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Reper toire & Resources
Repertoire & Resources

Children's Choirs a daunting or even stressful experi- of the ensemble while still providing
Children's Choirs
ence. The purpose of this article is to the group with artistic and mental
Joy Hirokawa provide high-quality repertoire op- stimulation. The following progres-
National R&R Chair tions by composers of varied back- sion highlights elements to discover
joyhirokawa@comcast.net grounds and to identify pedagogical within repertoire selections that may
aspects within those examples that aid the learning process and help an

make them exceptional. The high- ensemble find success. The literature
Children’s Choral Repertoire lighted elements focus on two sub- progresses from simple unison mel-
with Highlighted categories: a progression from uni- odies to multiple part-singing. Once
Pedagogical Elements son to multiple part-singing, and a one skill is well-mastered, it may be
theme of languages/storytelling. time to move on to the next. This is
by Katrina Turman not meant as the only sequential pro-
gression to consider when advancing
The world of children’s cho- A Progression from Unison a choir’s part-singing skills, but it is
ral music is a worthy and exciting to Multiple Part-Singing one option that follows a logical se-

field. Young people are capable of Of all the elements a conductor quence of skill development.
performing with such artistry, and considers when evaluating the dif- Let’s start at the very beginning.

conductors are lucky to guide and ficulty of a piece of music for their Well, not quite the beginning. After
witness this transformation. One of ensemble, the number of vocal parts the student has had some experience
the conductor’s most inspirational usually comes first. The choral fi eld singing short melodies, chants, and

tasks is to seek out innovative chil- often considers singing in multiple games in a classroom setting, they
dren’s choral repertoire. As leaders parts as the definition of success and may be ready for a longer choral

of children’s choral ensembles, we this pervades children’s choral music piece. Sherelle Eyles’s Clouds is an ex-
have a responsibility to select music as well. A beginner group singing ample of a quality full-length choral
of educational and communal value in two parts is considered a success song with repetitive material. The
and to provide our students with the even if they do so poorly. When strophic nature of the piece, with
best training possible. While discov- we push our students to sing music verses that are melodically nearly
ering interesting and appropriate that is too complex, frustration and identical, will help young students
repertoire for ensembles is a n en- resentment can brew. We also do fi nd success in their learning. This
joyable responsibility, it is also time not want music that does not pro- is an imaginative work with text that
consuming. Conductors are asked vide enough of a challenge for the describes the diff erent shapes clouds
to fill so many roles: teacher, artist, student intellectually. A conductor may take and features optional cor-

administrator. Sometimes the work should aim to program repertoire responding animal noises. The text
of selecting repertoire can turn into that is appropriate to the skill level is approachable and will be easy for

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2021 Volume 61 Number 11 57