Announcing Near Unto Bethlehem by Kay Hicks Ward!

This is not a Christmas CD for everyone…if you're looking for background music -- audio wallpaper to fill the sonic space behind your Christmas party -- look elsewhere.
But if you love serious music -- full-course musical meals -- and you want to sit peacefully and let your heart be filled with glorious feelings of devotion at this time of year, this is your Christmas album.

Kay Ward was the first Utah Symphony Salute to Youth pianist in 1955. But she had no idea she was an arranger and composer until she had raised nearly all her eleven children, and her husband (who became her lyricist) had retired. But then the realization of her talent hit full force! Five albums later she is a believer, as am I.

On Near Unto Bethlehem, Kay and her friends (Meredith Campbell-violin, Roger Hicks-bassoon & flute, Jane Wadsworth-flute, Daron Bradford-soprano sax, Tulley Cathey-mandolin, Alicia Thomason, Christeena Riggs, and George Dyer-vocalists, The Sterling Singers, and orchestrators Larry Bastian and Clive Romney) serve up a Christmas dinner worthy of Windsor Castle and Royal Albert Hall-royal in heritage and international in scope.

Check out the following endorsements by Crawford Gates, Sam Cardon, Daron Bradford, Larry Bastian, and Rich Dixon. These people are very careful about what they praise.

Crawford Gates: "I have three of Kay's previous CDs and occasionally play them on a Sunday afternoon for my enjoyment. I have great respect for her inventiveness and artistry. This new album extends her marvelous legacy."

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Sam Cardon: "She's really amazing. It's the first time I've heard an arrangement of "O Holy Night" and felt the arrangement was anywhere near the level of the original composition. There is amazing stuff in practically every bar. It's a brilliant piece of work from start to finish…."

Daron Bradford: "Kay's compositions and arrangements have been a wonderful surprise for me—they are both a cleansing of the palate and a gourmet meal. Her music takes wonderful turns and twists and each is done with great musical taste."

Larry Bastian: These imaginative musical forays seem to flow almost of their own accord, even insistently, from her fingers onto the keyboard. Her writing for the soloists brilliantly exploits the possibilities of the instruments as well as the great skills of the performers. Kay's setting, her playing and her vocalist's remarkable performance on "Near Unto Bethlehem" just melt me.

Rich Dixon: "…one of very few albums to combine harmonic sophistication, real emotion and spiritual sensitivity. Thank you…I was deeply moved."

The influence of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Fauré, Debussy, and other great musical masters are obvious, but the arrangements are always marked by Kay's imprint: inventive and passionate, modern but approachable, melodically and harmonically satisfying. To even the most musically literate, this is deep music.

Near Unto Bethlehem -- you'll want to take the journey over and over.

Price: $15.98