Libera Dreams

Following on from my last post where I said I'd jump to the present to complete the timeline with the boys that appeared at the St. John's Smith Square concert, there are a few anomalies that have been brought up in Concerts and Public Appearances thread http://www.forum.libera-dreams.com/view ... 502#p56502.

Firstly it appears than not all the boys listed on the concert programme appeared on stage:
Eagle-eyed Padmachou saw no Joseph Cranitch or Nathan Slater before any of us noticed they weren't present.

Secondly, only six of the eight new Miniboys were on stage, at times sitting when they had no part in the song.
The only positive recognition was Thomas Mushrafi who was back left in front of the pillar.
We know names and we know faces, but have no idea who is who!

From the present to the future of the Timeline - a bit like in 'A Christmas Carol' by Dickens.
I'm wondering whether Libera is going to have a problem shortly with the Back Row boys? Alex Gula and Leo Barron may have left, which really only leaves Peter and Taichi. The Libera team had to draw on ex-singers (Camden and Alex Motoro) to lend a helping hand for the live concert. I haven't followed closely enough to know if this is the norm.
Who is coming up through the ranks to replace those who have left, or do people think they have enough experienced ex-group to fill in until the back row fills up organically?

I don't think there will be any shortage of candidates for the back row. Major growth spurts are evident in many of the current trebles and voice change will soon follow.

The recent 2020 Xmas message put up on YouTube was a little puzzling for me.
Not because of the content - that was concise and to the point as per their previous Xmas offerings over the years.
The baffling bit was when Koji introduced the two new boys in the front. He clearly says "Thomas and Joseph" and his palm movement indicates each one.



In the online concert video during the lockdown Joseph is named holding his sister, so we know he's called that. I'm sure this is the same face (although he's grown a new front tooth!)
I think Koji got the names mixed up in his introduction.

Dinedorelle wrote: ↑<span title="Mon Dec 28, 2020 10:01 am">3 years ago</span> In the online concert video during the lockdown Joseph is named holding his sister, so we know he's called that. I'm sure this is the same face (although he's grown a new front tooth!)
I think Koji got the names mixed up in his introduction.

Yes, I agree, Koji mixed them up (maybe they look similar from behind ), it's Joseph (Hill or Mycroft) on the left (the proud big brother from the online concert) and Thomas Mushrafi on the right!

Found another name of the older guys in St Philips Choir that I chanced upon while reading the comments on Libera's website on Robert Prizeman's passing. Not sure if it's possible he was an old boy...

Keith gray 14th September 2021 at 6:40 pm

Really sad news. I was in St Philips Choir in 1979 till 86 and look back on that time with fondness. Great memories of choir holidays and the shows we used to put on. Which then developed into libera and our spot on Top of the pops. Robert was always the driving force behind it all and very talented.

Anyone know what's happening with the Libera Members' Timeline? I tried clicking on the link and got an "unavailable" notice. I recently heard from one of the St. Philip's Choirboys, David Barlow, with some photo updates, and tried to contact Dinodorelle by PM here to pass them on, but no response.

bamboo wrote: ↑<span title="Fri Sep 17, 2021 3:15 pm">2 years ago</span> Found another name of the older guys in St Philips Choir that I chanced upon while reading the comments on Libera's website on Robert Prizeman's passing. Not sure if it's possible he was an old boy...

Keith gray 14th September 2021 at 6:40 pm

Really sad news. I was in St Philips Choir in 1979 till 86 and look back on that time with fondness. Great memories of choir holidays and the shows we used to put on. Which then developed into libera and our spot on Top of the pops. Robert was always the driving force behind it all and very talented.

Thanks for that Bamboo.
Such it shame it took such a tragedy to make some of the alumni 'accidentally' make themselves known to us.

Amie_Hill wrote: ↑<span title="Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:46 pm">2 years ago</span> Anyone know what's happening with the Libera Members' Timeline? I tried clicking on the link and got an "unavailable" notice. I recently heard from one of the St. Philip's Choirboys, David Barlow, with some photo updates, and tried to contact Dinodorelle by PM here to pass them on, but no response.

Thanks for letting me know there was a problem Amie Hill.
It seems that Google have updated the way their old written 'embedded' links appear on websites.
When I started this Post it was a simple link we could click on, but now the actual Google sheet appears (although in a smaller format than I'm used to) and can be viewed and scrolled through (as if you had clicked on the link and opened up a new window).

EDIT : I've altered the Google sheet, so that now anyone can click on the link to open up the entire sheet.

Hope that helps!

Following a very interesting email from a former member David Barlow to forum member Amie Hill we can name a few more previously unknown members from the distant past.
Specifically from the album cover of The Best of Angel Voices by The St Philip's Boys Choir.




Quite a few of the names are already known, but thanks to Amie and her contact we can add some brand new ones to the Timeline.

1 : Brandon _ (name given previously by Oliver Putland)

2 : RICHARD MARNELL (new surname given by David Barlow)

3 : Gary Francis (already known)

4 :

5 :

6 : Luke Avery (confirmed by David Barlow)

7 : Ben _ (christian name confirmed by David Barlow)

8 : NICHOLAS PHILIPS (new name given by David Barlow)

9 : Glen Tilen (already known)

10 : Daren Geraghty (already known)

11 : ROBERT WRIGHT (surname previously unknown, but given by David Barlow)

12 : Anthony Maher (already known)

13 :

14 :

Oliver Putland sang on the album but was unavailable for the photoshoot, so doesn't appear.
Interestingly, David Barlow hasn't identified himself on the cover! But he has to be one of the missing faces.
EDIT : In a later post David sends another email to explain he didn't appear on this album cover as he hadn't yet joined Angel Voices.
Nicholas, Gary and Richard were in the same school year as him, but he joined the group in 1993.

Thanks again to Amie and David - it's difficult enough to get one name, let alone three!
All new information has been updated on the Timeline.

During the late 90's and 00's, some of the Libera/Angel Voices videos included those blue or yellow hazes to add an 'artistic' touch, and attempted to give an ethereal effect.
They were done for a purpose of course - brilliant on Classic FM TV, where it was probably quite difficult to stand out from the crowd.

I've had a go at re-colouring and sharpening some of the images on the Timeline so they can be seen in colour.
These few are of Chris Robson(1999-2006) and taken from screenshots of Voca Me in 2004.



The first is the screenshot with a blue haze, the second image is desaturated, and the third is lightly sharpened and recoloured.

Very nice! Are you using any specific coloring software?

Beautiful! This opens up a whole new approach to recording Libera faces.

The Furby wrote: ↑<span title="Sun Sep 26, 2021 2:29 pm">2 years ago</span> Very nice! Are you using any specific coloring software?

Thanks! Yes, I've been using Photoshop. One of the more recent updates was the addition of 'Neural Filters'.
It's pretty clever stuff, but it needs reasonable images to begin with to get an acceptable result.
Many of the screenshots I've taken from earlier videos are so fuzzy, I could never bring them back to life!

Yet another fine discovery from forum member Amie Hill.

Another email exchange from ex-Angel Voices member David Barlow finally provided us with a photo (which he supplied), he thinks taken in 1996.
He joined in 1995 he thinks, at the age of 12, and continued for a while after his voice broke, finally departing in 1998 to concentrate on athletics.
He's quite distinctive as he wore glasses, but there are no boys that resemble him in 1995 or after 1996 on the Timeline, so I can't link him in.
EDIT 29 Sept 21 : David recontacted Amie to say he'd given us the wrong years, so the image below and the details above are the updated versions.



This is how he appears on the Timeline:




He also told us that the boy we've been calling Kit Weston is actually called KIT WISDOM.



If David reads this, I'd like to thank him for his help in filling in some gaps, and I'm sure many others would mirror my sentiments.

Following the above posts regarding David Barlow, I thought anyone reading this in years to come might be interested in the emails he sent.
The two below are abridged versions he sent to forum member Amie_Hill: