Scott Dorsey

FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: STANDARDS FOR MIXED VOICES by Angela Hampton   1. “Sicut Cervus,” Giovanni Pieruluigi da Palestrina The epitome of the Renaissance motet.  Simple rhythm and moderate vocal ranges.  Great for teaching students the “rise and fall” of a phrase.    2. “Ave Verum Corpus” (K. 618), W. A. Mozart, Hinshaw HMC490 Beautiful, […]

FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: MIXED CHOIR by Angela Hampton   Five from the Folder – High School Contest/Festival Selections   1. “All That Hath Life and Breath, Praise Ye the Lord,” René Clausen, Mark Foster 223 Joyful concert opening with bright tertian harmonies.  Good introduction to aleatoric style.   2. “Cloudburst,” Eric Whitacre, Walton HL08500165 […]

FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: MULTICULTURAL REPERTOIRE by José Rivera   1. “La Hia Manu” Stephen Hatfield Boosey & Hawkes # 979-0-051- 7841-5       This spirited Polynesian arrangement is filled with lyrical and energetic passages. Uses bamboo poles!   2. “Son de la Loma” Jonathan Quick  Cypress Choral Music # CP 1118       This […]

Valentine’s Day weekend means a lot of folks will be on dates (well, not all of us).  Apparently, Bing and Fred have a little problem . . . they’re both chasing the same girl.  Looks like she gets to choose between the crooner or the dancer.  

(The abstract to the article “The Many Facets of Madeleine Marshall: A Historical and Cultural Perspective of Madeleine “Graham Jones” Marshall Simon (1899-1993), Author of The Singer’s Manual of English Diction,” by Sheri Cook-Cunningham, published in the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing)   Madeleine Marshall Simon (1899-1993), a pianist turned vocal coach, enjoyed […]

FOUR MAIN REASONS WHY BARBERSHOP SINGING SOUNDS UNIQUE, by Jon Nicholas   Reason #1: The Melody Is In The Middle.  With many vocal music genres, the melody is sung in the highest part. In barbershop, the melody usually floats around between the tenor and bass and the baritone avoids it.  Barbershop is not the only […]