Repertoire Selection

When do you select repertoire?

​

​

Difficulty Level

Pedagogical Purpose

(Music Literacy through Repertoire)

​

Literature selection is not simply as a programming matter but as a pedagogical tool that influences how singers grow, what they understand, and how they engage with choral music over time.

Musical/Style Period Representation

Balance Progressive/ Conservative�

Inclusive

Emotional Connection

Appropriation vs. Appreciation

Age Appropriate text?

Languages represented?

Sensitive Topic-

singers/ audience

Thematic Considerations

Voicing/ Range appropriate

Accompaniment/ Instrumental Needs

Balance of Difficulty with various rep.

Heart of the Piece

(emotional quotient)

Conferences?

Where do you find your repertoire? Sources

Where do you find your repertoire? Sources

1. Professional Organizations
2. Online Databases and Score Libraries
3. Music Publishers and Distributors
4. Contemp. Composers and Emerging Rep
5. Historical Repertoire and Scholarly Research
6. Recordings and Concert Programs
7. Rep Sharing with Colleagues

1. Professional organizations

​

American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)

Repertoire and Resources committees, curated repertoire lists, reading sessions, and conference programs.

​

ChoralNet

Discussions among conductors, repertoire recommendations, programming ideas, and professional exchanges

​

International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM)

International repertoire, choral publications, and connections with conductors and composers worldwide

​

Chorus America

Resources for community and professional choruses, including programming ideas and artistic initiatives.

​

ACDA Choral Journal

Repertoire reviews, scholarly articles, composer features, and programming discussions.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

ACDA's regional and national conference reading-session lists are particularly valuable because they provide repertoire vetted by experienced conductors.

2. Online repertoire databases and score libraries

​

Musica International

Extensive international database searchable by voicing, difficulty, duration, language, theme, and instrumentation.

​

Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL)

Free public-domain editions, historical repertoire, texts, translations, and composer information.

​

IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library

Historical scores, complete works, critical editions, and large-scale choral-orchestral repertoire.

​

Choral Atlas

Searchable repertoire catalog drawing on public-domain and educational repertoire collections.

​

​

CRCCM Repertoire Project

Sacred choral repertoire organized by liturgical occasion and musical requirement

​

​

​

​

J.W. Pepper

https://www.jwpepper.com

Walton Music

https://www.waltonmusic.com

GIA Publications

https://www.giamusic.com

Hal Leonard

https://www.halleonard.com

Oxford University Press

https://global.oup.com

Boosey & Hawkes

https://www.boosey.com

​

Schott Music

https://www.schott-music.com

ECS Publishing Group

https://www.ecspublishing.com

Santa Barbara Music Publishing

https://www.sbmp.com

Graphite Publishing

https://graphitepublishing.com

Cypress Choral Music

https://cypresschoral.com

Alliance Music Publications

https://www.alliancemusic.com

​

​

3. Music publishers and distributors

4. Contemporary composers and emerging repertoire

• PROJECT : ENCORE -An especially valuable curated catalog of contemporary choral compositions. Includes study scores, recordings, and detailed descriptions of works evaluated by a panel of conductors.
• American Composers Forum -Discover composers, new compositions, and commissioning opportunities.
• New Music USA-Contemporary American composers and innovative musical projects.
• Graphite Publishing -Particularly useful for independently published contemporary choral works.
• Individual composer websites -Often provide complete works lists, sample scores, recordings, and commissioning information.

​

5. Historical repertoire and scholarly research

• RILM Abstracts of Music Literature - Scholarly research into composers, genres, traditions, and historical repertoire.
• RISM - International inventory of historical musical sources and manuscripts.
• Bach Cantatas Website - Detailed information on Bach's vocal works, including instrumentation, texts, recordings, and scores.
• Oxford Music / Grove Music Online -Composer biographies, historical context, genres, and bibliographies.
• University music libraries - Anthologies, collected editions, composer catalogs, dissertations, and historical score collections.

​

6. Recordings and concert programs

• YouTube — Live recordings of collegiate, professional, international, and church choirs.
• Spotify and Apple Music — Recordings of established and emerging choral repertoire.
• Naxos Music Library — Extensive classical recording collection, often accessible through academic libraries.
• Professional ensemble concert archives — Programs from ensembles such as The Crossing and Voces8.
• University choir concert programs — Excellent sources for identifying repertoire programmed by colleagues and discovering less frequently performed works.
• Festival Lists
• NPR

Where do you find your repertoire? Other?

​

Talk/share with colleagues

Doctoral dissertations

Relationships with living composers

​

​

​

Bucket List