The Texas State Men’s Choir, founded in January of 2015, released its debut record titled “Prayers, Poems & Promises” which reached #39 on iTunes classical charts in April 2016. With the choir’s new treble addition and now renamed The Texas State Men & Boys Choir, they teamed up with The Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir to offer a new Christmas album titled “Following The Star; Traditional Carols.”
The Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir, founded in 1964, has had a long tradition of collaborating with vocal groups including the Grammy® winning The Gregg Smith Singers. This record marks the first release for The Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir since “The Afterglow” was released in 1996.
“We wanted to bring back the tradition of voices and bells together,” said Gary McGrath, Producer of “Following the Star” and Executive Director of The Texas State Men & Boys Choir. “This record really became something special. A collection of music celebrating the true meaning of Christmas.”
One of the stand outs on this album is “The Four Old English Carols” by Gustav Holtz. This work holds a special meaning for both organizations. In their hometown of Fort Worth, Texas both The Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir and The Texas State Men & Boys Choir participate in the play pageant of the nativity titled “The Littlest Wiseman” presented annually as a free gift to the community.
The music in the production is based around “The Four Old English Carols” which will be released as four separate music videos on YouTube.com in December of 2016.
“Following the Star” is available in hard copy form in stores nationwide, online, and internationally for digital download on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, and many more. Release date November 1, 2016.
More information: http://www.texasstatemenandboyschoir.org/.
