This summer, I spent my time researching repertoire for treble choirs and applying that research in a two-week choral festival for singers ages 8 to 18. Treble choir repertoire is music written for a choir of only sopranos and altos, with divisi ranging from unison to two-part (SA), three-part (SSA), and even four-part (SSAA). Treble music is used in choirs of all women (such as the Vassar College Women’s Chorus) and children’s choirs, as was the case this summer. I was tasked with selecting music to be sung by the Cappella Festiva Treble Choir for their Summer Choral Festival. The biggest challenge I faced in selecting repertoire was simply finding it- the amount of treble music in existence is shamefully small. Much of it is written by the same few composers, is fairly modern, and centers around topics like love and flowers and pretty things. It is quite difficult to find treble music with heavy subject matter and meaty musical phrases. There were some pieces that, originally for SATB choir, had been arranged for treble choir, but these almost always seemed lesser than the original. The two most difficult genres to find quality arrangements for were spiritual/gospel and pop. Most spirituals were condensed versions of SATB arrangements, and did not utilize the full potential of a treble choir. The pop songs were almost entirely the same format- the first verse is a solo, then one part takes the chorus while the other parts sing “ooh”, and the rest of it is mostly unison with an occasional uninteresting harmony. In the end, I picked music in these two genres that would be fun for the Cappella singers, and found music in other genres to offer a challenge.
The final two weeks of the project involved teaching the music I had picked to a choir of 27 girls from around the Hudson Valley. I lead sectionals, assisted in music theory, taught body percussion, demonstrated improvisational singing, and conducted a piece for the final concert. All in all, the festival ran quite smoothly, and I will use the knowledge I have gained to help pick repertoire for the Vassar College Women’s Chorus in the future.
Pictured below are some favorite moments from the Summer Choral Festival:
