Under the direction of Ralph Hopper, the San Francisco Choral Artists have made a charming holiday album with Star of Wonder. Performing a selection of traditional Christmas carols, the choir sounds graceful and powerful, breathing life into these much-recorded songs. Since this is a relatively obscure release, this won’t appeal to anyone who isn’t a hardcore fan of this vocal style, but those fans will certainly not be disappointed if they seek it out. – Rodney Batdorf