Posted by Alan Brandt | Email this to a friend

English priest and theologian Cardinal John Henry Newman, who wrote “The Dream of Gerontius”, on which Edward Elgar based his oratorio of the same name, will be given the title of ‘Blessed’ by Pope Benedict when he visits Britain in September. But the musical arts is blessing others lately too.

Composer David Dworkin feels blessed to have experienced the Shen Yun Performing Arts group, who will perform in Louisville in March. Knoxville Opera feels blessed to have lyric soprano Rachele Gilmore in their production of “Lucia di Lammermoor”. And we all are blessed by the BBC’s efforts to archive their extensive collection of audio and video recordings on the internet, including this 1936 audio recording of a Welsh minors’ choir. Many of the clips are not available for us in North America, unfortunately.