Category: Lux Recordings

Lux to Record New All-Mealor Album

5/14/2022

After a year of discussions and planning, Lux is thrilled to announce that we will be recording a brand new album of new works from renowned composer Paul Mealor! Mealor will be joining us for the recording, which will be in late July 2022. Entitled Lead, Kindly Light, the album will include many unrecorded works, including some world premieres, next to a few of his most celebrated pieces.

On the project, director Robby Napoli said, "It's really a surreal feeling getting to be a part of this project. So many of us who started Lux together grew up listening to [Tenebrae's Mealor album] A Tender Light, and that played such a large part in inspiring us to take that next step with our love of choral music. To have the opportunity to record this new music for the next generation of choral musicians to enjoy is an absolute privilege."

Lux's collaborations with Mealor began during our virtual season, Songs From Home, during which we had the pleasure of recording his well-loved piece, She Walks in Beauty. Aside from just the virtual recording, Mealor and Napoli sat down to discuss the piece, the beginnings of Paul's career, and some of the projects he has been a part of recently. Afterwards, the two got to talking and decided that they wanted to collaborate further, this time with a much bigger project: a full-length album of Mealor's music.

"I have had the great pleasure of working with this brilliant group of young singers a number of times and have really enjoyed and been musically and artistically enriched every time," said Mealor, "This is certainly a CD/Download you'll want to get."

The track list will feature the title track, Lead, Kindly Light, O Beata Trinitas, i carry your heart with me, Lead Me, Lord, and the aforementioned She Walks in Beauty, among others. For more information on the release of the album, be sure to follow Lux (@choirlux) and Paul Mealor (Facebook) on social media.

Paul Mealor meets Lux members for the first time in 2017.
(Left to right: Robby Napoli, John-Paul Teti, Thomas Rust, Paul Mealor, Bernadette Tirador, Anya Trudeau)

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Lux to Record Holmes Commission

1/20/2022

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Amidst a flurry of snow- and Covid-related cancellations and postponements, Lux is excited to announce that they will be recording their most recent commission for a commercial album, scheduled for release from Innova Recordings in 2022. The commission, which premiered virtually in December 2020, is a piece called Night, by undergraduate composer Christen Holmes.

A composer and french hornist, when Lux approached Holmes about writing a piece for their fully virtual Christmas event, Christmas From Home, they jumped at the chance. The goal was to create an aleatoric chant melody that could be performed almost like a round or canon, with singers starting at any point. Lux recorded the melody separately during quarantine, then combined the melody with recorded bass drones, and created a platform for listeners to create their own aleatoric version of the piece, which you can find here.

This coming Sunday, Lux will record the piece once more, this time not from their homes, but at the University of Maryland's Gildenhorn Recital Hall, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The recording will be featured alongside works by more students from UMD's composition studio.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the young composers at the University of Maryland, and we couldn't be more excited to play a role in the project," said Lux's director, Robby Napoli. "We've been lucky enough to work with a handful of UMD composers in different capacities, and I can say that this isn't a release you'll want to miss. There's some very impressive work coming from these undergrad composers, and we'll no doubt be seeing more performances and recordings of their music after they graduate."

The project is being headed by UMD Professor Robert L. Gibson, thanks to the generous donations of an anonymous donor.

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Lux to Record New All-Mealor Album

Lux to Record Holmes Commission

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