What Reviewers Are Saying

"Winter's Gifts: Light … was a labor of love by both groups, whose directors, Barbara Day Turner (of the chamber orchestra) and Daniel Hughes (of the 45-voice chorus), took turns leading lively, nuanced performances and creating a sustained mood of beauty and reverence."

"There's nothing subtle about why this is one of the best-sounding choirs you'll ever hear."

"The Choral Project makes beautiful music…Continuously hitting all the right notes."

"This adventurous group and their conductor present outstanding choral singing."

"The Choral Project is possibly the best and most innovative choral group on the west coast, if not the United States."

"Over the past decade, conductor Daniel Hughes has built a remarkable chorus."

"The Choral Project is a Bay Area jewel."

"The 1997 a cappella piece 'In Pace' by Rene Clausen (b. 1953) was pure balm for the ears, and sometimes evoked the plainchant-based harmonies used by Roy Harris and Samuel Barber. The Choral Project, about thirty strong here, faced the audience and their conductor, Daniel Hughes, from the lip of the stage; their blend sonorous, precise, moving."

"Choral music fans will have much to savor on this new release from the San Francisco-based ensemble known rather prosaically as The Choral Project. This roughly 40-voice group demonstrates an impressive command of some very challenging works, both a cappella and accompanied by various combinations of percussion, piano, strings, and winds, written by contemporary composers who have a special affinity for voices and text-setting. Although Morten Lauridsen's gorgeous setting of O magnum mysterium by now is an established repertoire piece for many choirs and has been recorded many times, it's done so beautifully here that it makes the disc worth owning for this performance alone. But there's also Frank Ticheli's realization of Sara Teasdale's poem There will be rest — a true masterpiece that every capable choir and choral aficionado should know--and David Giardiniere's arrangement of Elgar's "Nimrod" (from Enigma Variations) to the Agnus Dei text, both of which will impress anyone with a love of singing, beautiful melodies, and more or less traditional harmonic and textural structures."

"My GOD what a marvelous choir. You went way beyond notes and words on the page to something vastly more spiritual and meaningful! In my 54 years on this earth, I've SELDOM heard that heart touching musical message. Bravo! As for Daniel Hughes, what a treasure you are, and a credit to our profession. I was very impressed, and I don't impress easily anymore, I'm going to watch your career with great interest. Bravo and keep up the GREAT WORK!"

"… Conductor Daniel Hughes has chosen twenty-nine youngish singers with good and flexible voices, working brains, and great ears -- singers who carry the line to the end of phrases and who know where these ends are. Hughes's musical ear has helped produce one of the better groups I've heard recently …"

"… Hughes's ear produces beautifully unified vowel tone by getting 'the same vowel on the same pitch at the same time,' … His care certainly paid off well in René Clausen's "In Pace" by producing a thrilling climax of sonority …"

"… Hughes has an expressive, readable, and pertinent beat that by being (in general) undivided left the rhythmic impulse to the singers' own internal visceral reaction rather than being based on external conductor cues. Although the size of his beat appeared constant, the singers used a large dynamic range, producing impressive unified diminuendos with hardly any color change. There was very little of that hateful noticing how nice a (mechanical) job the performers were doing, when the audience realized they are no longer listening to the music but only admiring the performance …"

"… A contemporary work was the highlight early in the evening, Gorecki's 'Totus Tuus' … The group glowed most in the full choral works displaying their exciting blend, as in John Tavener's "The Lamb," especially the fine voices in the tenor and bass sections."

"… Hughes, has cultivated the group's fine sound and stage appeal. He is a sensitive and clear conductor, able to call forth excellent nuances in dynamics and phrasing …"