Latest Community Posts

With a long history of song festivals, Estonia is a country where singing has served the purpose of both entertainment and political protest. Today’s young Estonians are keeping up this tradition. The small Baltic country of Estonia has hundreds of choirs, which meet at schools, churches and even factories. Many towns hold regular music festivals […]

by Leslie Gray Streeter, The Palm Beach Post Boynton Beach Community High School’s Dimensional Harmony show choir got its moment in the national spotlight on Friday, when it appeared live on “The Today Show” in New York. All through Today’s fourth hour at 10 a.m., the show kept airing footage of the choir’s exuberant reaction […]

Hi everyone,   I’m looking at planning a little for the spring for my 7th and 8th grade choir (crazy, huh?:-), anyways, I was wondering if anyone knew of any 3 part partner songs like Play for Me a Simple Melody by Kirby Shaw.  I think I read that Rollo Dilworth wrote a piece called […]

I am looking for sacred choral repertoire from non-Western cultures.  There is a ton of such music from Africa, but I have found limited options representing other cultures.  What pieces would you suggest?   Many thanks in advance for your help!   Alexa Doebele Concordia University Wisconsin

Does anyone know of German folk songs (in German) arranged for chorus and orchestra?  Preferably SATB chorus, but they could also be SA, TB, unison or SAB.   Moderate high school level (or easier) of musical difficulty is preferred but all ideas would be appreciated.     Thanks!

I’m needing assistance with this anonymous and apparent Spanish drinking song entitled La Tricotea.  It is in the choral public domain and I understand that some of it might be gibberish but I’d like to get another perspective.  Any help you can give, especially on this first verse, would be greatly appreciated.  If you have […]

Hi all,   I’ve seen this topic touched on before, but thought I’d raise it again in a slightly different context – I’m a new high school chorus teacher with a small chorus of mostly beginners (about 14 kids, 10 of whom are freshmen).  After a couple of months of work, they’re finally singing the […]

Is there a reason why directors of unaccompanied vocalists need to use standard beat patterns? I’ve been singing for over thirty-five years, but have never followed the pattern for the pattern’s sake. In other words, while I’ve been very responsive to the conducting, I’ve never tracked which beat of the measure we’re on. And I’ve sung in some very high […]

College and University Colleagues,   I am looking for guidance regarding what creative activities might take the place of a published article, book, etc. at a college or university. I teach at a small state university where communications and fine arts are lumped into one department.  The department chair (not a musician) is trying to […]

I am a college student, working on a Choral Methods assignment. I need to address an underdeveloped area of practice. In my opinion the 2nd National Standard for Arts Education is not adequately met in practice: “Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.” I would appreciate receiving input from choir […]