Music to Celebrate Mary and All Mothers

74 minutes • 2 CD set

From Mary, the mother of Jesus, to our own mothers, moms have always been celebrated in word and song.

Sheldon Cohen, the producer of ACTA’s popular series of devotional CDs, here offers two CDs, one of hymns to Our Lady and the other stories and songs about mothers from the popular culture. He directs members of the Pacific Pops Orchestra and the New Horizon Singers, with soloists Suzie Penney and Mike Barger.

The four heartfelt remembrances of mothers on the second CD were written by these authors and read by professional actors whose names follow in parentheses:

• “M Is for the Many Things” by Alyce M. McKenzie (read by Echaka Agba)
• “The Woman Never Sleeps!” by Patrick Hannon, CSC (read by Brennan Roche)
• “The Christmas Stocking” by James Behrens, OCSO (read by Abby Pierce)
• “The Wind Beneath Our Feet” by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce (read by Rich Holton)

Disc One:

Hymns to Mary

1. The Beautiful Mother (Foley) 2:52
2. O Mother of God (Cohen) 3:02
3. Ave Maria (Schubert) 4:44
4. Hail, Holy Queen (traditional) 2:44
5. Mary’s Boy Child (Hairston) 2:39
6. Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod) 2:48
7. The Magnificat (Cohen) 4:09
8. Daily, Daily Sing to Mary (traditional) 2:06
9. Notre Dame, Our Mother (traditional) 2:21
10. O Sanctissima (traditional) 2:30
11. Ave Maria (Cohen) 2:54
12. Mary, Mother of God (Cohen) 3:38
13. Immaculate Mary (traditional) 1:44

Disc Two:

Songs and Stories about Mom

1. M Is for the Many Things* (McKenzie) 1:33
2. Sunrise, Sunset (Bock-Harnick) 2:08
3. Mother Machree (traditional) 2:34
4. The Woman Never Sleeps* (Hannon) 1:25
5. Old Fashioned Mother (Olcott) 4:33
6. Songs My Mother Taught Me (Dvorak) 2:25
7. The Christmas Stockings* (Behrens) 2:00
8. My Mother’s Eyes (Baer) 3:28
9. My Mammy (Donaldson) 2:55
10. The Wind Beneath Our Feet* (Pierce) 1:22
11. I Want a Girl (Von Tilzer-Dillon) 2:32
12. M.O.T.H.E.R. (Morse) 2:03

Sheldon Cohen, a convert to Catholicism, is a musician, conductor, arranger, and producer. A Brooklyn native who served for many years as the Assistant Musical Director of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, he has appeared as the conductor for church, charity, and popular concerts throughout southern California. He now lectures on music and continues to produce his unique brand of devotional albums, such as the best-selling CDs Music to Heal the Body and Soul and The Rosary, including the Mysteries of Light. In 1992 he formed the eighty-voice New Horizon Singers and appeared in many venues in the Los Angeles area. He is also the founder of The Pacific Pops Orchestra, a group of professional musicians who, in addition to concerts, are involved in many of Shelly’s recording projects.