Libera sing for the Pope

10:14am Tuesday 22nd April 2008

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A boys' choir wowed America when they sang in front of the Pope and a crowd of 65,000 people at the Yankees Stadium in New York.

The choir performed at a papal mass concert, held at the stadium to mark the end of Pope Benedict XVI's six-day visit to the US.

Libera have experienced great success, travelling and performing around the world.

They have been touring the United States for the past month and the last date was on Sunday when they sang at the papal mass concert.

This is not the first taste of fame for the boys - in December they sang in front of President George W Bush and celebrities including Robert De Niro, Cameron Diaz, Diana Roadd and Steve Martin at the Kennedy Center Honors.

The boys of Libera, who are aged seven to 16, gave concerts in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Albany, Hartford and New York City, and are well known thanks to their recent TV special - Angel Voices.

In addition to their own distinctive music, Libera have performed as backing singers with Bjork, Elton John and Pavarotti and featured on the soundtracks of films such as Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and Ridley Scott's Hannibal.

The boys, who come from different backgrounds, all live and go to school in south London.

Libera has an enthusiastic fan base, particularly in the United States, UK, Japan and Korea, where their CDs have enjoyed mainstream and classical chart success.

But, as one of the boys said, "The travelling and filming is fun but even if we didn't go anywhere I'd still want to do it because I just love singing."