r/Choir

Classical music fans, and choral music fans: if you had to choose your favorite requiems, what would you be your top five all-time favorite and also if you have three that you absolutely do not like list those as well.

Favorites:

1. Duruflé Requiem
2. Brahms Requiem
3. Hindemith Requiem ( for those we love)
4. Fauré Requiem
5. Howells Requiem

Least favorites:

1. A. Lloyd Weber Requiem
2. Verdi Requiem
3. Victoria Requiem

I'm in a college choir. I just turned 20.

My choir director started crying and threw a chair during our rehearsal. Not at anybody specifically, but she threw it. She's had some personal stuff going on and she said she is tired of us not working hard.

I know this sounds like a fake post but I promise it's real. I grew up in a violent house so I have no idea what's normal or not.

The top level of our school choir has around 12 people, for reference. And half our songs have full SSAATTBB splits. This post will make sense soon, I promise.

Let's start by saying that on paper, I auditioned for this choir as an Alto 1 and was accepted as that.

I auditioned for a Soprano 1 solo. I got it. I then sang the alto 2 solo on the same song during a split. I then drop down to tenor 1 during some parts. this is mostly normal.

I sing Alto 1 and soprano 2 on a song (I alternate based on who needs more volume at a point. I also help the tenors a bunch and jump down.

Now for the best song. I start singing Bass 2 (down to a B2, not super low all things considered). I then travel up to bass 1 when they come in. I then jump to Tenor 2 when they come in. THEN I go to tenor 1, and back down to T2 for a good chunk of it.

Then the worst part??? I sing tenor at an F3, jump to a D4 and go to a D5 to sing alto 1, THEN I have to help sopranos on their high note so jump up there (C6 shoot me now) and then have to IMMEDIATELY SLIDE DOWN TO A E3 in one beat at 4/4 160 BPM. 2 and a half octave jump. And then I keep jumping around before ending as a tenor 2

Now, for the piece de resistance: There was a baritenor solo in a song that not a single guy in my choir was able to sing. Out of desperation, she opened it up to sopranos. none of them could sing it. Then her last resort was altos. None could do it. All the fallen soldiers turned to me. I was the very last person to go. And I did it. Not amazingly, but atleast I did it. And I really didn’t want to have to do it but now I cant turn back or the song is fried. So I now have a soprano 1 solo and a baritenor solo in the same concert. And I am singing from an B2 to a C6 in the same concert. I spend so much brainpower remembering what part of the staff I'm supposed to be reading. why me. why did my director make me do this.

You know the kicker? I’m not even that good. not cut out for this bs

And that my friends, is why voice parts don’t matter for crap. /s

im gonna die in the concert

so i’ve been using an 11-inch ipad for my choir sets but it’s honestly driving me crazy. the screen feels so cramped when i’m trying to read lyrics and harmony at the same time, especially from a stand. plus the overhead lights in our rehearsal hall turn my screen into a giant mirror, and my eyes are literally burning by the end of a 2-hour session. i tried those matte protectors but they just make the notes look fuzzy and don't really help with the dry eye thing. i keep seeing stuff about the tcl nxtpaper 14 being way bigger and easier on the eyes since it’s actually a matte screen. has anyone here actually used it for choir? is it actually glare-free under stage lights or is it just hype? really need a better music stand alternative because my current setup is killing me lol.

I’ve been thinking about learning how to conduct over the summer while I have some free time, but a lot of the online courses or YouTube videos are focused on orchestral conducting rather than choral conducting, so I said I’d ask here instead. So does anyone have any resources they’d recommend for learning specifically choral conducting?

As a woman, I feel like a bad feminist because I strongly, strongly prefer the sound of an (adult) all-male choir to that of a female, and I am curious as to why.

At first I thought it was because the male voice range is greater than the female, but looking at all the difference voice types, there isn't really a difference in range between the deepest bass note - highest tenor note and the deepest alto note - highest soprano note.

Google hasn't been very helpful and mostly discusses the differences between little boys' and girls' choirs, which I like equally.

Any ideas why the male choir sounds so much better to me? A female choir makes me think "oh that sounds lovely", but a male choir can make me cry, drop my jaw, etc. etc.

Help!

When I was in high school in the early 80s, the top choir in most area high schools was Madrigals. Sometimes they were called Madrigals but sang various types of music, but a lot of the time, the group dressed in Renaissance costumes, sang mostly Renaissance madrigals, and had a yearly madrigal dinner.

Was this a regional thing or nationwide (speaking of US here)? Do schools still have madrigal groups? (None of them where I live now). What replaced them? Show choir? When did that happen?

Thinking of this because my choir is prepping for a concert that includes three classic madrigals (Maying, Matona Mia Cara, Il est bel) but also two of Lauridsen's Madrigali (Six Fire Songs).

does it matter if girls sing male voice types and boys sing girl voice types? like do you guys think that gender matters in choir or do you think it depends on the persons range, just wondering, not trying to be rude, I've sang alto in 8th grade, baritone in 9th grade,, tenor in 10th grade, but I'm naturally a tenor, I'm trans FTM and not on T yet so my situation is a bit different, I can't sing super low or super high tho

Hello fellow singers,

Off to the UK this summer and will likely be passing through Coventry in late August. I’ve had the idea to want to sing the Coventry Carol in Coventry. Are there any local singers who would want to join in for a one off rendition of a Christmas banger in mid-summer?

I have a problem in my choir: a woman who has a bunch of health problems recently rejoined the choir ()she was a member before I started conducting it). But it's clear she cannot keep up with the rest. Our choir consists mostly of elderly people but those can still 'function' well. I don't want to go into much detail about the health but it impacts her participation: her speech is still suboptimal (singing helps in the longterm, but most of the time she just doesn't sing), she needs assistance moving around (even with a walker, it is complicated), she has impaired eyesight (I made large prints of the lyrics so she can follow), and half of the time, it looks like she's dozing off.

I know she doesn't do that on purpose but it's holding back the rest and putting a strain on the others: we always have to drive her to/from the rehearsal, create alternate versions of the sheet music (and then she doesn't even sing), and during the break and after the rehearsal, she doesn't really socialize. If somebody talk to her, it's as if we are waking her up.

This situation cannot go on and I think it's best to remove her but how do I do that in a good way that doesn't burn bridges?

Some more context:

• We are an amateur choir. It used to be both for church and non-liturgical music but the last 10 years it has been not attached to the church.
• I already provide accommodations:
  • we do warm-up exercises: articulation, singing exercises, rhythm, ...
  • we make custom scores for her. Large font, text onbly because the notes are confusing
  • we transport her from/to home
  • I made recordings of all songs and made them available via SoundCloud and for her I gave a USB stick

hi I'm Noah and I've been in choir seine I was in 8th grade, I have disabilities which makes it hard sometimes, I don't know music theory, I don't know where I'm singing at, so I highlight my sheet music and have my music bigger sometimes, I also get overstimulated easily, I always have to have someone with me in choir, does anyone also have disabilities in choir? I think people should be more helpful to those with disabilities, cus nobody knows how people are feeling ​

I was at a choir competition recently and we performed a song where the focal point is on the soloists for the duration of the piece. It is a beautiful and lively piece (a contemporary Irish song called ‘Geantraí’) but learning it made me wonder, though, if solos really embody the nature and the magic of choral music. In my mind, what sets choir apart from other forms of musical artistry is the blending of dozens of voices into a transcendental sound that is worth much more than the sum of its parts. Imo, when you choose to only show off one or two of these voices, you remove the very essence of what makes choral singing special. At that point, why not just sing with instrumental accompaniment?

I’m curious to hear other people’s thoughts on this subject, because most choristers I’ve met don’t seem to have any major feelings about it

Hey all,
I am part of a 70ish ppl strong community choir in the UK, the age bracket is thirties and up. It's my second term with the choir and, despite being a lady, I sing with the tenors because that's what's been easier for me (alto parts are too high and I can hit all the tenor notes). I am the only woman in a group of around 10 male tenors. They are all really nice and friendly and have welcomed me with open arms.
Our section lead is not in this term as he has family commitments. The choir has asked for someone to volunteer and step in, but it's been two weeks and no one has. On one hand, I wouldn't mind doing it, on the other I am conscious that it would be much better for a man to do it.. I don't want to feel like I am invading their space. But maybe I am overthinking it...? WWYD?

Hola, llevo en un coro un año, y por lo que me cuentan llevan cantando 40 años la misma canción en eventos religiosos como el "dona nobis pacem" en el momento de dar la paz. El punto es que algunos queremos proponer alguna alternativa a esta obra. Tienen idea de alguna canción de coro Acapella que se use en este tipo de eventos?

I sing in a community treble choir and lately I have noticed a lot of chatter amongst choir members whenever the director stops the music. She will give us a clear instruction but people will keep asking her to reiterate it because they were busy talking to their neighbor. It always takes a while to restart after a stop because she will say “start from measure 30” which is immediately followed by a chorus of “where are we starting? What bar? Where?” always from folks who were talking over her. We are wasting lots of rehearsal time.

I’m the S1 section leader so I would potentially feel comfortable asking members of my own section to save chats for later, but the issue isn’t coming from my section and I don’t think it would be appropriate to shush anyone from across the room. I think ultimately it’s up to the director how she handles it (and I can tell it frustrates her).

Have any of you had this issue in your choir, and how did you feel about it? What, if anything, did you do?

I’m in the church choir and I couldn’t sing today because my director noticed that I had a mask on indicating that I was sick and I was very late since I was debating whether I should sing or not. I asked the director if I should say she said no because one of my members who is older has a weak immune system due to the fact that she had cancer in the past and Covid recently. I trusted my first instinct, which was tell the choir director I wasn’t going to sing today because I wasn’t feeling well and my instinct was right. The choir had a Covid outbreak after Easter and every single choir member had Covid. I was disappointed at first, but then I realized that Mother’s Day was a special occasion and I don’t really sing on special occasions and my trip to church wasn’t a total bust because as promised my mom received a prayer from a deacon for her upcoming surgery on Tuesday.

Hi 👋

I'm the librarian of a choir. It is an inclusive, no audition choir. We have a great MD, some good singers and reasonable resources meaning there are lots of opportunities to learn, if you want too. We are around 50 in number. We hold 2/3 concerts a year and sing at 3/4 prides each year (we are an LGBT choir). We sing mostly modern music - Often stuff in the charts in SATB. We often learn 17 pieces at once. We have practice tracks.

Our MD is great, and strong willed. Our committee is somewhat disorganised which mixed together can cause some friction. I sit in the middle and fill the communication gaps to try and keep both sides happy. My latest challenge...

The MD wants us to sing in performance without music. Something we haven't done. How can this be done without it becoming exclusionary to those that will really struggle with this? Is this normal practice? Any advice or tips? Any experience of doing something similar?

Edit: the MD suggestion is that we still learn with music, and posits that by the date of the performance, we should know the pieces, and that the folders are only being used as a comfort tool on the day.

So I'm a leader in a community choir that prides itself on being non-auditioned and inclusive. One of the many accommodations we offer is that we require a scent-free environment. As we know, many of us singers suffer from allergies and are negatively affected by perfumes etc.

Luckily, it's been awhile since I actually had a situation with a choir member who smokes, but here I am. Her seatmates are complaining of the scent on her clothes.

Any advice is appreciated on how to diplomatically deal with this situation!