Libera grew out of the choral tradition of St. Philip's parish in Norbury. Up until the late '90s, the group was alternately referred to as the St. Philip's Boys Choir or Angel Voices. Under the direction of Robert Prizeman, its first album, simply titled Libera, was released on Erato in October 1999 and reached number five in the Billboard classical chart. It helped establish the group's mix of original crossover material and classical choral fare going forward. Throughout the 2000s, Libera went on to issue numerous successful albums including Luminosa (2001), Free (2004), and New Dawn (2008) while appearing on soundtracks to films like The Merchant of Venice and Hannibal.
After releasing 2011's The Christmas Album, Libera went on to record the live holiday release Angels Sing: Christmas in Ireland (2013), followed by Angels Sing: Libera in America (2015). The group returned to new material with the 2017 studio release Hope and its 2021 follow-up, If. ~ Timothy Monger & William Ruhlmann, Rovi