CD from DeMontfort Music/Decca in top 10 on Amazon -- No. 13 at Barnes & Noble
ATLANTA, Nov. 5, 2012 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Online buyers are flocking to Amazon and Barnes & Noble to preorder ADVENT AT EPHESUS, the 16-track CD from the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles. Available Nov. 20 and the first release from DeMontfort Music (with worldwide distribution by Decca Records), ADVENT AT EPHESUS is No. 10 on Amazon's Classical Music list and No. 13 on Barnes & Nobel's overall Top 100.
The CD includes hymns the sisters enjoy singing during Advent at the end of Mass; polyphony; traditional chants; and the original work Adjuvabit Eam. Early reviews and the flurry of advance orders suggest it could be one of the surprise hits of the year.
"We are thrilled and humbled by the early orders," said DeMontfort Music Co-Founder Monica Fitzgibbons. "It's exciting to see such wonderful response to news of our label's first release. Knowing that the pre-orders will need to be on par with the top industry releases, we still have a long way to go to reach our goals of most-pre-ordered leading up to November 20. To accomplish these goals will mean wider distribution for The Benedictines of Mary, ADVENT AT EPHESUS, and will show the industry that there is a demand for the true and the beautiful in art. That said, it is simply glorious to be able to tell Mother Cecilia and the other sisters in Missouri that already their work is, indeed, advancing His Kingdom."
The contemplative sisters don't set foot beyond their Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus, situated in Northwest Missouri's rolling farmland. They live an austere yet joyful life set apart from the world.
De Montfort enlisted Grammy® and Oscar® winning producer Glenn Rosenstein, who traveled to America's heartland; set up a mobile recording studio on the 260-acre property the sisters call home; and captured all of ADVENT AT EPHESUS in only three days. Rosenstein, who has worked with a host of international stars and whose projects have generated sales well in excess of 250 million units (with artists from U2 to New York Philharmonic) calls this one of his 10 all-time-favorite recordings.
The album is engineered and co-mixed by David Schober (Handel's Messiah, John Rutter, Cambridge Singers, Royal Philharmonic and countless other great works).
ADVENT AT EPHESUS represents a rare approach – one that focuses on music celebrating the quiet, introspective anticipation of the Nativity that is the foundation of the Advent season. Here is the full track list for the album:
1. Come Thou Redeemer of the Earth
2. Angelus ad Virginem
3. Regnantem Sempiterna
4. Gabriel's Message
5. Creator Alme Siderum
6. Hayl, Mary
7. Rorate Caeli
8. Praeparate Corda Vestra
9. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
10. Benedixisti Domime
11. Maria Walks Amid the Thorn
12. Alma Redemptoris Mater
13. Adjuvabit Eam*
14. O Come Divine Messiah
15. Vox Clara
16. Like the Dawning
* Original composition
About the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles
Founded in 1995, The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, are a young, monastic order of Sisters. United with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross; the sisters seek, above all else, a life of union with God in prayer as guided by the Rule of St. Benedict. They pray and sacrifice especially for the sanctification of priests. The Sisters sing together eight times a day as they chant the Divine Office in Latin. Along with the making of priestly vestments and sacred linens, The Benedictines of Mary also take care of gardens, an orchard and a small farm.
About De Montfort Music
De Montfort Music is a division of AimHigherMedia – both founded by music-industry veterans Kevin and Monica Fitzgibbons. Its special mission is to sign, develop, produce and bring to market the very best in Sacred Music. The label is an ambassador to the world of the true and the beautiful. The Benedictines of Mary are signed to De Montfort Music, which is distributed worldwide through Decca/Universal.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned operations in 60 territories. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's leading global music publishing operations.
Universal Music Group's record labels include A&M/Octone, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, Island Records, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Republic and Verve Music Group – as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalogue is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes Global Digital Business, its new media and technologies division, and Bravado, its merchandising company.
Visit the online newsroom at MaxOnDeadline.com/Advent-At-Ephesus to watch the Electronic Press Kit, which is available for use by media, and to get background on the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles; and De Montfort Music/Decca.
For more information on De Montfort Music or ADVENT AT EPHESUS, to request a review copy of the album, or to schedule interviews with Mother Cecilia or Kevin Fitzgibbons, please contact Kevin Wandra (678-990-9032 or KWandra@MaximusMG.com) or Alexis Walkenstein (561-445-5409 or AWalkenstein@MaximusMG.com) of The Maximus Group.
