If you have not already done so, I imagine that many of you are in the middle of selecting music for the holiday season. For me, this is always one of the trickiest programs to choose. There are so many favorites that I want to include, but the canon of Christmas choral music is largely […]
Music Within Reach
Music Within Reach: Composer Submissions, Part II
A great perk of writing this weekly blog has been that many composers send me their more attainable pieces to peruse and possibly recommend. This week’s post will focus on two great pieces that were passed on to me that I would like to share with the choral community. The first is “Hold My Hand!”, […]
Music Within Reach: Challenging Yet Accessible
While I am always looking for accessible choral music, I am also constantly seeking pieces that stretch and teach singers. After all, too much simplicity can get boring very quickly! So music with challenging rhythms, meter changes that adapt to text, and surprising but logical harmonic progressions usually moves right to the top of the […]
Music Within Reach: Challenging Yet Accessible
While I am always looking for accessible choral music, I am also constantly seeking pieces that stretch and teach singers. After all, too much simplicity can get boring very quickly! So music with challenging rhythms, meter changes that adapt to text, and surprising but logical harmonic progressions usually moves right to the top of the […]
Music Within Reach: Christmas in August, Baroque-Style!
It is safe to say that there are certain choral works we hear around the holidays year after year after year. They are time-honored, audiences love them, and our adult choirs know them very well. But there are many other pieces that work well at Christmastime that deserve to be shared with our performers and […]
Music Within Reach: Beginning Pieces for Men’s and Women’s Choirs
Like most high school choir teachers, only a couple of the ensembles I teach are auditioned. While I love it this way, as it allows me to keep recruiting and bringing in students to sing who may not be interested in a heavier commitment, it can make planning literature a nightmare. How many students will […]