Planning the Perfect Program: A Guide for Choral Directors

Whether a new or veteran choral director, one of the most important jobs you will face is choosing repertoire for your ensembles. With so many options available, and without knowing your classes or students yet, it can be an overwhelming task on top of other back-to-school preparations. The music you assign will not only affect the tone of your classes but is also a bridge to establishing a positive rapport with your students (and parents and administrators!). This guide presents strategies and tools to create an educational, meaningful, and enjoyable concert program.

A Successful Concert Program

A well-rounded program can include the following benchmarks (in no particular order). Can’t get them all into one concert? That’s ok! Choose a few now and plan to incorporate others in the future. Students aren’t ready for a cappella? That’s ok, too! This list can be customized to suit your students and ensembles.

• • Works by living composers and historically significant composers
  • Works by women composers
  • Works by BIPOC composers
  • Foreign language
  • Multicultural/world music
  • Spirituals/Gospel
  • Works other than the standard major key and 4/4 time signature
  • Variety of textures and harmonic structures
  • Lyrical/ballad – slow to moderate tempo
  • Rhythmic/upbeat – lighter or novelty selections
  • Ear candy – pop, jazz, stage & screen
  • a cappella works

Considerations Before Choosing Repertoire

There are many details that go into planning a concert other than the music. Before making any repertoire decisions, consider the following components to help inform your plans. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, find them! Learning protocols is an important part of joining a new team and will help you familiarize yourself with both the music department and the overall school culture. Use this as an opportunity to get to know your fellow music teachers or school leaders by initiating conversations that will aid you in planning your concert.

Some information you won’t have until you can work with and assess your choirs. You may need to adjust your repertoire selections after a month into the new school year depending on the make-up and experience level of each group. This may take time, which can feel discouraging. Have patience and understand that getting to know your students and ensembles is normal for any teacher starting at a new school.

1. Type of event

• • What is the end goal? Holiday concert, adjudicated festival, community event, etc.

2. Logistics

• • Are you sharing the concert with other ensembles in the music department? How many ensembles are performing in the program and how many pieces will each group sing?

• • What is the concert attire?

• • Will there be choreography or special equipment needed?

• • Are you hiring an accompanist, or will you use recorded tracks?

• • Where will students wait when they are not singing?

3. Limitations

• • Budget: How much can you spend per schoolyear on music and other performance-related costs?

• • Curriculum: Are you required to follow a curriculum or meet state and national standards?

• • Sacred music: Can you program music specific to religious holidays?

• • School culture: Are there themes or topics to avoid (or include!) that are specific to your school population?

4. Personnel

• • Choirs: What is the age, work ethic, and maturity level of each choir? How many singers are in each section and what is their skill level?
  • Soloists: Do you have any star singers to feature in pieces that call for a soloist?
  • Accompanist: Do you have a piano accompanist available, or will you be accompanying the choir?
  • Instrumentalists: Are there other music students or ensembles you can collaborate with?
  • Volunteers: Will teacher or parent volunteers assist with logistics?
  • Stage manager: Who handles lighting and sound?

5. Teachable moments

• • What skills or knowledge will students take away from performing this music?
  • Are there cross-curricular lessons or activities to supplement music learning?
  • Will the repertoire challenge singers as well as establish confidence and a sense of accomplishment?

6. Plans B, C, and D

• • What is your back-up plan if a piece falls through, your tenors are all sick, or a blizzard is predicted?
  • What “quick learns” can you keep on hand just in case?

Finding Inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere when you look for it! Here are a few recommendations to kick-off your journey.

• • Peruse your personal and school music libraries.
  • Connect with other music teachers about their planning strategies and find out what has worked well for them.
  • Attend concerts outside your school and take notes in the program. Schools, community choirs, and professional groups can offer a wealth of ideas.
  • Find peer groups on social media platforms and ask for recommendations.
  • Seek out membership in regional or national music organizations that offer journals or publications, blogs, message boards, and conferences. These organizations have resources designed specifically for teachers and directors to find new choral music, including Repertoire & Resource committees and conference Reading Sessions. The National Association for Music Educators (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) are both a great place to start.
  • Check out Editors’ Choice, Basic Library, and state festival lists on Pepper’s website.
  • Participate in Pepper’s 2024 Directors’ Vote campaign by selecting your favorite Editors’ Choice titles. For more repertoire suggestions, see the results from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 campaigns on our blog, Cued In.
  • Join Pepper’s New Music Teacher Club and our New Music Teacher Community on Facebook.

How Do I Get Started?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but the more you can narrow down your options the less overwhelming it may feel. You can use all or none of the strategies presented below – but remember to look into curriculum requirements first!

Choose a theme.

Here are just a handful of theme ideas to inspire your planning:

• • Journey, travel, and adventure
  • Stars, moon, and planets
  • Animals
  • Light and darkness
  • The elements: earth, air, fire, water
  • Peace, unity, and togetherness
  • Music from around the world

Choose an anchor piece.

Use one central piece as your starting point, then design the rest of the program around it. This could be an attention-grabbing opener, a collaboration with other ensembles, a major work, or something epic!

• • Ad Astra (Narverud)
  • It Takes a Village (Szymko)
  • Stand Up from Harriet (arr. Emerson)
  • Sondheim! A Choral Celebration (arr. Huff)
  • Will the Circle Be Unbroken? (arr. Moore)
  • No Time (arr. Brumfield)
  • We Remember Them (LaBarr)
  • We Are Waves (Cordero)
  • Dies Irae from Requiem (Mozart, arr. Liebergen)

Create pairings or sets.

Group complementary repertoire using elements of interest. These pairings could be fast vs. slow, old vs. new, contrasting styles, or a similar text or topic.

Example 1: While these three selections vary in language, cultural context, and style, they are linked by the theme of home and family traditions:

• • No Mirrors in My Nana’s House (Barnwell)
  • Mi Lugar (Cordero)
  • Home (Main)

Example 2: These selections are settings of the same text from different time periods:

• • Alleluia (Sharpe)
  • Alleluia from Un sist ein Kind geboren (arr. Liebergen)
  • Alleluia (Thompson)

Example 3: This pairing features contrasting tempi, style, and accompaniment but share the theme of a metaphoric journey:

• • The Path (Trotta)
  • You Can’t Step Twice (Tate)

Tips and Tricks

Below are suggestions to steer you toward success.

• • Use your students as a resource. Ask them about their concert experiences in previous years, have a class discussion about music preferences, or let them choose a theme. Inviting them into the process (while still maintaining boundaries) is a great way to develop camaraderie in your classroom.
  • Seek out a capable and reliable accompanist from within your district: an advanced piano student, fellow music teacher, or even a parent. Not only will this help stretch your budget, but you will also be able to give the choirs your full attention during performances, helping them develop important musicianship skills like following a conductor.
  • Find out what repertoire each ensemble or class performed last year as well as whether there are any preestablished music traditions to carry forward.
  • Never underestimate the value of unison singing in performance settings!
  • Include other ensembles in your concert, either from your school or throughout the district, to establish both a welcoming and successive school music program. Elementary students look up to high school kids, and high school students love showing off to the younger kids. It’s a win-win!
  • Create interest in your program by choosing a variety of music. Rather than performing three consecutive ballads, choose one ballad and two contrasting selections that will complement, rather than compete with, the others
  • Think of your program as a story – consider the length, how to begin and how to end, the pacing, and the overall experience you’re giving both listeners and singers.
  • Understand that the musical growth of your students should always be your priority. Oftentimes a choir’s best run-throughs happen in the rehearsal room, not the concert hall. Determine what success means to you and your choirs and reinforce your definition in the classroom (and on stage) as often as possible.

Planning a meaningful program for your choirs is a big responsibility and a fun challenge! The path to concert day can be a bumpy road, but the trust built between teacher and students through the learning process is invaluable to your music program. Nothing beats seeing a student love performing a song they claimed to hate on the first day of school, or accomplishment in the eyes of beginners after nailing a piece they struggled for months to learn, or a shy, nervous soprano perform their first solo with confidence. Treasure these special moments, no matter how small, and call on them on days you need a reminder of the impact you have on your students. Although the “perfect” concert program doesn’t exist, one thing is certain: there is no reward greater than the heart-swelling pride you feel as your singers take their last bow.

Ready to get started? Download our free resources! You’ll find both samples and templates of a Concert Planning Working Document, allowing you to keep your repertoire notes and ideas conveniently in one place, as well as a Concert Run-of-Show template, which can be printed for your records or distributed to students and volunteers on concert day.