School of Music ensemble-in-residence releases debut commercial recording

NIU School of Music ensemble-in-residence Cor Cantiamo and founding Artistic Director Eric A. Johnson will celebrate their first commercial CD with Centaur Records with an official release this month in the United States and Canada.

The album will be available internationally Tuesday, Aug. 12, on all major download and stream sites as well as on the various classical music specialty sites.

The recording, “Canticum: The Choral Music of Jaakko Mäntyjärvi,” features sacred and secular repertoire including “Alarum Bells,” which was commissioned by Johnson and the NIU Choral Program.

This album was crafted through the combined work of NIU faculty, alumni and internationally acclaimed artists. It was produced by award-winning composer and producer Donald Fraser, and recorded in partnership Mäntyjärvi, who participated in the recording sessions that took place on the NIU campus in the summer of 2013.

Cor Cantiamo performs and promotes contemporary choral music and fosters new composers for the art form.

Since its founding in the spring of 2009, the choir has emerged as an energetic and accomplished vocal ensemble, receiving accolades for their performances. In its inaugural year, Cor Cantiamo performed with Morten Lauridsen, who praised the ensemble for presenting “choral artistry at its finest.”