ChoralNet

The professional networking site for the global online choral community.

In May, August, and September 2015, the Choral Journal featured a three-part article series titled “Notes for Success: Advice for the First-Year Choral Teacher.” As part of the series, 11 choral conductors with teaching experience ranging from 4 to 34 years answered 10 questions related to setting expectations for your first year, classroom management, balancing a successful work and home life, finding repertoire, and more.

This column will address Question #8: Where can I find quality repertoire for the skill/size/balance of my choir?

A portion of the suggestions listed regarding this question are below. Read the rest of the article in the May 2015 issue of Choral Journal by going to acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose August 2015 from the dropdown options.
________________

“ACDA has an incredible amount of resources to help you select music for your choirs. Reach out to your divisional and national R&S chair regarding your needs. Additionally, make use of state contest lists such as the Texas Prescribed Music List. These lists have been governed by committees and the literature has been deemed valuable by experienced directors. Additionally, the Cambiata Institute has a wealth of resources for the changing male voice. There are even videos to help you classify boys’ voices and repertoire lists for various voicings.” – Jennifer Alarcon

“Finding quality repertoire is very time consuming for me. My choirs are all extremely young, and there is not a lot of material out there targeted at beginning singers. That said, there are some real gems if you know where to look. Find a music store that carries a lot of sheet music in its library and look through songs. Before each year, I go into JW Pepper’s store in Minneapolis and pour through the songs in their library. I can look at every page of every song, and because of this, I can find music that my choirs can perform, some of which I might never have found by searching specifically online.” – Seth Boyd

No decision you make as a choral music educator has greater ramifications than the repertoire you choose for your ensembles. To determine the quality and appropriateness of your choices, subject each piece you consider to rigorous review. The book Shaping Sound Musicians (O’Toole, 2003) lists nine criteria to gauge whether a composition has artistic merit: uniqueness, form, design, unpredictability, depth, consistency, orchestration/voicing, text, and transcendence. Goetze, Broeker, and Boshkoff (2009) offer six criteria for examining potential repertoire for younger choirs: text, singability, form, part-writing techniques, accompaniment, and pedagogical implications. Use these categories or create your own, but thoroughly examine all aspects of any piece you consider programming.” – Philip Silvey

“What I find comforting is how many different directions one can go to get assistance in planning educational, appropriate repertoire. I love seeing questions on the ACDA Facebook page pop up in my newsfeed in regard to repertoire, classroom management, etc., and see a plethora of comments and responses for each question. The repertoire lists that ACDA posts online are a great place to start. I have printed many of these lists out and have often taken an hour to listen to some of these pieces on YouTube and write descriptions for them so I can recall them quickly. The Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir texts are also helpful, giving you not only a difficulty level for each piece but a description of the piece, background on the composer, and units that could be discussed during the learning of each song.” – Jacob Truby
_____________________

Read the rest of the posts in this series on ChoralNet here.
And please share this post and Choral Journal article series with those who are in their first year of teaching!

Search Results for: Notes for Success

Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Being Good to Ourselves

by Leave a Comment

“Well-ordered self-love is right and natural.” Thomas Aquinas The choir year is winding down. We end this year while we begin our plans for the next. It’s a tough time for many of us as we look back on what we’ve accomplished, or didn’t accomplish. It is often painful. The right, positive mind frame is […]

Tango music to be featured at Connecticut Master Chorale Concert

by Leave a Comment

The Connecticut Master Chorale, under the direction of Tina Johns Heidrich, will present its annual Spring Concert on Sunday, April 2, at 3 pm at the First Congregational Church, 164 Deer Hill Ave, Danbury. “Misa a Buenos Aires” (Misatango) is a unique tribute to his country by Argentine composer Martín Palmeri. Influenced by the great […]

Reaching a Global Audience – Deke Sharon

by 1 Comment

Reaching a global audience, by Deke Sharon Since the beginning of recorded history until the advent of recording, music was local, as sound waves could only travel as far as the breeze would carry them. Recordings and radio waves allowed music to travel through space and time, but recording and distribution was an expensive process, […]

The Difficult Parent Conference “Working with Parents in Your Choral Music Classroom” Part 3

by Leave a Comment

Working with parents in your Music Classroom-Part 3 The Parent/Teacher Conference  This is the final piece in a three-part series about working with parents in your choral music classroom. In part 1 of this series, I shared some ideas about how to get started with parent collaboration.  In part 2, I wrote about some of […]

Your Choir Sucks Because You Suck, with Ryan Guth (Revisited)

by 5 Comments

Time to take responsibility for your own choral experience and help grow Choir Nation by not sucking anymore. In this post, I explore the common problems I see in the choral world and propose solutions.   Why such a harsh title? I posted a teaser image, containing this title, on Facebook a while back and received […]

First 10 minutes of the first day of Middle School Choir!

by 2 Comments

It’s the final day of preparations before the children arrive! It sort of reminds me of Christmas Eve. It’s all finished. On the first day, I want my middle school singers to know that I will wrap the arms of structure around them immediately, and that we are going to have fun too!   They […]

© 2026 American Choral Directors Association. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy