"In my sacred music, I have drawn upon the simple directness of hymnody, the mystic resonance of vocal polyphony and the purity of unaccompanied choral singing to impart a timeless quality to the spiritual message." Born and raised in a Boston suburb, Ralph W. Buxton counts as one of his earliest musical memories traditional hymn singing at the local congregational church and the occasional anthem or motet sung by the choir.  He joined the church choir while in still in high school and fondly remembers performing such stalwarts as Tompkins' "When David heard", Wesley's "Wash me throughly" and Thompson's "Alleluia".  After receiving a Bachelor's degree in music composition from Boston University under Gardner Read, he began to explore the 15th and 16th century vocal repertoire while a graduate student in musicology, first at New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Julia Sutton, and later at Columbia University with Leeman Perkins. Particularly telling for Mr. Buxton's understanding of the Franco-Flemish polyphonic tradition were the revelatory performances by musicologist Richard Taruskin's pioneering a cappella group, Cappella Nova, resident at Columbia University in the late 70s and early 80s. Spurred by Cappella Nova's frequent concerts of the greatest masterworks of Ockeghem, Josquin, Isaac and others, Mr. Buxton began to develop his own ideas about how this music might be performed. Notre Dame Choir Editions are the culmination of over 30 years of study and practice.