever remember a boy singing a solo part, even a very small part, on his debut concert?

Luca B. in 2019 USA singing Poor Little Jesus.

[Mercurial909]

Okay so here goes my best recollection of Libera’s SJSS 2023 Christmas concert.

Bigs - Nathaniel Bates-Fisher (welcome back dude), Alex Menuet, Mathias Montoro, Koji Shinokubo, Laurence Taylor, Victoria Wiggin

Didn't realise there's a female chorister in Libera...

Great review though! I'm expecting great things from the Hill bros

Bloomin’ autocorrect…