Plan Smarter, Not Harder For Your Middle School and High School Choir🎶📆
A choir teacher’s work is never done. Just as one big performance ends, another concert, trip or festival is just around the corner. It can be hard to stay ahead. As a choral director, you are constantly recruiting students, planning for the next concert, organizing uniforms and selecting choir music. The list is endless and exhausting. 😅
Reflecting on my 20th year of teaching middle and high school choir, I want to share my approach to planning for the upcoming year. Our lives are busier than ever and finding a way to streamline the process of choosing music and planning for a year’s worth of choir concerts is essential.
Here are three ways I made my life easier and saved time when planning choir repertoire. ⏳
🎵 Plan Smarter, Not Harder for your Choir 🎵
Use Benchmark Songs Annually🎼
Incorporate benchmark songs each year to check for understanding. For example, I love using the song, “Yonder Come Day” with the 6th grade choir to introduce singing in three independent parts. For the 7th grade Winter Choir Concert, learning “Bidi Bom” on solfege is a favorite. At the high school level, my advanced Madrigal Singers sing “Carol of the Bells” each December. These benchmark songs allow me to quickly assess whether or not my choir is on track for the year.
Incorporate Audition Music into the Curriculum🎤
Each spring, I eagerly await the release of the District and All-State Choir songs. When applicable, I put those songs into my fall repertoire. This way I can teach the audition music to the entire group, hopefully enticing hesitant students to audition and saving myself hours of after-school practices.
Don’t Forget Festival and Conference Music💵
If the music works for your ensemble, consider programming it. This approach saves rehearsal time and budget money, as you only need to purchase one set of music.
Add Traditions to Your Program 🎵
In addition to the benchmark songs, certain pieces can be repeated annually. Students look forward to these traditions and it takes the pressure off me because older students help vocally lead the newer singers. Some of my traditional songs include “Seasons of Love” for 8th grade Graduation/Spring concert, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” for High School Graduation, and for my Varsity High School Choir, “Light a Candle” with real candles and dimmed auditorium lights in December.
🎵Planning Starts One Year Before🎵
About ten years ago, I started keeping a database of songs performed, which changed my life. In the database I include the song title, composer/arranger, choir and the date/concert performed. I refer to it often and repeat the songs that worked well. This system helps prevent accidental repetition, especially when multiple grade levels are involved.
One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to keep a running list of potential songs for next year. I have a word document literally titled, “Program 2024-2025”. It is divided by choir, concert and season. When I come across a good song, I write it down. When I remember a great song that I haven’t done with my choirs in awhile (see database of songs performed), I put it on the list. It is easy for me to see everything for the entire year in one single document.
Utilize Professional Development Opportunities🎵
Don’t forget to keep choir concert programming in mind when attending professional development sessions and conferences. It is a great time to listen to what other choirs are performing. Go to reading sessions and performances and add songs to the list that would work for your groups. When I have “down time” (insert laugh here), I browse sites like JWPepper.com, narrowing my search by voicing and genre. I love that you can see and hear the music. Don’t forget about YouTube. I often will find a choir program that I admire and search all their videos!
📋A Checklist for Choosing Music for Each Ensemble 📋
When selecting music, consider the following:
Number of student in each ensemble
Number of students in each voice part
Number of concerts/performances for the quarter/year
Number of songs per ensemble for each concert
If District, All-State and/or Conference Music needs to be incorporated
Benchmark staples or traditional pieces to repeat annually
Choir budget for music purchasing
Borrowing options from a local university, church or neighboring school
Themed concerts (e.g. Pops Concert)
Combined choirs for any portion of the concert
Upcoming special events such as holiday caroling, vocal valentines, recruitment concerts
Make your life easier by planning ahead. Here’s to a more organized and less stressful school year! 🌟
Happy Singing!🎤
P.S.- Check out my time saving choir sub plans, singing games and more!
