The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus and Philip Barnes released their new recording Saint Louis Premieres on Regent Records. The album features solely new works written specially for the choir, which receive their world premiere recordings. Saint Louis Premieres includes Ēriks’ commissions On Friendship (2018) and In the Bleak Midwinter (2016).
Gramophone’s Donald Rosenberg: ‘The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus stand out for many reasons, among them a mellifluous approach to ensemble-singing that benefits everything their collective voices touch. … Lilting and soaring phrases pervade Ērik Ešenvalds’s luminous On Friendship, as they do his affectionate In the Bleak Midwinter.’
American Record Review’s Philip Greenfield: ‘This chorus is larger than most chamber ensembles, but there’s an intimacy and connectedness to their sound that any smaller choir would be tickled to have. … Both Esenvalds entries are worth getting to know, especially the lovely take on “Bleak Midwinter”.’