One thing I love about the choral world is that fresh talent is much more easily embraced than in the instrumental world. I think part of that comes from the fact that the voice is rooted in certain musical realities that are impossible for it to escape. You can only walk so far away from […]
It is not for a composer to say if she/he is great or no, performers are the ones who will decide if his/her music will thrive and survive over time. I find it amusing though, when I hear people complain that there are no Bachs or Mozarts or Beethovens anymore. In one sense, of course […]
My advice is this:
Spend some quality time with your text. If you are going to set it, you must like something about it. Let it become your ally, not your opponent in this creation of a new work.
I would further suggest analyzing your text poetically and trying to break it down into the smallest of understandable thoughts […]
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
Get sheet music on eBay
Literacy in the world of letters implies that you can both read and write sentences. In the world of music, however, a person is considered literate if they can read music and (maybe) understand some of the theory of music (the equivalent of sentence diagramming); the writing of music never enters the equation. Isn’t that […]
No matter what camp of composition you fall into, you will appreciate it when your performers are able to hit the right notes quickly. When vocalists are given melodic lines that are ‘natural,’ they are able to move that much faster ’beyond the notes’ into higher expressions of musicianship.
Believe it or not, you can make things much easier […]
ChoirWorks.com offers a new resource for Choral Artists. Choir Works Resource will offer information on choral composition and arranging, directing and singing. Choral artists interested in submitting articles should contact the site administrator at mryan@choirworks.com