ABBA

Brigham Young formed this non-professional choir after making Salt Lake Valley, Utah, the home of him and his 147 followers. They made their debut a mere 29 days later on 22^nd August 1847 and two years later, in 1849, officially made John Parry their conductor. A further two years on and 1867 saw the opening of the first Tabernacle church with the choir, which number 150 members at that time. Continuing to perform regularly and gaining in popularity, they entered the studio for the first time in September 1910 to make a recoding for Columbia. 1932 was another first for them when they their radio show Music and the Spoken Word was aired on KSL. To date this programme is still running and is the longest continuous running show in the history of American broadcasting and has also been seen on television since the 1960s. Regularly releasing recordings their "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy was a 1959 Grammy Award winner and since then their albums, often of Christmas music, have risen to more than the 300 mark and earned them five gold and two platinum records. A very busy touring ensemble they have toured internationally on a regular basis since the 1950s and their number has now gone up to around 360 amateur volunteer members. Often appearing with other ensembles and artists they have sung with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Canadian Brass, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra at Temple Square, The Osmonds, Andre Rieu, the Royal Philharmonic, Sissel, with who they gained two Grammy nominations, Bryn Terfel, Utah Symphony and Sir David Willcocks to name a few. Recognised for their contribution to music they were called "America's Choir" by President Ronald Reagan, presented with the National Medal of the Arts by President George W. Bush in 2003 and were made Laureate of the Mother Teresa Award in 2006.

Ayako Shinozaki recordings

Angels We Have Heard on High (French Traditional/James Chadwick/Edward Shippen Barnes)

Sony Classical SFK 62677 (CD: Silent Night/Beautiful Melodies of Christmas)

Harp - Ayako Shinozaki

Sources: