-Courtesy of Bryan Buttler Media Relations, LLC
2022 Grammy-nominated opera and Broadway star Zachary James (Akhnaten, South Pacific, The Addams Family) is releasing his most ambitious album yet, a 20-track celebration of the holiday season. WONDER AND JOY features James along with some of his closest musical collaborators, including Holly Flack, Bonnie Montgomery (Arkansas Country Music Awards Entertainer of the Year), Jason Nichols, Megan Nielson, and Frederick Poholek. The album release is December 3rd.
James wanted to feature an assortment of his favorite holiday tunes on the album, while also highlighting a wide variety of styles. The opera, Broadway, and screen star curated the selections to celebrate his decades’ long, genre-shifting showbiz career. Listeners will revel in classic holiday carols, such as “O Holy Night, “Silent Night,” “O Come All Ye Faithful, and “Jingle Bells,” along with witty renditions of iconic modern Christmas hits “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch,” “Blue Christmas,” “Christmas Time is Here,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
WONDER AND JOY is the 6th solo album by Zachary James. His debut visual album, CALL OUT, has been widely acclaimed, was an Opera News Critic’s Pick, received distinguished honors at London’s Classical Music Digital Awards and has been featured in over 50 international film festivals. As Opera Wire noted, the album was “a combo of rollicking fun and self-revealing moments. It’s a well-planned, lovingly curated, and brilliantly executed mash-up that’s exciting and intelligent.”
James started his career on Broadway (Original Broadway Cast of The Addams Family, Thomas Hassinger in the Tony Award winning Original Broadway Revival Cast of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, the 2007 National Theatre of London Broadway transfer, Coram Boy) and made his entrance into the opera world creating the role of Abraham Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’ opera The Perfect American at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a role he reprised for London’s English National Opera and Australia’s Opera Queensland and the Brisbane Festival. Since then, he has appeared at all of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera and LA Opera. James is a 2022 Grammy-nominated artist for the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Glass’ Akhnaten, and will reprise his role as Amenhotep III at the Met in 2022.
WONDER AND JOY is available for streaming across platforms worldwide December 3. Additionally, a limited number of signed CDs are available by visiting ZachJames.com
Track list:
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (with Frederick Poholek)
You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch (with Frederick Poholek)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
O Holy Night
What Child Is This? (with Frederick Poholek)
Silent Night
Twelve Days of Christmas (with Holly Flack)
Blue Christmas (with Bonnie Montgomery)
O Come All Ye Faithful
Hark the Herald Angels Sing (with Holly Flack)
I’ll Be Home For Christmas (with Frederick Poholek)
Jingle Bells (with Bonnie Montgomery & Frederick Poholek)
Coventry Carol (with Jason Nichols)
Joy to the World (with Holly Flack, Jason Nichols & Megan Nielson)
Christmas Time is Here (with Frederick Poholek)
Angels We Have Heard on High (with Holly Flack)
Away in a Manger
O Holy Night (Extra Festive) (with Megan Nielson, Jason Nichols & Holly Flack)
The Christmas Song (with Frederick Poholek)
What A Wonderful World (with Frederick Poholek)
Executive Producer: Michael Gunther Andersen
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