One of the most time-consuming aspects of being a secondary choral educator is finding quality* repertoire. As a new teacher, you might draw on the repertoire you have sung in your own middle/high/collegiate experiences. However, this music might only give you a small sample of the bulk of what you will need for your teaching position. And chances are, the repertoire you have sung will probably not be the most ideal fit for the abilities of your students. So where can you find repertoire? How can you maximize your time and find music to inspire, engage, and challenge your students? Your school library Our repertoire as choral educators is essentially our textbook. And every concert and every year we must search and research and prepare these new "texts." As a new teacher or student teacher start with what you have. Know your school's choral library (make a database if there is not one), and use what you have. If you do not have a catalog of your choral library, feel free to make a copy of this Choral Library Database Template and adapt it for your school. This makes a great student project - get a volunteer "librarian" who can organize your music and type this list for you. State Festival Lists Many states have large-group festival song lists. If you are a member school you can access these lists and have a great resource for finding "standards" for each performance level. The lists are broken up typically by SATB, SSAA, TTBB, SAB, and 2-part lists and then by difficulty classes. Many lists also designate if a song is a cappella or not which can be really helpful as you program. Professional Learning Network Build a Professional Learning Network (PLN) of friends and mentors in the field who can help you out. We share our choral library lists and lend each other music quite often. I have my "go-to" colleagues I send emails or messages to frequently with cries for help such as, "I need an SSA foreign language uptempo song and our theme is water." In our region we also tend to do choral roundtable workshops in the summer where we meet and share our "hits and misses" of repertoire from the past year. These peer recommendations are invaluable in getting new ideas of quality and diverse choral literature. ACDA and NAfME Another way to build your PLN is by becoming a member of the American Choral Directors Association and National Association for Music Education and their affiliate state (and/or collegiate) chapters. Attending conferences, getting the latest research in the publications, and meeting other choral educators can be extremely life-changing for beginning educators. We often feel like we are on an island as the only choral educator in our building/region/district and being able to connect via these organizations is extremely beneficial. Invest in a membership and you will have access to repertoire recommendations and be able to attend the conferences with repertoire reading sessions and perhaps even more importantly world-class concerts featuring a wealth of repertoire and programming inspiration. CPDL or IMSLP
What's better than websites of free and historical music? Search for specific voicings and composers to offer students accessible and meaningful repertoire. These public domain websites not online offer free, reproducible sheet music but typically also have great resources with translations, history, and insights. Caution: Publishers often sponsor reading sessions at conferences and send you endless mailings and emails about their latest publications. As tempting as it may be to choose from the "top selling" octavos make sure you do whatever you can to be thoughtful and purposeful in your repertoire choices. If you are enthusiastic and challenged by the music your students will be too! Stay tuned for an upcoming post about planning your concert cycles and keeping track of your repertoire ideas. *Defining "quality" repertoire is a contentious topic with a lot of opinions and perspectives. Stay tuned for a future blog post on this!
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