SKU: GI.G-CD-883

SKU: GI.G-CD-914

UPC: 747313307074.

The first major choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank takes the teenager's remarkable and penetrating observations, written whilst hiding in an Amsterdam attic, as the basis of its extaordinary and moving libretto. Whitbourn's music for this work has been described as woundingly beautiful (The Daily Telegraph). He reflects sounds of the Westerkerk bells and tunes heard on the radio in the Annexe, along with representations of Anne Frank's Jewish and German heritage, details that add to a score whose respectful understatement is its greatest strength (The Times). This Grammy Award Nominated recording is conducted by James Jordan with Soprano, Arianna Zukerman, the Westminster Williamson Voices, and The Lincoln Trio with Bharat Chandra, on Clarinet. For an insightful look into the making of this heartbreakingly stunning recording, be sure to read The Musicians Trust (G-8388) written by James Jordan and James Whitbourn. A portion of the book chronicles the process that culminated in the now Grammy nominated recording and details the journey to its creation.  Visit the Grammy's website.

SKU: HL.14042786

6.75x9.75x0.053 inches.

The Voices Stilled (Agnus Dei) by James Whitbourn was commissioned by John Snelling and the Shipley Arts Festival (director Andrew Bernardi), and first performed on 14 July 2013 in Lancing College Chapel by the Westminster Williamson Voices (director James Jordan), choirs from across West Sussex and the Bernardi Chamber Orchestra with Bruce Martin (flute), conducted by the composer. Vocal Score.

SKU: HL.14042785

The Voices Stilled (Agnus Dei) by James Whitbourn was commissioned by John Snelling and the Shipley Arts Festival (director Andrew Bernardi), and first performed on 14 July 2013 in Lancing College Chapel by the Westminster Williamson Voices (director James Jordan), choirs from across West Sussex and the Bernardi Chamber Orchestra with Bruce Martin (flute), conducted by the composer.

SKU: HL.14042891

6.5x9.75x0.055 inches.

The Twenty-Eight Times is a Vocal piece composed by British composer and conductor James Whitbourn . The Twenty-Eight Times was commissioned by the United Westminster Schools and Grey Coat Hospital Foundation to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and performed in Westminster Abbey on 25 October 2013 by the choir of Queen Anne's school, Caversham. This ancient Hebrew text from Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) was a favourite of President Kennedy and formed partof the Eulogy delivered at his funeral service on 25 November 1963. He was assassinated on 22 November 1963.

SKU: HL.14043419

6.75x10.0x0.057 inches.

For SSA chorus and Piano.

Commissione d by the Farnham Youth Choir and the Farnham Festival for the 50th anniversary of the Farnham Festival in 2011.

First performed on the 26th March 2011 at Farnham Maltings, Surreyby the Farnham Youth Choir, conducted by David Vicor-Smith.

James Whitbourn - Festival Alleluia by musicroom

SKU: GI.G-995

UPC: 785147099529.

†œI would tear a hole in the sky so I could pull out the heart of the moon for thee.” From “As I Walk the Silent Earth” by Thomas LaVoy Performed by the Westminster Williamson Voices, conducted by James Jordan. Works by: Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, Thomas LaVoy, Stephen Paulus, Aaron Copeland, Blake Henson, Benjamin Britten, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Dan Forrest, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Arvo Pärt, Alice Parker, Anton Bruckner, and Maurice Duruflé. Produced by James Whitbourn   A stunning new recording from James Jordan and the Westminster Williamson voices. Music opens us to a more radiant and brilliant life through sounds and words. There is music that, by its very nature, “tears a hole in the sky”—the “sky” of our spirits and souls. Certain music, certain composers, and certain performances have a way of “tearing a hole” into us perhaps even bringing new meaning to what we do and how we live. The music of Hole in the Sky has a common thread in that all the pieces, in some way, provide an illuminative hole, through both sound and text, into a deeper understanding of life and living. It explores the many worlds of choral sound. From Ola Gjeilo’s “The Spheres,” to Mendelssohn’s stunning work for women’s choir, “Veni, Domine,” to “She Weeps Over Rahoon” by Eric Whitacre, to the joyful “Jubilate Deo” of Benjamin Britten, this music will touch the depths of your soul. Be bold, take a breath, and dare to fall through. Westminster Williamson Voices under James Jordan is one of the great choirs of the world. Theirs is a sound which can set the soul at rest. James Whitborn.

SKU: OU.9780193532410

ISBN 9780193532410. 12 x 9 inches.

James Whitbourn's Apollo tells the story of the first manned flight to the Moon (the year before the first lunar landing). A wealth of imaginative textures depicts such dramatic events as countdown, ignition, and the first sight of earthrise, leading to a fantasia on an ancient Greek melody, and a final triumphant Paean.

SKU: OU.9780193572843

ISBN 9780193572843. 10 x 7 inches.

For SATB and piano, organ, or other instruments For his expressive and accessible arrangement of the popular melody known to many as 'Carol of the Bells', Whitbourn has written new lyrics that reflect the melody's true heritage, the Ukrainian folksong Shchedryk. The piece is presented with flexible accompaniment options.

SKU: OU.9780193532458

ISBN 9780193532458. 12 x 8 inches.

Harp part for James Whitbourn's setting of a powerful poem by John Henry Newman for upper voices.

SKU: GI.G-9533

ISBN 9781622772407.

All our truth, or all but a few fragments, is won by metaphor. We don’t grasp the meaning of a word or concept until we have a clear image to connect it with. — C.S. Lewis   Understanding artistry and those “things” that contribute to honest and direct musical expression are concepts that are both difficult to teach and difficult for us to understand as conductors and teachers. Born out of his teaching at The Choral Institute at Oxford each summer, James Jordan has realized the power of metaphor for teaching the highest artistic concepts involving human connection and deeper listening. The home of The Choral Institute at Oxford is St. Stephen’s House, the very place that C. S. Lewis worshipped. In this book, Jordan adapts Lewis’s love of powerful and effective metaphors. Jordan uses metaphors as a guide to help conductors engage the most profound the concepts of artistry in music, concepts that are often elusive to teach or learn. These metaphors can be effective doorways to understand our role as artist teacher/conductors in new and vibrant ways. In this book, Jordan explores: The metaphor of conductor as a refractive prism connecting musicians to conductors within constant communicative connection The light-generating source for conductors The power of abiding Polishing one’s metaphorical prism for the most powerful refraction to others Rethinking the “sublime” in music making Understanding and avoiding musical “kitsch” The power of predictive audiation as ultimate trust The artist’s necessary journey into loneliness   GRAMMY-nominated conductor James Jordan is Professor and Senior Conductor at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He is conductor of the internationally acclaimed Westminster Williamson Voices and the Westminster Schola Cantorum, and is Artistic Director and Conductor of The Same Stream (thesamestreamchoir.com). He is Director of The Westminster Conducting Institute and is Co-Director along with James Whitbourn of The Choral Institute at Oxford. James Jordan talks about his new work, Conductor As Prism:.

SKU: GI.G-1056

UPC: 785147005629.

I suppose as artists we are always searching for metaphors that speak directly to the musics we perform to guide us and inspire. The music on this CD pushes our boundaries of what could be considered normal music making and instead moves us into sound worlds that expand what a choral ensemble can produce. This recording, which documents an almost three-year exploration into improvisation in various forms, contains works for choral ensembles that create new sound worlds in and of themselves. We are happy to present to the world a young composer from our midst, Sam Scheibe. His virtuous setting of O magnum mysterium introduces a gifted and deeply insightful compositional voice. Sanctitude is an expansive improvisation combining choir, soprano saxophone, Gregorian chant, Arabic chant, and melodies into a sound world that I hope will document the frontier of a new world of choral performance. The techniques employed in this improvisation are documented in the new text Discovering Choral Improvisation through Chant (GIA, 2020). The CD opens with a three-movement work, The Dreams That Remain by Thomas LaVoy, yet another composer from the Williamson Voices family who has adapted the sound world of this ensemble into a work of beauty and honesty. All of the works on this CD create Auroras of their own that touch us deeply and cover our senses with streamers of light. I thank my friend, James Whitbourn, for conducting on three of the tracks and for crafting the Sanctitude improvisation. Hopefully the sounds on this CD will, as Makoto Fujimara says, bring you outside of yourself, and pull you to look at the [life's] horizon and to see beyond. — James Jordan  .

SKU: HL.350177

ISBN 9781705104095. UPC: 840126933147. 9.0x12.0x0.098 inches.

Commissione d by the Pennsbury High School Concert Choir, James D. Moyer, director in celebration of the tenth annual Big Sing concert in Princeton University Chapel, April 25 2018 and to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, April 4 1968 and his preaching in Princeton University Chapel in March 1960. Scored for mixed voices, soprano saxophone, percussion, piano and organ. Parts available: CH87604 Vocal Score available: CH87593.

SKU: GI.G-1118

A year ago, Westminster Williamson Voices joined a consortium called “The Scattered Light Consortium” along with Jo-Michael Scheibe at USC (the USC Thornton Chamber Singers) and Jamie Glasgow (The Glasgow School of Art Choir). I was attracted to the concept not only because of the composers who are dear friends, but because the pieces were set to poems by one of America’s greatest poets, Dana Gioia. When the two works arrived from composer Sarah Rimkus and Thomas LaVoy, I had, as they say, “the wind knocked out of me.” While both poems could be interpreted using a broader life perspective, they spoke to me and the choir in ways that were immediately deep and profound. Both poems provide light and hope to all of us who are living through this change at Westminster into something unknown. And then, shortly after this recording was completed, the pandemic struck and we were in isolation from our music-making family. We were thankful that we were able to complete this recording.   All of the music on the CD reflects our hope for the future as we climb a crooked ladder leading to, hopefully, a brighter new time for our beloved college, and our lives beyond the pandemic. Our desire is to see a glimmer of light behind what seems a very closed door. This CD offers music for personal reflection, with the hope that these sounds can provide for each of us “scattered” new light.   CONTENTS: In the Bleak Midwinter, Steve Pilkington • Kit Smart's Carol, Gerald Custer • Improvisation on Coventry Carol, Sam Scheibe, Christian Koller, Guillermo Passarin, Alex Tomlinson • Solitude, James Whitbourn • The Stars Now Rearrange Themselves, Thomas LaVoy • The Burning Ladder, Sarah Rimkus • Salvation to All That Will Is Nigh, Anthony Maglione • Brightest and Best, Sarah Rimkus • Coventry Carol, John Frederick Hudson • Magnificat, Peter Relph • Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, Sam Scheibe.

SKU: HL.14041981

8.25x11.75x0.491 inches.

Lux In Tenebris from Luminosity. For SATB choir, Viola, Tanpura, Tam-Tam, and dance theatre.

Luminosit y is a multi-media work, commissioned by the conductor James Jordan of Westminster Choir College for the WestminsterWilliamson Voices, the women of the Westminster Schola Cantorum, the Blair Academy Singers (conductor, William Hammer) and the black-light dance company Archedream, for performance in Phildephia Cathedral during April2008.

The text, compiled and edited by the composer, centres on the transcendent beauty of creation expressed by luminaries down the ages. Texts are taken from the writings of St John, St Teresa of Avila, Ryonen, StAugustine, Julian of Norwich, and St Isaac of Nineveh.

Scoring
SATB (with division)
Viola
Tan pura
Tam-Tam
Organ.