The Christmas Collection (2006)

The band was formed after a worldwide search which took more than two years. Rehearsals and recording sessions took place during the first half of 2004 in London, where all four members of Il Divo currently live. Some of their songs-- such as Nella Fantasia" (based on "Gabriel's Oboe" from Ennio Morricone's penned score of "The Mission") and "Mi A Manera" (Paul Anka's "My Way," popularized by Frank Sinatra)--will be familiar. However, there are also a number of original tracks by some of the most prolific songwriters and producers in the world.

Carlos Marin, baritone (Spain). Based in Madrid, Marin has taken vocal master classes with Alfredo Kraus, Monserrat Caballe and Jaime Aragall. He has divided his time between musicals--including lead roles in the Spanish versions of Les Miserables and Beauty and the Beast--and operatic engagements: La Traviata, Figaro and Barber of Seville, among others.

David Miller, tenor (USA). Miller is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, where he received a BA in Opera Theatre. For the last 10 years, he has been based in New York, but has sung lead with opera companies all over South and North America, Australia and Europe. He has been artist-in-residence with the Pittsburgh Opera and recently appeared on Broadway in Baz Luhrman's production of La Boheme.

Urs Buhler, tenor (Switzerland). Buhler began singing publicly at age 17 with Conspiracy, a hard rock band base in his hometown of Luzerne. He then went to The Academy for School and Church Music, where he studied with Michael Paulu. Moving to Amsterdam, he studied opera at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Udo Reinemann as his tutor. He has also enjoyed the privilege of private lessons with the late Swedish tenor Goster Winbergh and the French tenor Christian Papis. Aside from a season with the Salzburg Opera, where he sang with the choir under the direction of Claudio Abbado, Buhler has spent the past seven years in Holland singing oratorios and performing with the Amsterdam Opera.

Sebastien Izambard, vox populi (France). Izambard is the only self-taught singer in the group. He also plays guitar and piano and in 1999 released a solo album of pop-rock material under his own name. Since then he has been based in Paris and written songs for many other French artists. He was working on his second solo album when he joined Il Divo in 2003 and plans to contribute original material to the group's repertoire.