A group of Benedictine nuns who live in complete seclusion in the South of France are set to become divas of pop after signing a deal with Universal Music, the leading record company behind Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse.
After a worldwide search for the finest exponents of the art of the Gregorian chant, the Nuns of the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de L'Annonciation have signed a deal with Universal's Decca Records label. The enclosed order still communicates with outsiders through a grille to avoid intrusion into a life of religious devotion. As a result, the nuns in the abbey will have to photograph their own album cover, as well as provide the footage for their television advertisements.
The order, based near Avignon, dates back to the 6th century and follows a strict tradition of living behind closed doors once novice nuns have taken their vows. Sisters then remain inside the convent until death.
"We never sought this, it came looking for us," said the Rev Mother Abbess. "At first we were worried it would affect our cloistered life, so we asked St Joseph in prayer. Our prayers were answered and we thought that this album would be a good thing if it touches people's lives and helps them find peace."
In seeking out the right sound for an album of plainsong and chant, Universal ran an international advert under the headline "Attention nuns and religious orders". It offered a role in a "unique new recording project" and asked "Does your order regularly practise worship through singing?" In a bid to clinch the deal, the company pointed out that St Augustine said: "When we sing, we pray twice."
Tom Lewis, head of A&R at Decca, and his team had to sift through entrants from more than 70 convents in Europe, South Africa and America before finding the winning nuns. Lewis had the idea for the new CD when Decca moved offices and he was forced to sort through his old vinyl records. He played an album he found featuring a group of nuns singing.
"When you hear the sound of nuns chanting, it's like an immediate escape from the challenges, stresses, pace and noise of modern living," he said in March. "You're given a glimpse of another world... This is a sound of something ancient, unchanging and timeless."
The nuns' album, Voices – Chant from Avignon, was intended for release before the Pope's visit to Britain in September, but will now be released in November.
The 28 self-sufficient nuns – 26 will sing on the record – use the services of a sister who plumbs and another who is a trained engineer to avoid contact with the world outside. The community also includes a trained electrician, a silk-weaver and a dental assistant.
Like any other visitor, Dickon Stainer, managing director of Decca Records, was forbidden entry into the cloister of the abbey.
"I passed the contract through the grille, they signed it and passed it back," he said. "Although the nuns do not leave the convent, the whole world will now hear the true beauty of their singing."
The nuns' album will feature the most ancient form of Gregorian chant, which the sisters sing eight times a day, and is believed to be the first music ever written down.
The deal follows the worldwide success of the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz whose 2008 Universal Music album, Chant: Music For Paradise, sold more than 1m copies. The monks have used the money made from their unexpected success to fund charitable works.
