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EMI Classics is pleased to release the 2008 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, recorded live by BBC Radio 3 in "the magnificent recording studio that is King’s College Chapel.” The service marked the 80th anniversary of its first BBC broadcast and the start of a year-long celebration of the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University. The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, is conducted by its Director of Music Stephen Cleobury. This recording joins the chart-topping England, My England and the CD and DVD of Handel’s Messiah as EMI Classics/Choir of King’s College contributions to the University’s octocentenary. The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, founded in the 15th century, has been described as “a crowning glory of our civilisation.” It is famous the world over for its quintessentially English sound and, in particular, for its iconic Christmas Eve service, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, introduced in 1918 as a more imaginative approach to worship. The choice of carols varies each year. Held in King’s College Chapel and broadcast by the BBC since 1928 (with the exception of 1930), the service is currently broadcast internationally. Thus, every year, millions of listeners around the world, from adventurers at the foot of Everest and the middle of desert to families making their own Christmas preparations at home, are able to share the traditional English Christmas Eve service with those seated in the pews at King’s College Chapel. When Stephen Cleobury became Director of Music at King’s in 1982, he added a “new” tradition to the service. Eager to embrace contemporary music and incorporate it into the existing format, Cleobury began commissioning a new carol each year for inclusion in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. The 2008 programme includes Illuminare Jerusalem by Judith Weir (1985), What sweeter music by John Rutter (1987) and Mary, commissioned from Dominic Muldowney for the 2008 service. Another “new” composer represented in the 2008 service is Peter Tranchell (1922-1993), former University of Cambridge lecturer in Music, whose contribution is If ye would hear the angels sing. The other carols are traditional, some well known (O come, all ye faithful; God rest ye merry, gentlemen; Hark! The herald-angels sing), others less so (Angels from the realms of glory; Infant holy, Infant lowly; A spotless rose). The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge consists of sixteen choristers and fourteen choral scholars. It was founded in response to King Henry VI’s desire for daily sung services in his magnificent chapel and this remains its primary purpose. Its international reputation, established by the radio broadcast of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, has been consolidated by regular international tours and by the critical and commercial success of its EMI Classics releases. The Choir records exclusively for EMI Classics with which it enjoys a prolific relationship. Most recent releases include England, My England, a patriotic collection of English choral favourites that has been at the top of the UK classical artist charts this summer and Handel’s Messiah, recorded live on Palm Sunday 2009. In Messiah the Choir is accompanied by the Academy of Ancient Music and soloists Ailish Tynan, Alice Coote, Allan Clayton and Matthew Rose. Their performance, screened live by satellite in cinemas throughout the UK, mainland Europe and North America, was released on CD by EMI Classics a few weeks after the event, and on DVD in November 2009. Among other acclaimed releases are John Rutter’s Gloria, Magnificat and Psalm 150 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Heavenly Voices, in which the Boys of King’s College Choir, in their first solo recording for the label, perform works by Franck, Mendelssohn, Fauré, John Ireland and Patrick Hadley. The Choir made a return visit in 2009 to the Far East (Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.) On December 21, 2009, the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge performs a programme of Christmas favourites at the Royal Albert Hall in London. (http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/christmas/kings-college-choir/default.aspx) In the 2010/11 season and beyond, the Choir’s many appearances will include Musikfest Bremen, Hildesheim, Osnabrück, Halberstadt and Merseberg in Germany, return visits to the Flanders Festival in Gent, Palace of Arts in Budapest and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, a European summer festival tour and return visits to the US and Australia.