By Danielle Larrick
As we transition into the Back to School season, many of us are shifting our focus and starting to consider repertoire for the upcoming year.
While the final choices will come down to you, this is a great way to engage your musicians and get their opinion on the repertoire you’re considering for the upcoming year. Back to School season is the perfect opportunity to have your musicians listen, evaluate, and select their top pics from a list of repertoire. This can take place during the first weeks of school, or even in a Back to School newsletter to musicians!
I did just this with my own singers at the end of the school year. Here were some of their top picks!
Selection 1 – “Winter Wolf”
This haunting piece in 3/4 offers some wonderful teaching moments especially in terms of part indepence and entrances. The ranges cater to adolescent voices. The text is rich and offers great practice in diction. Overall, it’s a great juxtaposition to the traditional winter repertoire.
Selection 2 – “Storm”
You can’t go wrong with body percussion! I love it and so do my singers. The challenging rhythms and upbeat tempo are a perfect fit for the feel of the piece.
Selection 3 – “Stars I Shall FInd”
The long phrases of this piece are simply stunning. The text is a beautiful opportunity to work on vowel shape. It offers much room for expression and features some dissonant harmonies that resolve in a stunning way.
For over a decade, Danielle has served as a musician-educator in both urban and suburban settings. She believes in the value of middle school music as a means of identity, expression, and connection. She focuses on designing practical, innovative, and engaging music curricula for middle school students. Motivated by the ever-changing trends in education, Danielle continues to write, present, and create. She is the author of “Middle School General Music: A Guide to Navigating the Unknown” (F-flat Books), as well as other resources designed for middle school general music and choir. Along with Jessica Grant, she is the co-founder of The Confident Music Educator. She currently resides in Lancaster, PA with her husband, son, and Boston Terrier.
Instagram: musicalmiddles
E-mail: musicalmiddles@gmail.com
Website: https://theconfidentmusiceducator.podia.com/
Instagram: theconfidentmusiceducator
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