SKU: GI.G-1133

UPC: 785147813323.

The Song We Sing was commissioned by the Arts Chorale of Winchester (Virginia) to honor founding artistic director Michael Main and his husband, accompanist Richard McPherson upon their retirement from the ensemble after 19 years. Scored for SATB chorus and piano four-hands, the score sets three new poems by Robert Bode, himself a well-known choral conductor as well as a poet. Track Listing: Let's Move to the Sea The Song We Sing Morning Dance “Let’s Move to the Sea” (#1) references Michael’s and Richard’s plan to relocate from Virginia to the seaside resort of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The music is marked “Brightly” and is highly rhythmic and dancelike. Robert Bode’s poem is in three verses, and the music follows this layout, with three clearly related sections. The poem “The Song We Sing” (#2) is a quiet, and rather profound, meditation on the underlying meaning of choral singing—the deeper sense of what it means to sing together. It underscores the fact that choirs often create a feeling of community where individuals are accepted for themselves without prejudice as they come together to make music. Like the first movement, “Morning Dance” (#3) is rhythmic and playful. The poem is organized into four verses, each followed by a refrain. The music, similarly, is written in four sections that are based on closely-related musical materials, each followed by a refrain of almost identical music. Everything culminates in the poem’s ecstatic final line, “Lift your arms to the sun, and dance!” The Missouri State University Chorale is the flagship choral ensemble at Missouri State University. Made up of a diverse group of singers from a variety of backgrounds, this renowned ensemble performs at an incredibly high level and enjoys an international reputation. The MSU Chorale has performed regularly at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, Missouri Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, and has toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Cameron F. LaBarr is director of choral studies at Missouri State University, where he leads a comprehensive choral program including eight choirs and a graduate program in choral conducting. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Missouri State University and earned a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas. Additionally, Dr. LaBarr has completed further study in choral music and conducting with Simon Carrington and Alice Parker. Dr. LaBarr has worked as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, recently at the China International Chorus Festival, the Bali International Choir Festival, and the Limerick Sings International Choral Festival (Ireland).

SKU: CF.CM9713

ISBN 9781491160084. UPC: 680160918683. Key: G major. English. Robert Bode. Original.

The piece was commissioned by Kevin Scully, Director of Creative Arts, for the Port Washington School District, New York, with special thanks to the Ed Foundation and HEARTS for their unwavering support. Performance Notes This lighthearted piece is a great way to bring multiple choirs together in harmony. It may be sung by a single SATB choir, though it is intended to be performed by multiple choirs of varying age levels. Song of the Sound was written for an all-district feeder festival piece for combined elementary, middle level, and high school choirs. Here is a suggested outline for combining multiple choirs: Rehearsal Letters A to B: Elementary choir only (two-part, Soprano, Alto) Rehearsal Letter B: add Middle Level Soprano, Alto with Elementary choir Rehearsal Letter C: Middle Level choir only Rehearsal Letter D: High School choir only Rehearsal Letter E to the end: Everyone! Song of the Sound: Running on the beach, digging in the sand, Seaweed in my toes, bucket in my hand. When I'm at the shore, way above the rest, These are all the things that I love the best. Skipping like a stone on the water, diving deep in the silvery foam, Swimming far where the land cannot hold us, where the lighthouse calls us home. Flying free above the marshes, soaring high above the sea, Where the tern and cormorant and plover call to lands we cannot see.Come let us go to the water, let us go to the singing shore: Where the gentle breezes whisper and the mighty breakers roar. We will look to the shining ocean, to the East, where the new day dawned: We will sing a song of the edge of the world and the waiting sky beyond. -Poem by Robert Bode (Hope Springs Retreat Center, Ohio. August 2019) About the Composer: Jacob Narverud (b. 1986) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor. Dr. Narverud is an active guest Conductor/Clinician for Choral Festivals and All-State Choirs across the country and is the Founder/Artistic Director of the Tallgrass Chamber Choir, a professional ensemble comprised of musicians from across the Great Plains. As a sought-after composer, Narverud has been commissioned to write new works for a variety of choral ensembles and organizations. Many of his Editors' Choirs compositions are publisher Best Sellers and are performed worldwide by choirs of all levels. Website: www.jnarverud.com YouTube & Spotify: @jacobnarverud.
The piece was commissioned by Kevin Scully, Director of Creative Arts, for the Port Washington School District, New York, with special thanks to the Ed Foundation and HEARTS for their unwavering support.Performance NotesThis lighthearted piece is a great way to bring multiple choirs together in harmony. It may be sung by a single SATB choir, though it is intended to be performed by multiple choirs of varying age levels. Song of the Sound was written for an all-district feeder festival piece for combined elementary, middle level, and high school choirs. Here is a suggested outline for combining multiple choirs:Rehearsal Letters A to B: Elementary choir only (two-part, Soprano, Alto)Rehearsal Letter B: add Middle Level Soprano, Alto with Elementary choirRehearsal Letter C: Middle Level choir onlyRehearsal Letter D: High School choir onlyRehearsal Letter E to the end: Everyone!Song of the Sound:Running on the beach, digging in the sand,Seaweed in my toes, bucket in my hand.When I'm at the shore, way above the rest,These are all the things that I love the best. Skipping like a stone on the water, diving deep in the silvery foam,Swimming far where the land cannot hold us, where the lighthouse calls us home.Flying free above the marshes, soaring high above the sea,Where the tern and cormorant and plover call to lands we cannot see.Come let us go to the water, let us go to the singing shore:Where the gentle breezes whisper and the mighty breakers roar.We will look to the shining ocean, to the East, where the new day dawned:We will sing a song of the edge of the world and the waiting sky beyond.-Poem by Robert Bode (Hope Springs Retreat Center, Ohio. August 2019)About the Composer:Jacob Narverud (b. 1986) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor. Dr. Narverud is an active guest Conductor/Clinician for Choral Festivals and All-State Choirs across the country and is the Founder/Artistic Director of the Tallgrass Chamber Choir, a professional ensemble comprised of musicians from across the Great Plains. As a sought-after composer, Narverud has been commissioned to write new works for a variety of choral ensembles and organizations. Many of his Editors' Choirs compositions are publisher Best Sellers and are performed worldwide by choirs of all levels. Website: www.jnarverud.com  YouTube & Spotify: @jacobnarverud.

SKU: GI.G-10596

SKU: GI.G-9660

ISBN 9781622773572.

To learn from Alice is to come under a peculiar kind of enchantment . . . To hear her is to be spellbound by a melodic voice. — John Wykoff, from the Prelude The Melodic Voice presents a series of interviews with preeminent composer, conductor, and teacher Alice Parker that offers a fuller and more intimate view of her life and music than ever before. The conversations Cameron LaBarr and John Wykoff document in these pages perfectly capture the essence of Alice’s core philosophies on melody, arranging, singing, music teaching, conducting, and many other topics. During the course of the interviews, Alice discusses a wide range of topics: her childhood, her time as a student at Smith College and Juilliard, the death of her husband, her work with Robert Shaw, living in New York City, experiences with teaching, her compositional process, the importance of folk song, advice for students and teachers, and much more. In the accompanying video component, Alice speaks candidly and directly about many of her most popular and well-loved arrangements, including Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal, Saints Bound for Heaven, What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?, and John Saw Duh Numbuh, among others. Too few have had the privilege of attending one of Alice’s workshops or engaging with her in long conversations and round-the-table singing. But the conversational nature of this book gives everyone the chance to engage with her in a deeper way. Musicians and non-musicians alike are sure to be inspired by Alice’s words. Cameron LaBarr is Director of Choral Studies at Missouri State University. His choirs have performed extensively both at home and abroad, and he has worked as a guest conductor and clinician across the United States, Europe, South Africa, and Asia. John Wykoff is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Lee University. As an active composer, he writes for choir, orchestra, and chamber groups, and his music has been performed internationally by leading ensembles. Check out this clip below of Alice Parker discussing her beloved arrangement Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal. This is just a small part of the over three hours of video interviews included in the purchase of this resource.