Which UK children’s charity has provided vocal backing for recordings by Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Neil Diamond and Cliff Richard?

Libera is a British boys’ singing group based in Norbury, South London. They are a not-for-profit registered charity who have performed in many countries including the UK, USA, China, Japan, The Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea. The boys are aged between seven and sixteen and all attend schools in London, coming from a variety of backgrounds. They receive training in all aspects of music and are not required to be of any particular religious denomination.

They are familiar with British TV and radio audiences, having appeared on such programmes as “When Will I Be Famous” (a competition that they won), “Last Choir Standing” (appearing as guests), “Songs of Praise” and Chris Evans’ Radio 2 show. They have recorded a number of albums for Warner Classics, EMI and Invisible Hands record labels, as well as providing vocals on a number of film soundtracks including “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “Shadowlands” and “Hannibal”. Their rendition of “How Can I Keep From Singing” was used in a TV advert for British supermarket chain Waitrose. They have provided backing vocals for recordings by a number of famous artists including Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, Neil Diamond and Cliff Richard.

Libera became a registered charity in 2007 under the guidance of the late Steven Philipp (whose son Ben was a soloist in the choir). A US arm of that charity was set up in 2014.