SKU: WD.080689558399

UPC: 080689558399.

Hit songs, fun to perform, easy-learn-easy-sing format, powerful message full of Biblical truths...

These are just a few of the features to be found in the new musical, God's Not Dead, from the Simply WordKidz series of performance-friendly children's choir products. Less than 30 minutes in length; full of songs that your kids will love to sing; and a simple, yet powerful script and no-hassle staging, God's Not Dead is the perfect musical for choirs with limited rehearsal time and resources or special ease-of-performance needs.

Five songs and five scenes, featuring big-statement songs like We Believe and the title song, God's Not Dead (Like A Lion), make this the ideal vehicle for your children's music ministry! Created by Dale Mathews and Dana Anderson, God's Not Dead has been carefully crafted to bring you maximum impact with minimal preparation time. To make your presentation bigger than life and to wow your congregation even more, be sure to use the DVD Accompaniment Track and raise your performance to another level!

Through an accessible and timely story that answers tough questions like If God is real, why do bad things happen to people? , this new musical is anchored by songs that are full of faith-reinforcing lyrics. Together, they give you the potential for life-changing ministry through your presentation of God's Not Dead, from Simply WordKidz.

ISBN 9781622776436.

Draw ing from his five decades of success as a conductor and educator in the choral field, Will Kesling has compiled a comprehensive choral methods resource that addresses every necessary fundamental for achieving artistry in the choral art. Written in clear and conversational language, this resource covers: Building a healthy and beautiful choral sound Dealing with vocal issues Selecting repertoire and programming concerts Developing score study skills and interpretive insights Understanding the characteristics of musical periods and composers Planning, preparing for, and running rehearsals The Voices I Hear also explores important but often overlooked topics, including a discussion of performing sacred music in secular education settings, techniques for performing choral-orchestral works, choral versus orchestral conducting, and how to become a true “maestro.” Individual chapters also function as standalone topics of study. A valuable read for emerging and seasoned conductors alike, The Voices I Hear is an expert study of the aesthetic, intellectual, and practical aspects of the choral art. Dr. Will Kesling is Professor of Choral and Orchestral Conducting at the University of Florida, where he has taught for two decades. He has conducted hundreds of choral ensembles and nearly fifty of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. His ensembles have received international attention for their excellence and musical expression.   Thank you, Dr. Kesling, for the decade you gave of yourself to write the most complete and comprehensive writing on the topics of choral techniques, methods, and conducting I have seen. It is in-depth yet practical, to the point of being a valuable resource for both the young conductors entering the choral field to the well-established professionals. You have given us a solid foundation in all significant areas of the choral art, including, among many others, the production of beautiful vocal tone, detailed physical vocal production, textual and physical components of English diction, repertoire programming, appropriate style, interpretation and phrasing, and a pathway to successful conducting of combined choral and orchestral forces. Your enormous and highly successful career, with worldwide performances and numerous awards and honors, has enabled you to bring validity and integrity to the entire writing. —Donald Neuen     Distinguished Professor Emeritus, UCLA     Former member of the Robert Shaw Chorale     Mr. Shaw’s Assistant Conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Choruses For more than 50 years, Dr. Will Kesling has been and continues to be a prominent figure and voice in the International and American choral profession. His new book, The Voices I Hear, is the distillation of his long and distinguished career as a conductor and choral music educator. The driving and consuming passion throughout Kesling’s life is the preparation and performance of the world’s rich and diverse choral and orchestral repertoire and the education, development, and growth of those who perform and conduct it. This book is a summation of a lifetime immersed in the choral art and all its many aspects. It overflows with insights into the choral art that will not only instruct the beginning conductor but also will enlighten and entertain the seasoned professional conductor and educator. It is filled with wit, wisdom, and practical advice to all practitioners of the choral arts. I enthusiastically recommend Kesling’s enlightening new book as an important addition to the choral pedagogy bibliography and for use as an invaluable new text for choral practicum classes for both graduate and undergraduate students. Dr. Kesling has brought to the choral profession significant new insights to all lovers of the choral art. —Craig Jessop     Professor of Music, University of Utah     Former Music Director of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square     and the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants Will Kesling’s book, The Voices I Hear, is practical and philosophical, useful and inspirational, focused and comprehensive. The observations and advice are based on his vast personal experiences on the podium with choirs and orchestras, and the book is a monumental resource for both the young conductor and the veteran. Containing a broad spectrum of musical styles, composers, and topics, Kesling’s direct and practical writing connects immediately with today’s choral musician. Keep The Voices I Hear nearby as there will be many times down the road where the information and opinions in Dr. Kesling’s book will answer the questions you have, as well as the ones you didn’t even know to ask! —Jerry Blackstone     Professor Emeritus of Music (conducting) and Director of Choirs (retired)     School of Music, Theatre & Dance, University of Michigan This is the textbook I wish had been available when I was beginning my studies. It is comprehensive in scope, practical and helpful in its suggestions, and, perhaps most surprising in a book from an academic, superbly written in clear and powerful English. Kesling speaks with conviction, clarity, and polish, and he finds colorful and memorable ways of making his points and presents the material from the perspective of one who has done all these things for decades at a highly professional level. I give this volume the highest possible recommendation. —Daniel Gawthrop     Composer & Conductor.

SKU: PR.362034230

ISBN 9781598069556. UPC: 680160624225. Letter inches. English.

When the Texas Choral Consort asked Welcher to write a short prologue to Haydn's The Creation, his first reaction was that Haydn already presents Chaos in his introductory movement. As he thought about it, Welcher began envisioning a truer void to precede Haydn's depiction of Chaos within the scope of 18th-century classical style - quoting some of Haydn's themes and showing human voices and inhuman sounds in a kind of pre-creation melange of color, mood, and atmosphere. Welcher accepted this challenge with the proviso that his prologue would lead directly into Haydn's masterpiece without stopping, and certainly without applause in between. Scored for mixed chorus and Haydn's instrumentation, Without Form and Void is a dramatically fresh yet pragmatic enhancement to deepen any performance of Haydn's The Creation. Orchestral score and parts are available on rental.
When Brent Baldwin asked me to consider writing a short prologue to THE CREATION, my first response was “Why?”  THE CREATION already contains a prologue; it’s called “Representation of Chaos”, and it’s Haydn’s way of showing the formless universe.  How could a new piece do anything but get in the way? But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  The Age of Enlightenment’s idea of “Chaos” was just extended chromaticism, no more than Bach used (in fact, Bach went further).Perhaps there might be a way to use the full resources of the modern orchestra (or at least, a Haydn-sized orchestra) and the modern chorus to really present a cosmic soup of unborn musical atoms, just waiting for Haydn’s sure touch to animate them.  Perhaps it could even quote some of Haydn’s themes before he knew them himself, and also show human voices and inhuman sounds in a kind of pre-creation mélange of color, mood, and atmosphere. So I accepted the challenge, with the proviso that my new piece not be treated as some kind of “overture”, but would instead be allowed to lead directly into Haydn’s masterpiece without stopping, and certainly without applause.  I crafted this five minute piece to begin with a kind of “music of the spheres” universe-hum, created by tuned wine glasses and violin harmonics.  The chorus enters very soon after, with the opening words of Genesis whispered simultaneously in as many languages as can be found in a chorus.  The first two minutes of my work are all about unborn human voices and unfocused planetary sounds, gradually becoming more and more “coherent” until we finally hear actual pitches, melodies, and words.  Three of Haydn’s melodies will be heard, to be specific, but not in the way he will present them an hour from now.  It’s almost as if we are listening inside the womb of the universe, looking for a faint heartbeat of worlds, animals, and people to come.  At the end of the piece, the chorus finally finds its voice with a single word: “God!”,  and the orchestra finally finds its own pulse as well.  The unstoppable desire for birth must now be answered, and it is----by Haydn’s marvelous oratorio. I am not a religious man in any traditional sense.  Neither was Haydn, nor Mozart, nor Beethoven.  But all of them, as well as I, share in what is now called a humanistic view of how things came to be, how life in its many forms developed on this planet, and how Man became the recorder of history.  The gospel according to John begins with a parody of Genesis:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”   I love that phrase, and it’s in that spirit that I offer my humble “opener” to the finest work of one of the greatest composers Western music has ever known.  My piece is not supposed to sound like Haydn.  It’s supposed to sound like a giant palette, on which a composer in 1798 might find more outrageous colors than his era would permit…but which, I hope, he would have been delighted to hear.

SKU: WD.080689888229

UPC: 080689888229.

Hit songs, fun to perform, easy-learn-easy-sing format, powerful message full of Biblical truths...

These are just a few of the features to be found in the new musical, God's Not Dead, from the Simply WordKidz series of performance-friendly children's choir products. Less than 30 minutes in length; full of songs that your kids will love to sing; and a simple, yet powerful script and no-hassle staging, God's Not Dead is the perfect musical for choirs with limited rehearsal time and resources or special ease-of-performance needs.

Five songs and five scenes, featuring big-statement songs like We Believe and the title song, God's Not Dead (Like A Lion), make this the ideal vehicle for your children's music ministry! Created by Dale Mathews and Dana Anderson, God's Not Dead has been carefully crafted to bring you maximum impact with minimal preparation time. To make your presentation bigger than life and to wow your congregation even more, be sure to use the DVD Accompaniment Track and raise your performance to another level!

Through an accessible and timely story that answers tough questions like If God is real, why do bad things happen to people? , this new musical is anchored by songs that are full of faith-reinforcing lyrics. Together, they give you the potential for life-changing ministry through your presentation of God's Not Dead, from Simply WordKidz.