Contemporary Choral Music for Beginning High School Choirs

What is contemporary choral music? Contemporary music is more than just Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen Contemporary music does not have to be (and for choral, is usually not) atonal Contemporary music can be fun for singers of all ages and abilities, as the genre is very broad

How do you perform contemporary music with a choir? Follow the score! Contemporary composers have marked in dynamics, tempos, and stylistic elements in order to enhance their work Many contemporary scores have “performance notes” sections, which will say how the piece should be performed Of course, these sections are not law, rather suggestions

Some contemporary composers suitable for early high school… Rollo Dilworth (b.1970) Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities and Music Education at the North Park University School of Music in Chicago, Illinois Active composer and conducter Composer of many spiritual and gospel style choral works, of which many are accessible by high school choirs

…cont’d René Clausen (b.1953) Serves as conductor for The Concordia Choir at Concordia College in Minnesota Composes works for high school choirs, as well as collegiate level choirs and church choirs Frequent guest conductor

…cont’d Mary Lynn Lightfoot (b.1952) Choral Editor for Heritage Music Press Composes both sacred and secular music Her music is greatly accessible for beginning choirs, as well as smaller choirs

Examples: Women’s Choir pieces Set Me As A Seal by René Clausen Omnia Sol (Let Your Heart be Staid) by Z. Randall Stroope Sol-Let-Your-Heart-be-Staid/ # Sol-Let-Your-Heart-be-Staid/ #

Examples: Mixed Choir pieces The Lord Bless You and Keep You by John Rutter

Examples: Men’s Choir pieces Loch Lomond arr. Greg Gilpin In That Great Gettin’ Up Mornin’ arr. Jester Hairston

Where to find contemporary music Publishing houses such as Boosey and Hawkes, Alliance, and Colla Voce offer extensive collections of quality contemporary choral music for all skill levels ChoralNet also has many threads about where to find music, as well as differentiating between good music and bad music