In No Strange Land: Choral Works by Martin Bussey Sonoro, Michael Higgins & Neil Ferris

• Martin Bussey (b. 1958):
• 1 Children of Light 01:56
• 2 Whitsunday 04:32
• 3 Swet Jesus 03:02
• 4 Jesus, pro me perforatus 03:49
• 5 The Burning Babe 05:56
• 6 Desideratum 03:32
• 7 The Jesse Tree 02:45
• 8 Balulalow 01:56
• 9 Where Is This Stupendous Stranger 03:29
• 10 The Praises of St Francis 07:32
• 11 Del Nacimiento 03:47
• 12 Que se Ilamaba Maria 02:17
• 13 Song of the Nuns of Chester 03:21
• 14 Three Motets: I. Ave Maria 05:19
• 15 Three Motets: II. The Evening Hymn of King Charles I 04:31
• 16 Three Motets: III. In No Strange Land 05:40
• 17 The Breaking of Bread 03:23
• 18 Christ Is The Morning Star 03:32
• Total Runtime 01:10:19

Info for In No Strange Land: Choral Works by Martin Bussey

Choral music has long been at the heart of the distinguished musical career of contemporary composer Martin Bussey – as a director, a singer, and in writing for the medium.

Acclaimed London vocal consort Sonoro, with its co-artistic directors Neil Ferris (conductor) and Michael Higgins (organ), explores a broad range of Bussey’s sacred choral music with this captivating programme of world premiere recordings that at once presents a composer with passion and a unique voice, and whose works have contributed much to the genre.

Sonoro
Michael Higgins, organ
Neil Ferris, conductor

Sonoro
founded in 2016 by Neil Ferris and Michael Higgins, has attracted attention for its warm tone, rich blend of colours and vibrancy in performance. ‘Sonoro’ in Italian means ‘sonorous, voices that are rich and full’ and Sonoro lives up to that name as a choir with a distinctive and perfectly blended sound.

“A rich, robust texture, abundant in vibrant colour and undoubted excitement.” The Guardian

Sonoro have performed at major national and international festivals and venues including the London Chamber Music Society series at Kings Place, the Wimbledon International Music Festival, the St Magnus International Festival, Orkney and in St Gallen, Switzerland.

“A huge dynamic and expressive range.” Gramophone

Sonoro’s debut album Passion and Polyphony featuring works of James MacMillan and Frank Martin was released in March 2018 to critical acclaim. Their recent album Christmas with Sonoro was named BBC Music Magazine’s 2018 ‘Christmas Choice’.

“Classical concerts seldom feel so downright uplifting.” The Scotsman

Upcoming plans include their Choral Inspirations project, with a major tour of workshops and concerts around the UK. Sonoro has commissioned six composers to each write a new work based on a ‘choral classic’. These pieces, written at a level that choirs everywhere will be able to sing, will be recorded alongside their ‘choral classic’ and released online.

Michael Higgins
is a pianist, composer and arranger, and Artistic Director of the professional chamber choir Sonoro.

With a special interest in choral accompaniment, Michael is in demand with some of the leading choirs in the country and works with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, London Voices, Wimbledon Choral Society and the BBC Singers. In 2012 Michael spent six months travelling across the USA filming a series for American television with popular choir master Gareth Malone, and also appeared on the Queen’s Christmas Message accompanying the Military Wives Choir at Buckingham Palace.

Michael has performed throughout the UK at venues including the Royal Festival Hall, London, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Usher Hall, Edinburgh, as well as across Europe and further afield in Australia and New Zealand. As a rehearsal pianist, he has worked with conductors Daniel Barenboim, Gustavo Dudamel, Jiří Bělohlávek, and Sakari Oramo.

As a composer and arranger he has written for Farnham Youth Choir, the National Children's Choir of Great Britain, as well as music for television, corporate films and commercials. Many of his works are published by the Royal School of Church Music, Novello, and Oxford University Press.

Michael studied piano with Margaret Newman at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Iain Ledingham and Julius Drake. He was awarded the Joseph Weingarten Memorial Trust Scholarship and continued his studies with Kálmán Dráfi at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest.

This album contains no booklet.