Choral music as we knew it will resume and endure, even if it’s next month or next year. But, there can be no doubt that a year of virtual singing has impacted the choral sound. Choral conductors will need to help their choirs rediscover their listening and intonation skills. Fortunately, Graphite has an excellent resource […]

As choirs make the transition back to in-person rehearsals (in whatever capacity) conductors are tasked to find the best repertoire for their singers. Granted, every choir is unique, and every situation is different. But a common goal for every conductor is to help our singers find their voices again. Anecdotally, last night I led my […]

VocalEssence Music Press offers a rich diversity of composers from various backgrounds and ethnicities which yields an enormous depth to the variety of musical styles in this series. “La Ofrenda” (“The Offering”), by Sabina Covarrubias, is one of the most exciting and delightful pieces in the Graphite Marketplace, because it enables children to sing with […]

Sometimes a choral work creates its own musical world, such as in “En Paz” (“At Peace”) by Jesús Lopéz Moreno, for SATB divisi, piano, and speaker. The piano writing is exquisite and virtuosic. Although there are echoes of Brahms, Lizst, and Duparc, the end result is uniquely Moreno. The piano is paired with the choir […]