Seraphic Fire and Western Michigan University recording

A great story I'm reposting from ChoralNet - and what the future holds- more and more creative people will "do it themselves" instead of kowtowing to publishers, record companies and the like:



Releasing it yourselves: Seraphic Fire, WMU, and Monteverdi
Date: August 29, 2010
by Philip Copeland
All of the record labels turned them down, so they released it themselves. And now, the recording is tops on iTunes.

Patrick Quigley told ChoralNet about it on Monday. I thought it needed a little more prominence, so here is the story:

From WMU News:

A new compact disc by the Western Michigan University Chorale in collaboration with the professional singing ensemble Seraphic Fire has climbed to the top of the iTunes classical recordings charts, displacing new releases by the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and the London Symphony Orchestra.

The recording of Claudio Monteverdi's 1610 masterpiece, "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin," also known as the "1610 Vespers," was released on iTunes last week, immediately landing in the Top 10 classical recordings and prompting National Public Radio to feature the CD and the story behind its creation on the program "All Things Considered."

"It's really an amazing story," says Dr. James Bass, who just left WMU after serving as director of choral studies. "I'm so proud of the students at Western."

Here is the NPR story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129321950&ft=1&f=1039