Bringing together perspectives on history, global activity and professional development, this Companion provides a unique overview of choral music.

Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective introduces the little-known traditions and repertoires of the world’s choral diversity, from prison choirs in Thailand and gay and lesbian choruses of the Western world to community choruses in the Middle East and youth choirs in the United States. The book weaves together the stories of diverse individuals and organizations, examining their music and pedagogical practices while presenting the author’s research on how choral cultures around the world interact with societies and transform the lives of their members. Through an engaging series of portraits that pushes beyond the scope of extant texts and studies, the author explores the dynamic realm of world choral activity and repertoire. These personal portraits of musical communities are enriched by sample repertoire lists, performance details, and research findings that reposition a once Western phenomenon as a global concept. Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective is an accessible, engaging, and provocative study of one of the world’s most ubiquitous and socially significant forms of music-making.

Designed specifically for the music educator working with non-auditioned childrens choruses, Patricia Bournes Inside the Elementary School Chorus addresses everything from recruiting to getting kids excited about singing, from warm ups to programming, and from working with parents to budgets. In addition to helpful how-tos, this outstanding resource illustrates how childrens choirs can become environments where participants learn a strong sense of community alongside high levels of musicianship. As an added feature, the book includes a DVD that provides sight and sound to the strategies shared in narrative. Organized to follow the book, its sections include: The general music classroom as a venue for vocal instruction; Rehearsal strategies for the public school elementary chorus; and Performancesbefore, during, and after. Dont miss this resource filled with down-to-earth approaches and inspiring ideas.

This book fills a gap in the market by providing energising warm-up activities for community, church and youth choirs. Whereas many publications exist that offer singing and vocal exercises, there are virtually none available offering physical warm-ups, breathing exercises and exercises for articulation. These form an essential starting point for any rehearsal to develop vital skills for healthy voice production. Collected and tried out over 25 years of teaching and conducting practice, this book offers a treasure trove of enjoyable and entertaining warm-ups that will leave your choir alert, wide awake and ready to work with focus and concentration.

Can you change the world through song? This appealing idea has long been the professed aim of singers who are part of choruses affiliated with the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). Theses choruses first emerged in the 1970s, and grew out of a very American tradition of (often gender-segregated) choral singing that explicitly presents itself as a community-based activity. By taking a close look at these choruses and their mission, Heather MacLachlan unpacks the fascinating historical and cultural dynamics behind groups that seek to change society for the better by encouraging acceptance of LGBT-identified people and promoting diversity more generally. She characterizes their mission as “integrationist rather than liberationist” and zeroes in on the inherent tension between GALA’s progressive social goals and the fact that the music most often performed by GALA groups is deeply rooted in a fairly narrowly conceived tradition of art music that identifies as white, Euro-centric, and middle class--and that much of the membership identifies as white and middle class as well. Pundits often wax eloquent about the power of music, asserting that it can, in some positive way, change the world. Such statements often rest on an unexamined claim that music can and does foster social justice. Singing Out: GALA Choruses and Social Change tackles the premise underlying such claims, analyzing groups of amateur singers who are explicitly committed to an agenda of social justice.

Finally, under one cover, the very best of traditional choruses together with the very best of contemporary worship songs in a words-only edition!