Gregg Smith, a choral conductor and composer whose ensemble, the Gregg Smith Singers, established new standards for professional choral singing and championed the work of contemporary American composers in performance and on recordings. Here is a collection of his arrangements for Christmas.

Songlist: Christmas Time Book 1, Christmas Time Book 2

Founded in 1955 by Gregg Smith, The Gregg Smith Singers have made over 35 US and a dozen European tours, and their recordings have won 3 Grammys and two Montreux Awards. Here the Singers perform the eclectic work of American composer Edwin London. Belonging to no particular school, Edwin's music is alternatively experimental and traditional, it is invariably deeply musical and beautiful. Often theatrical, sometimes literary, occasionally humorous (for instance the composed-out hiccups in the second movement of Jove's Nectar), London's music follows his own path. The surrealistic song titles give us a taste of the composer's unconventional mindset: "Celia's Hiccups," "Canon for Dizzy," "Dr. Lassus," "Fanfaronnada" and "Bach (Again)." There is some orchestra accompaniment on "Dirge with Bells," strings on "Moon Sound Zone," and kazoo and strings on "Psalm of These Days I." All in all, "Jove's Nectar" is some of the most out-there, and interesting, choral music we've heard!

Songlist: Estampie, Celia's Hiccups, Canon for Dizzy, Dr. Lassus, Strangers from the East, Fanfaronnada, Dirge with Bells, Moon Sound Zone, Psalm of these Days I, Psalm of these Days V, Bach (again)