"Looking Back and Looking Up" is a sumptuous, 2-CD collection by the three talented branches of the New Orleans Children's Chorus, the Youth Chorale, Chamber Ensemble and Concert Chorus, all directed by Cheryl Dupont, with piano accompaniment by Kevin Caparotta. The Chorus is delighted to celebrate their 25th season, in spite of a 4-month hiatus due to Hurricane Katrina. There are 52 selections here on the two discs, impressive not only for the number, but for the difficulty and maturity of the pieces and the quality of the performances by this veteran Chorus. Attempting to choose favorites is not easy, for instance, disk one begins with David Elliot's joyous "When I Sing," Mozart's wonderful "Laudate Dominum," and Leslie/Calvert's heartstring-tugging "Song for the Mira;" each of these is a stone winner. We absolutely enjoyed Andre Thomas' "Rockin' Jerusalem," Bela Bartok's "Don't Leave Me," Imant Raminsh's "Song of the Stars," John Rutter's "Gaelic Blessing," Jule Styne's "Never, Never Land" and Z. Randall Stroope's "Inscription of Hope." On disk 2, we find S. Hatfield's "Nkose Sikeleli/Freedom is Coming," Rupert Lang's "Spirit of the Child," Ella Fitzgerald's "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," Randall Thompson's "A Girl's Garden," Schubert's "Lebenslust," Valerie Shields' "Eliyahu Hanavi," Daniel Gawthrop's "Sing Me to Heaven" and pianist Caparotta's "May the Road Rise to Meet You." A beautiful, sublime collection from this outstanding American children's chorus!