Junior High

Tammy Maxie, Junior High R&R Chair

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

SSA

Audrey Synder

Hal Leonard 00138159

Have you been shy to try pop a cappella with your junior high students? I have been very wary of such music however this arrangement is perfect for young female voices! 

Pirate Story

TB (B)

Mark Burrows

Brilee 917

If you are searching for a piece to fit all your middle school boys changing voices this is it!  You cannot go wrong with this Robert Lewis Stevenson setting.  Just be careful that they don’t over sing!! It is very lively and robust!

Sing for Joy

TB

George F. Handel/Linda Spevacek

Heritage Music Press 15/2356H

Adapted from the duet from “Judas Maccabaeus”, Sing for Joy is a short piece with many musical teaching moments throughout for young male singers.  This piece has challenged my men to use the best part of their voice.  It has also helped them learn to sing with proper tone quality and resonation.

The VOCES8 Method

Paul Smith

Edition Peters Group

The Voces8 Method has been useful in my choral rehearsals as a tool to help my singers with ear training skills.  I have found that the simple method creates a  positive impact toward singing without piano accompaniment and trusting their ears to follow repeated patterns and melodies within different styles of songs.  This method develops teamwork, problem solving and creative thinking.  My singers are engaged and ready to tackle the music in their folder with much more enthusiasm.  In addition to the musical benefits from this method, students are also improving numeracy, literacy and linguistics skills to carry into the classroom.

Men's Choir

Dr. Adam Potter, R&R Chair for Men’s Choirs

Sing Your Way Home

TTBB

Joseph M. Martin (quoting Antonín Dvořák)

Mark Foster/Shawnee Press/Hal Leonard #35027949

Your guys will love singing this beautiful text:

Sing your way home at the close of the day.

Sing your way home. Drive the shadows away.

Where’er you go, wherever you roam,

it will brighten your road; lighten your load

if you sing, sing your way home.

Martin’s harmonies are mostly diatonic with wonderful moments of dissonance (quickly resolved).

 “Stomp Your Foot!” from The Tender Land

TTBB

Aaron Copland

Boosey & Hawkes/Hal Leonard #M-051-45146-4

This classic has fallen somewhat out of fashion, but is great fun for advanced men’s choirs. Great to reinforce vocal production in high and low tessituri. Requires two talented pianists for the piano-duo accompaniment.

Ascendit Deus

TTTBB

Jacob Handl

CPDL #00833

This polyphonic Renaissance piece is a terrific choice for your advanced men’s choir. Predominantly in the Ionian mode, it is perfect to reinforce rhythmic and tonal reading concepts. Handl (also known as Gallus) demonstrates his mastery of text painting throughout.

Title of Resource: Teaching Music with Passion: Conducting, Rehearsing and Inspiring by Peter Loel Boonshaft

Description of Resource: If you’re in the “mid-semester blues,” this is a great read to invigorate and inspire your teaching again. Through a series of reflections on being a music educator, Boonshaft helps us rekindle the flame that drove us to become teachers in the first place.

Music in Worship

Slater Murphy, Music in Worship R&R Chair

When in Our Music God is Glorified

SATB

Words by Fred Pratt Green, Music by Charles V. Stanford

Arranged by Mary McDonald

Hope Publishing Company, C 5900, Orchestration available

This traditional text and tune is given a fresh new setting, by virtue of the formidable imagination of Mary McDonald.  You would expect the piano accompaniment to be expansive and interesting; it does not disappoint.  This anthem will work with a pretty skilled church choir, but it’s best usefulness may be for festival occasions or with senior high and university groups.  A few lines of Psalm 150 also are used as the song setting builds to its conclusion.

Forevermore (Psalm 145)

SATB

Travis Cottrell

Arranged by Phillip Keveren

LifeWay Worship, 6-34337-388922, Orchestration available

The text certainly is one of my favorite Psalms, and the original tune is extremely interesting.  I love the way unrelated keys are explored during the development section.  The music reminds me of a great John Williams film score; it has become one of my new favorites because of the masterful way this worthy text is supported throughout.  You will find Phillip Keveren’s orchestrations to be interesting and challenging.

Hine Ma Tov

SATB

Allan Naplan

Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard, 48022844

This Hebrew text, Psalm 133, translates to “Behold, how good it is for brethren to dwell together in peace.”  The message is universal, crossing cultures, languages, and religions.  It is expertly composed in a traditional Klezmer style, incorporating lively syncopation with alternating sequences of major and minor modes.  Students love this piece.  The accompaniment is for piano and a pretty accomplished clarinetist.

Bach Among the Theologians

By Jaroslav Pelikan

Wipf & Stock Publishers

Okay, I confess that I am a Bach aficionado.  As an organist who has endured rigorous training for the purpose of experiencing the sheer joy of playing some of his major works, I am in awe of this composer.  Most musicians know of Bach’s devotion to God, but few understand how Reformation theology informed his musical output.  Pelikan delves into three main movements within the Lutheran theology of the 17^th and 18^th centuries as a framework for understanding Bach.  Specifically, he also demonstrates how Bach’s sacred music complements and illustrates these theological trends.  This text is not a light read, but it is only 140 pages in length, and in my opinion well worth the effort, the payoff being that the reader’s ears will be sharpened to hear and better understand the decisive undertones of Bach’s music.

High School

Claire Leeke, High School R&R Chair

Famine Song

SATB Choir, unaccompanied (also available SSAA)

arr. Matthew Culloton

SBMP575

This is not a new piece necessarily, but it was new to me when I ordered it for my kids last year. The text tells the story of the survival of the Sudanese people during the famine of the 1980s. Your students will love the haunting melody and beautiful, yet accessible harmonies. It does require two strong and passionate female soloists, so if you have a couple of singers you would like to show-off, this would fit the bill!

Through the Dark

SATB Choir and Piano

Andrea Ramsey

Pavane P1371

The text for this piece is selected from the writings of Helen Keller. Ramsey’s writing beautifully captures the meaning and power of the text. It contains a little bit of everything: rhythmically driven mixed meter sections followed by long, lush, sustained chords. This will be a piece that both you and your students will connect with on a musical and emotional level.

Ukuthula

SATB Choir + Soloist, unaccompanied (also available SSAA)

arr. Andre van der Merwe

S-369

This African prayer for peace was sung by choirs all around the world last year as a part of World Day of Peace. The lyrics are loosely translated as, “In this world of sin, the blood of Jesus brings peace, redemption, praise, faith, victory and comfort.” It would be a very poignant and powerful addition to any concert program.

Vocal Transformation For Secondary School Choirs

by: Christine Bass

I’ve finally discovered this resource for myself and it is excellent! Christine Bass, a former high school director herself, provides you effective exercises to encourage a free, healthy and mature sound with your young singers.

Two Year College

LaDona Tyson, Two-Year College R&R Chair

Good Night, Dear Heart

SSA

Dan Forrest

Hinshaw Music HMC2450

This lovely piece has an optional piano accompaniment, so it works well for both intermediate and advanced women’s choirs.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!

TTBB

Howard Helvey

Beckenhorst Press BP1981

A challenging piece for college men, but worth the effort! This piece will allow your accompanist to shine as well.

Ubi Caritas

SATB

Ola Gjeilo

Walton Music WW1386

A beautiful piece with optional piano improvisation. 

The Upbeat – a blog from www.lindsaybrazell.com

This is a weekly blog from a fellow PhD student at Southern Miss.  I have never subscribed to a blog before, but I look forward to the weekly emails.  She posts 3 relevant articles and links to new choral music each week.  Topics range from music education to character education to organizational skills.  It is a great way to stay current on trends in the field, especially if you tire of the traditional journals.

Women's Choir

Rachel Upton, Women’s Choir R&R Chair

Heart, We Will Forget Him

SSA

Laura Farnell

Hal Leonard 08745125

“Heart, We Will Forget Him” is for SSA and piano. It contains many opportunities for young ladies to sing long, beautiful phrases that require proper breath support and line shaping. It’s a great teaching tool to reinforce these techniques. The notes and rhythms are not difficult, but Heart will require energy and effort from young ladies in a different capacity. I found it challenging in different aspects for both my beginning ladies and advanced ladies. In addition to these great teaching opportunities, this message of this piece resonates with young girls. They easily connect to the meaning behind the Dickinson poetry.

Confitemini Domino

SSA

Patti Drennan

Hal Leonard 08749631

This accompanied language pieces sets young ladies up for success. The tessitura is appropriate for all female voices and is a great tool to introduce compound meter. “Confitemini Domino” requires a lot of diaphragmatic energy for those explosive consonants needed at the beginning of words like “confitemini” and “quoniam”. Personally, my ladies struggle to internalize the feel of pieces and often times stand on the risers stiff legged and statuesque. Without me having to delve into the motion needed in a jubilant 6/8 piece, my ladies were moving with intent and buoyancy that I had never seen them display before. This piece organically produces the correct type of movement I was looking for in my young ladies. 

Danny Boy

SSA a cappella

Arr. Brian Finley

Boosey and Hawkes 48005092

Finley’s arrangement was originally for SSA choir and tenor solo, but works equally well for a solo voice and SSA or small ensemble and SSA. This gentle arrangement should be interpreted somewhat freely, with the solo line being predominant. The solo (or small ensemble) line provides a wonderful opportunity to show off young ladies with emerging lyrical quality voice(s).

Essential Musicianship: A Comprehensive Choral Method (Volumes 1, 2, and 3)

Emily Crocker and John Leavitt

This resource is designed to provide a basis for developing comprehensive musicianship within the choral rehearsal through a sequenced study of voice, music theory, and the practical application of both in music reading skills. There are three volumes available. The concepts presented are structured to allow students to discover their individual potential. Each chapter provides refresher courses in voice, theory, and sight-reading. In my classroom, I utilize the “performance” pieces included in most chapters as additional sight reading exercises.

Show Choir

Debbie Wolfe, Show Choir R&R Chair

Blame It on the Boogie

2-part

Arr. Mac Huff
Hal Leonard 08202757
Who didn't love the Jackson 5?! I did this 2-part arrangement with a small middle school group and it became a favorite. With a strong lead line and nice harmonies, this is a great dance showcase piece.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love 
SATB
arr. Mark Brymer
Hal Leonard 08214459
This Queen hit has been jazzed up and is just simply fun to perform. This piece has a walking bass line, rockin' horn parts and awesome vocals.