Review: Daniel Asia recently won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for composition, and has been the recipient of many competitive grants and fellowships in music including a Meet The Composer/Reader's Digest Consortium Commission, United Kingdom Fulbright Arts Award Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, four NEA Composers Grants, a M. B. Rockefeller Grant, and many more. Britain's foremost professional chamber choir, the BBC Singers, was founded in 1924. As a vital resource in the BBC's music output, the BBC Singers hold a unique position in British musical life. Performing everything from Byrd and Birtwistle to Tallis and Takemitsu, the versatility of this 24-voice ensemble is second to none.

Songlist: Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- i thank You God, Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- who sharpens ever dull, Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- o the round little man, Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- goo-dmore-ning, Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- o the little round man ii, Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- jake hates, Purer Than Purest Pure (1997)- purer than purest pure, Why? Jacob (1978-9), Summer Is Over (1997)- so many selves, Summer Is Over (1997)- this is a rubbish of human rind, Summer Is Over (1997)- in Spring, Summer Is Over (1997)- the of an it, Summer Is Over (1997)- who were so dark, The She Set (1981, 2008)- Isis in Despair, The She Set (1981, 2008)- Orpheus, The She Set (1981, 2008)- She, The She Set (1981, 2008)-Prayer Before Drowning, Out Of More (1997)- hush, Out Of More (1997)- nine birds, Out Of More (1997)- or who and who, Out Of More (1997)- when serpents bargain, Out Of More (1997)- nine birds ii, Out Of More (1997)- out of more, Sounds Shapes (1973, revised 2008)- quarternote= 60, Sounds Shapes (1973, revised 2008)- floating, Sounds Shapes (1973, revised 2008)- quarternote- 60

Review: When Sir Michael Tippett first worked with the BBC Singers in 1944, the experience was such that he recalled nearly 50 years later that "It was to be the first of many such occasions when a composer's dreams were brought to fulfillment." Tippett's relationship with the BBC Singers went back to almost the beginning of his career, and he often expressed intense admiration for them. His faith is rewarded here. Now under the Conductor Laureate, Stephen Cleobury, the present-day BBC Singers return the compliment with this program of his works for choir, both unaccompanied and with organ. The plaintive high solo of the Nunc Dimittis, floating above strange middle-range harmonies, soars worlds away from cosy Anglican convention. The 'sprung' rhythms of Dance Clarion Air and The Windhover have a muscular freedom unlike anything in contemporary English music. The strangely irregular figures Tipett waves around the tune in Over the Sea to Skye may seem over-ingenious at first, but by the end their quite hypnotic, at the same time challenging the ear to re-examine a very familiar melody.

Songlist: Dance, Clarion Air, Plebs Angelica, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, Unto The Hills, England: Early One Morning, Ireland: Lilliburlero, Scotland: Poortith Cauld, Wales: Gwenlian, Skye Boat Song, The Source, The Windhover, Lullaby, Steal Away, Nobody Knows, Go Down Moses, By and by, Deep River

Review: The world-renowned choral composer and conductor Bob Chilcott leads the BBC Singers, as well as the internationally recognised soloists Simone Rebello and Paul Silverthorne, in these new performances of some of his best and most loved choral works. The choir is renowned as an expert ensemble and here they sing splendidly under Chilcott's direction. The selection of music on this disc has been well made to give a good variety of perspectives on Bob Chilcott's choral output - a resourceful composer and one who writes exceptionally well for voices and he is superbly served here by the virtuosity of the BBC Singers. This is a glorious showcase of one of the finest choral composers at work in Britain today.

Songlist: The Skin, The Barrel of the Drum, The Two Curved Sticks of the Drummer, Gourds and Rattles, The Gong - Gong, My Prayer, O sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Clavis David, O Oriens, O Rex Gentium, O Emmanuel, The Shepherd's Carol, And Every Stone Shall Cry, Pange Lingua, The Runner, The Last Invocation, One's - Self I Sing, Beach, Simple Pictures of Tomorrow, Weather Report

Review: When an ensemble like the BBC Singers, renowned for its commitment to the music of our time, sets out to record a Christmas CD you can be sure that the repertoire will include material rather different from the usual run of popular standards and arrangements! One star, at last includes eight new carols (six of them specially-commissioned by BBC Radio 3), several premiere recordings, and a selection of music - serious and light-hearted, contemplative and joyful - by some of the leading British, European and North American choral composers of the day. Composers include Martland, Weir, Ades, MacMillan, Tavener, Kornowicz, Rodney Bennet and Harle.

Songlist: Nowell Sing We Now, From Lands that see the Sun Arise, Make we Joy, There is no Rose of Such Virtue, I Wonder as I Wander, Illuminare, Jerusalem, The Shepherd's Gift, Corpus Christi Carol, The Fayrfax Carol, The Shepherds Sing, Today the Virgin, Oczekiwanie (Waiting), O Magnum Mysterium, Sleep, little Jesus, sleep, Romance of the Angels, Mrs. Beeton's Christmas Plum Pudding, Nativitas, Seinte Mari Moder Milde, Carol, One Star, at Last