One of the best pieces of advice I got as a beginning teacher was to have more options than you need for each concert for each ensemble. While you may have each choir sing 3-5 songs at a concert you should go into your new job with about 6-10 scores for each ensemble so you can have some flexibility with your new groups. That does not mean each group would sing that many songs, but once you know their abilities and interests you can narrow down your song choices in a more meaningful way. The longer you teach the more you know the abilities of your ensembles and how much repertoire you can manage for one concert cycle. I tend to over-program and give my students too many pieces with too many challenges (and not enough time). While I still sometimes fall into this bad habit again, I have definitely improved in my knowledge of how to pace and program. Set yourself up for success by planning, preparing, and learning from your mistakes! Organizing your Repertoire Ideas Check out my last post on the search for repertoire. We want to choose music that challenges our students and us as educators. Find a way to keep all of your repertoire ideas organized. I have file folders organized with single copies of perusals I have either ordered or picked up at reading sessions at conferences. When I am looking for ideas I can play through these folders and pull pieces that intrigue me. I also have magazine file holders for each concert for the year. Once I've narrowed down my ideas I'll put in single copies of songs into these so all my program ideas are in one spot. Last year I created a Google spreadsheet of all of my repertoire ideas I want to pursue. This has allowed me to pop in ideas if I'm on a choral YouTube binge, talking with my choral colleagues, or after I attend a choral concert. I can access the app in my phone and write in the title and composer of repertoire I want to do.
Feel free to make a copy of this Repertoire Brainstorming Template spreadsheet and adapt it for your own ensembles and needs. Happy hunting! To Theme or Not To Theme Some conductors are masters at theming concerts with creative and meaningful titles or constructs. Other conductors never theme concerts and have just as much success. As a beginning educator have fun with themes but try not to feel limited by them.
Side note: My creative and zany uncle, clueless in the choral world but with the best intentions, tried to help me come up with concert themes and had some interesting ideas such as "Pies" and "Sewing/Knitting" and "Prisons." If you can make any of these themes work please let me know! Scope and Sequence I typically map out a year of repertoire at a time. I have a Google Doc with a running list of repertoire for the year. This allows me to cross check my repertoire for each concert.
Again, feel free to make a copy of my Yearly Repertoire Planning Template and adapt if for your own ensembles and needs.
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