''Winter Magic'' is a Christmas album by

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

soprano

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, ''Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million c ...

. The album was called ''Christmas Magic'' in some territories, and was released in Japan as ''Winter Magic: Fuyu No Kagayaki – Koibito Tachi No Pure Voice''. The album features traditional Christmas songs (like

Coventry Carol The "Coventry Carol" is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called ''Coventry Mystery Plays, The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors''. ...

) and more contemporary Christmas songs (as

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

's classic,

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

). Winter Magic includes "The Little Road to Bethlehem", " Silent Night", " Veni Veni Emmanuel", "

The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 19 ...

", and "

The Coventry Carol The "Coventry Carol" is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called '' The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors''. The play depicts the Ch ...

", among other seasonal songs. These Christmas tunes combine Westenra's voice with the accompaniment of a choral group. Westenra herself wrote three new songs for the CD: "Peace Shall Come", "All With You", and "Christmas Morning". The variety of melodies, as well as the different genres, of the songs included were designed to showcase the versatility of Hayley's voice to perform classically, as in "Corpus Christi Carol", as well as in a considerably more "pop" style for songs like "Peace Shall Come". Westenra’s ability to achieve such variety in a single album has garnered her critical praise.

Track listing

#Little Road to Bethlehem #Carol of the Bells # Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) # Veni Veni Emmanuel # Silent Night #Christmas Morning #Sleigh Ride #

Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 19 ...

Corpus Christi Carol The Corpus Christi Carol or Falcon Carol is a Middle or Early Modern English hymn (or carol), first written down by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill between 1504 and 1536. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous. The earliest ...

#All with You #

#Winter's Dream #Peace Shall Come #On the Wings of Time (Japanese Bonus Track) #

It's Only Christmas (with Ronan Keating (from Boyzone) - UK and NZ Bonus Track)

Release history

Charts

Album

Tours

Asia

#3 October 2009–

National Theater and Concert Hall, Republic of China The National Theater () and National Concert Hall () are twin performing arts venues at Liberty Square in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. Completed in 1987, the landmarks stand on the south and north sides of the square with Chiang Kai-s ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

#11 October 2009– Music in the Air Festival,

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Tokyo Int ...

#12 October 2009– Kobe International House,

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

#15 October 2009– Shirakawa Hall,

Sakae, Nagoya is an area in Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. It refers to the areas around Sakae intersection, Sakae Station on the Nagoya Municipal Subway and Sakae Station on the Meitetsu Seto Line. Sakae is in the heart of Nagoya and is, along wit ...

#17 October 2009– Tokorozawa Civic Cultural Centre Muse,

Tokorozawa, Saitama is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 344,194 in 163,675 households and a population density of 4800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokorozawa is located in the ce ...

#18 October 2009– Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

United Kingdom

#23 November 2009– Peterborough Cathedral #24 November 2009– Ripon Cathedral #26 November 2009–

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...

#28 November 2009– Banbury St. Mary's #2 December 2009– Tewkesbury Abbey #3 December 2009–

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

#14 December 2009– Norwich Cathedral #19 December 2009– Bristol Cathedral #21 December 2009–

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

References

External links

Official Site

Japanese Edition Info

Japan Tour on Hayley Westenra International
{{Authority control Hayley Westenra albums 2009 Christmas albums Christmas albums by New Zealand artists Classical Christmas albums