I had the honor of singing with Mr. Miller a couple of times in the chorus he's currently conducting. he is absolutely brilliant. by far the best conductor I've ever had the privilege to sing with
As a choral director of 70 treble voiced Aussie males, I want to thank you for unabashedly showing such openly intense musicality. Your pulsating bodies and mesmerising singing is in sync with your excellent director. Such clarity of diction and facial expression. My boys will be loving it.... YOU ROCK!!!!
Whatever technique the tenors use in Lux Aurumque to sustain that long note works wonders. Each of these songs is truly a treat to listen to. This is what real choral singing is about.
i love the comment " i like the part between 0.00 and 10.53" it beats all those comments about the perpetual 5ths and the major diminished dohickys i love the quality of this live performance its great!!!!
I so miss barbershop. Maybe when I get old and have no more time for hockey (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), competitive weightlifting and firewood cutting, I'll get back into it. I'm 71.
Im from Neyyoor a small village in southern end of India... Saw this video.... Really a world class performance..... Harmony and expression are superb... Hats off to the choir.... Wish u All the Best....
Great job guys! I was a member in the University of Houston group that competed, and it was TRULY an honor to compete with such a great ensemble! BEST OF LUCK IN THE FUTURE!
I firmly believe that one of the reasons you are winning the barbershop international competition each time is because your chorus does not sing an entire diet of barbershop music. You sing fine choral music with a variety of harmonic styles (including what is almost tone clusters). The Vocal Majority has been the same way, but I don't think they ever did anything as intense as the Lux Aurumque. Bravo!
The lead soloist reminds a lot of Matthew Ward from 2nd chapter of Acts. Awesome voice. By far my favorite chorus. In fact Westminster is the only chorus cd I own.
This choir is absolutely breathtaking. The fact that a whole choir can be so well in tune, so perfect on so many levels, is absolutely crazy! I would love to sing in this choir! Amazing. Well deserved Choir of the World victory. Wow.
It has been about fifve days since I stumbled accross this chorus and i still can't get enough of hearing these beautiful voices that sound like a river of molten gold!
I've got to admit, but I never thought I'd be hearing a barbershop-type group doing Whitacre. Now, all I can say is, "Why didn't I think of that?" The purity of barbershop groups suits Eric's music perfectly. Wonderful performance, on every piece. The musicality that carries over from the barbershop genre is impressive-- it's a shame that so many SATB choirs can't duplicate it. Outstanding.
the dynamic contrasts that this choir can perform, such as going from pp to ff, is absolutely beyond words. on the ff parts, they're singing beyond the top of their lungs, and it still rings like a bell. incredible.
@msowinski64 Absolutely!!! When i was in high school, we played Eric's piece called October at state band. It made a lot of the people in the audience cry. Such an amazing artist of music.
very nicely done! everybody seems to like being a critic on RUclips without fully appreciating the full gallery and diversity of sound and talent among choirs here. you have an exceptional group, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
yeah. i was there with another choir competing against them. when they went on stage i knew we didnt stand a chance. but all of the top five choirs were pretty damn amazing this year. toughest competition ever. congrats westminster!
You guys are just amazing, not only you have gorgeous voices (love the basses!), I just adore the passion each one of you sings with and the love and great enthusiasm that your choir director leads you. This makes you SO DIFFERENT from any other choir. This makes you so unique. Thank you so much !
Subscribed some time ago when I stumbled across your "O Love that will not let me go". Glad I subscribed and even though its 11 years ago this posting is just awesome. Just superb listening. Thank you so so much. Keep up this great work. Best wishes and regards from Belfast
ach i love their facial expressions and movements... it truly demonstrates how connected they are to the spirit of the music, to each other and to their own spirit.
All of those overtones are godly, even in Lux you guys managed to place one. For those of the classical singing style, this is what barbershop training does. You can learn dominant seventh chords in jazz, but this genre is epitmoe of mastery when it comes to the major triad. This can help any song: learning to balance and tune chords to the point where soundwaves overlap and cause a ringing buzz to occur. They even pulled it off on a minor chord. You guys are just incredible.
Thats crazy... my High School Chamber Choir that I am apart of is doing Lux AND Shenandoah for a compition we will be in next weekend O.O Im a Bass 2... low notes = fun ;P
I'm sure i've already posted on this video... But this is the most amazing thing I think I've ever heard. You guys should do Sleep, followed by Water Night, then Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine. In that order. Thanks! :)
WOW! Goosebumps all over! Would love to see them compete with all the other Choir of the WOrld WInners Like UST SIngers, and the 2 - time Grand Prix Winner Philippine Madrigal SIngers. That would be awesome to watch!
OMG!!!!!!! that is absolutely incredible. This is a challenge to all BBS choruses out there to diversify and become the best they can be as musicians, not as barbershoppers. The rest of the world should be weary of the caliber of BBS singers around the glbe. an absolute credit to these guys, they have done an amazing job and I look forward to more of this!
Can I just say that I love you guys?? Your blend is AMAZING, and your voices make me melt into a puddle of happiness and joy. I loved seeing you guys perform at International over the summer. I especially love the arrangement of Sure on This Shining Night that you do.
Thanks for reply. Your suggestion is an obvious solution which doesn't always work with my Chorus. However one thing our coach suggested when first learning a song is play the first note on the pitch pipe intermittently throughout the song all the way to the end in order to force us to hear where our voices are and if they've gone off key.
I really appreciate your choir and the dedication you men put into the perfection of your art. There are those who will embrace new methods, colors, sounds, and techniques, and those who will not because their opinion of "proper etc." has become engendered with "right etc.". I try to balance my musical digest, varying my intake so long as the work in question was designed with artistic integrity in mind. Those who cannot do this shall one day pass from the world, their voices lost to the void.
@Wally773MTG This is the first men choir arrangment of Lux Arumque to bring me to tears, and I have sang this before. This music is good, if you don't like it, that's perfectly fine, but please, don't bring them down because I enjoy it and at least 322 other people like it and the audience loved it. They are great.
congrats for wining !! This was beautiful ! composition/arrangement/interpretation ! Hope you guys come to France one day ! we need chorus like that !!
These men truely made my heart stop! They are AMAZING. Btw, I thought they were a Welsh Chorus because Llangollen is the name of the town where my Great Grandmother grew up in Wales .
@leetfeetman We fluctuate year to year because guys are in school, move away, get busy or have work/life sadly take them away from us. What you see in this video was the amount of guys who were both singing with us regularly AND able to afford the trip to UK to compete in Choir of the World. US based contests are more "local" for us so we swell to approximately 65 at those competitions.
Also, kudos to you guys on the barbershop set and your 2007 performance of strike up the band. That song sounds so fun. Is there sheet music available for the arranement you guys did?
@amonjojo Westminster Chorus is not in affiliation with Westminster Choir College. We are based out of Southern California. It is a strange coincidence that Joe Miller is with Westminster Choir College on the east coast and that Justin Miller is in CA with Westminster Chorus.
the balance that they create is beautiful. I think balance is hardest thing to create in this piece.
I had the honor of singing with Mr. Miller a couple of times in the chorus he's currently conducting. he is absolutely brilliant. by far the best conductor I've ever had the privilege to sing with
As a choral director of 70 treble voiced Aussie males, I want to thank you for unabashedly showing such openly intense musicality. Your pulsating bodies and mesmerising singing is in sync with your excellent director. Such clarity of diction and facial expression. My boys will be loving it.... YOU ROCK!!!!
this is like the 7th time straight listening to this.
This is natures reminder that the world does have something to offer and what it has to offer can be AWESOME :)
Good lord... It's almost electronic... Precision+emotion... That's unreal
Whatever technique the tenors use in Lux Aurumque to sustain that long note works wonders. Each of these songs is truly a treat to listen to. This is what real choral singing is about.
i love the comment " i like the part between 0.00 and 10.53" it beats all those comments about the perpetual 5ths and the major diminished dohickys i love the quality of this live performance its great!!!!
I so miss barbershop. Maybe when I get old and have no more time for hockey (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), competitive weightlifting and firewood cutting, I'll get back into it. I'm 71.
Im from Neyyoor a small village in southern end of India... Saw this video.... Really a world class performance..... Harmony and expression are superb... Hats off to the choir.... Wish u All the Best....
They are from Westminster, CA, USA. The competition is in Llangollen Wales. It's called the choir of the world contest.
My ancestor settled Westminster, Ca.
I went to Westminster in NJ!
Nice job!!
you win
OUTSTANDING BOYS!! Way to go representing USA and your barbershop roots. So Proud!!
I love that they are not one of the gigantic choruses, but their voices are so tight that they produce such a wall of sound.
the tenor string at the end of the first song is probably the nicest thing i've ever heard. perfect note...
Great job guys! I was a member in the University of Houston group that competed, and it was TRULY an honor to compete with such a great ensemble! BEST OF LUCK IN THE FUTURE!
I wish I was a part of a group like this. I'm a bass and this music is right up my alley.
I firmly believe that one of the reasons you are winning the barbershop international competition each time is because your chorus does not sing an entire diet of barbershop music. You sing fine choral music with a variety of harmonic styles (including what is almost tone clusters). The Vocal Majority has been the same way, but I don't think they ever did anything as intense as the Lux Aurumque. Bravo!
Music has marched forward, without relent, for the past 600 years. Let us try to maintain that progress, lest our art become stagnate.
Goodness!!!!❤❤❤❤
The lead soloist reminds a lot of Matthew Ward from 2nd chapter of Acts. Awesome voice. By far my favorite chorus. In fact Westminster is the only chorus cd I own.
Guys... You represented the BHS awesomely! This is some of the best singing I've ever heard!
This choir is absolutely breathtaking. The fact that a whole choir can be so well in tune, so perfect on so many levels, is absolutely crazy! I would love to sing in this choir! Amazing. Well deserved Choir of the World victory. Wow.
It has been about fifve days since I stumbled accross this chorus and i still can't get enough of hearing these beautiful voices that sound like a river of molten gold!
OMG, you are fantastic!! Congratulations...
Still amazing
Very rich/full sound w/o volume and very intense focus to balance is very noticable. Wonderful presentation.
The arranger for this version of Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel is Aaron Dale.
I've got to admit, but I never thought I'd be hearing a barbershop-type group doing Whitacre. Now, all I can say is, "Why didn't I think of that?" The purity of barbershop groups suits Eric's music perfectly. Wonderful performance, on every piece. The musicality that carries over from the barbershop genre is impressive-- it's a shame that so many SATB choirs can't duplicate it. Outstanding.
I luv the faces they pull :D
the dynamic contrasts that this choir can perform, such as going from pp to ff, is absolutely beyond words.
on the ff parts, they're singing beyond the top of their lungs, and it still rings like a bell. incredible.
@msowinski64 Absolutely!!! When i was in high school, we played Eric's piece called October at state band. It made a lot of the people in the audience cry. Such an amazing artist of music.
very nicely done! everybody seems to like being a critic on RUclips without fully appreciating the full gallery and diversity of sound and talent among choirs here. you have an exceptional group, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
That Justin Miller is the business
yeah. i was there with another choir competing against them. when they went on stage i knew we didnt stand a chance. but all of the top five choirs were pretty damn amazing this year. toughest competition ever. congrats westminster!
Beautiful sound all around! The high amount of cute guys (especially in the bass section!) also get my thumbs up :)
Really great job boys! So happy you competed and won! Your barbersohp roots in you really helped with blend its so great!
God bless you all!
Im going to be in this choir next year, well I have to audition first but I made it into the school for Voice so Im excited now!
@MultitrackManiac
Completely agree. The chord on "water" in Shenandoah...I could live in that chord for the rest of my life.
9:08 is some intense conducting
@OCTenor2 I would definitely agree with that remark Shawn.
Love love love love this song! Finally an all male version posted on youtube. ;-)))
Eric Whitacre Rocks!
great conductor :)
I would LOVE to hear this choir perform Ubi Caritas by Durufle. That would be gorgeous.
If I lived nearby I would join this Choir!!!!
Beatifull
Wow! In the world capital of Male Choir singing, no less!! Next, to hear them sing something in Welsh?
Just...WOW
You guys are just amazing, not only you have gorgeous voices (love the basses!), I just adore the passion each one of you sings with and the love and great enthusiasm that your choir director leads you. This makes you SO DIFFERENT from any other choir. This makes you so unique.
Thank you so much !
Subscribed some time ago when I stumbled across your "O Love that will not let me go".
Glad I subscribed and even though its 11 years ago this posting is just awesome.
Just superb listening.
Thank you so so much.
Keep up this great work.
Best wishes and regards from Belfast
ach i love their facial expressions and movements... it truly demonstrates how connected they are to the spirit of the music, to each other and to their own spirit.
I'm pretty sure the lead on Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel was on NBC last night.
All of those overtones are godly, even in Lux you guys managed to place one. For those of the classical singing style, this is what barbershop training does. You can learn dominant seventh chords in jazz, but this genre is epitmoe of mastery when it comes to the major triad. This can help any song: learning to balance and tune chords to the point where soundwaves overlap and cause a ringing buzz to occur. They even pulled it off on a minor chord. You guys are just incredible.
THE CHOIR SOUND SO BEAUTIFUL WHAT GREAT SOUND AND PERFORMANCE AS A PROFESSIONAL CHOIR.
Thats crazy... my High School Chamber Choir that I am apart of is doing Lux AND Shenandoah for a compition we will be in next weekend O.O
Im a Bass 2... low notes = fun ;P
The chords from 7:39 - 7:57 gave me instant goose bumps. Well done. Very well done.
I'm sure i've already posted on this video... But this is the most amazing thing I think I've ever heard. You guys should do Sleep, followed by Water Night, then Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine. In that order. Thanks! :)
around 2:50 total chills, stunned by the beauty, frozen in my chair!!!!!!!!!
WOW! Goosebumps all over! Would love to see them compete with all the other Choir of the WOrld WInners Like UST SIngers, and the 2 - time Grand Prix Winner Philippine Madrigal SIngers. That would be awesome to watch!
Wow, i thought that solo was beautiful with the soprano in the virtual choir....but wow this is just as amazing :)
THIS IS AMAZING!!!
OMG!!!!!!! that is absolutely incredible. This is a challenge to all BBS choruses out there to diversify and become the best they can be as musicians, not as barbershoppers. The rest of the world should be weary of the caliber of BBS singers around the glbe. an absolute credit to these guys, they have done an amazing job and I look forward to more of this!
I recognized that guy too......from the socals
Can I just say that I love you guys?? Your blend is AMAZING, and your voices make me melt into a puddle of happiness and joy. I loved seeing you guys perform at International over the summer. I especially love the arrangement of Sure on This Shining Night that you do.
Saw them perform this live just a few weeks before this. Still makes the hairs on my body stand on end hearing it!
Thanks for reply. Your suggestion is an obvious solution which doesn't always work with my Chorus. However one thing our coach suggested when first learning a song is play the first note on the pitch pipe intermittently throughout the song all the way to the end in order to force us to hear where our voices are and if they've gone off key.
You guys are brilliant! I hope someday I can sing in a choir that's anything at all like yours!
I really appreciate your choir and the dedication you men put into the perfection of your art. There are those who will embrace new methods, colors, sounds, and techniques, and those who will not because their opinion of "proper etc." has become engendered with "right etc.". I try to balance my musical digest, varying my intake so long as the work in question was designed with artistic integrity in mind.
Those who cannot do this shall one day pass from the world, their voices lost to the void.
@Wally773MTG This is the first men choir arrangment of Lux Arumque to bring me to tears, and I have sang this before. This music is good, if you don't like it, that's perfectly fine, but please, don't bring them down because I enjoy it and at least 322 other people like it and the audience loved it. They are great.
I was totally there
Absolutely wonderful!
Thank God, I enjoyed it :)
this makes my heart melt.
And the chorus was incredible under Royce Ferguson's direction, as well.
congrats for wining !! This was beautiful ! composition/arrangement/interpretation ! Hope you guys come to France one day ! we need chorus like that !!
these guys gave me goosebumps!
what a blessing to listen toyou
These men truely made my heart stop! They are AMAZING. Btw, I thought they were a Welsh Chorus because Llangollen is the name of the town where my Great Grandmother grew up in Wales .
Westminster, California
Beautiful
the first 35 seconds of "Didn't My Lore Deliver Daniel" gave me a nosebleed. that guy is singing his face off.
The director of the choir is now randomly directing the men's choir at my high school...I flipped out XD
truly awesome. Thank you for posting this!!!!!!!
i love the sound i just feel like looking at them makes me feel like they are trying to get get me into a van or something
love it...
@noblescallion . Yea I pretty much had to sit down and arrange it. Thats how much i liked it. Im going to try to do it with my group. :)
@mattdre88
yeah he sings with the Socal Vocals, who was singing in the Sing Off on NBC
@leetfeetman We fluctuate year to year because guys are in school, move away, get busy or have work/life sadly take them away from us. What you see in this video was the amount of guys who were both singing with us regularly AND able to afford the trip to UK to compete in Choir of the World. US based contests are more "local" for us so we swell to approximately 65 at those competitions.
HOLY $#&! that was amazing
@noblescallion
Shenandoah is perhaps the archetypal American folk song, and these guys just do an amazing job with it.
Amazing coordinating 9:07
@MrDrewboggess Thanks.
have you checked out reprise quartet singing "how great thou art"? might sound really good with a whole choir. it's a beautiful arrangement. jd
Also, kudos to you guys on the barbershop set and your 2007 performance of strike up the band. That song sounds so fun. Is there sheet music available for the arranement you guys did?
@amonjojo Westminster Chorus is not in affiliation with Westminster Choir College. We are based out of Southern California. It is a strange coincidence that Joe Miller is with Westminster Choir College on the east coast and that Justin Miller is in CA with Westminster Chorus.
I sang in Ohio State Men's Glee Club that won Choir of the World in 1990
BARBERSHOP!!!!!!
foot stamp I think, on first viewing.
It's a traditional spiritual open to public domain. The arrangement is by Aaron Dale
Southern California! Where can we go see this live?