There are so many quality pieces of choral repertoire out there and sometimes it can be overwhelming to choose the right music for our ensemble.  From time to time, I’d like to present some of my tried and true choral pieces, as well as new pieces I’m discovering.  Sometimes they may be presented by voicing, subject matter, or even type of festival or concert.  For this first repertoire blog post, I would like to share 5 of the pieces that I’m loving right now: 

1. Malala Pakistani Girl (SSA) by Larry Nickel

   Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.  Using modal themes, this piece tells her story, and facilitates powerful classroom discussions about education, human rights, and freedom. The song contains a variety of styles, allowing for extensive work on style, articulation, and even the Pashto language.  I recommend the SSA English version (as opposed to the SAB or French version) and find it suitable for a solid beginning HS Treble ensemble, or early intermediate. This is of course subjective, so take a look for yourself to see if it’s a good fit for your group. My students really enjoyed working on this piece!

2. Flying Solo (TBB) by Philip E. Silvey

   My Tenor/Bass ensemble absolutely loved this piece and begged to sing it every single chance they could get!  The message is clear: find the courage to leap from one stage of life into the next!  We can all find meaning in this powerful sentiment, but especially high school seniors who are about to leap into the next phase of life.  Great opportunities for dynamic contrast, diction, and musical articulations. I found this very accessible for my extracurricular Tenor-Bass small ensemble (8 singers), but it does split briefly into 4 parts and you do need a tenor with a beautiful “high A”.  Highly recommend!

3. Cry Havoc (TTB) by Rob Redei

   This was a challenge that my beginning HS Tenor-Bass choir could really sink their teeth into.  Be warned, you need a solid pianist!  This piece is repetitive and sounds impressive.  Great opportunities to work on mixed meter, syncopation, and word stress.  The students enjoyed looking up gladiator fight scenes to set the mood for this one!

4. We Are (SATB) by Ysaye M. Barnwell

   I am currently singing this with my adult community choir and the text is really powerful! “We are our grandmother's prayers, our grandfather's dreamings, and the breath of our ancestors. We are filled with imagination and hope, big dreams and endless possibilities. We are different, yet we are all the same. We are one.”  Very accessible and repetitive for a quick(er) learn!

5. Grow, Little Tree (SA) by Andrea Ramsey

   I’ve had the opportunity this year to do a lot of Pre-Festival clinics with middle and high school choirs and was introduced to this piece.  This is a GREAT little song for beginning middle school groups to work on word and syllabic stress and phrasing.  The parts are very accessible with repeated “echoing” sections, which facilitate for extended phrasing work as well.  I’m a fan of a lot of Andrea Ramsey songs for a lot of different reasons, so this one has my vote!