Quality Repertoire for Small Choirs and Small Budgets

Ryan Kelly

Monday, June 20, 9 AM

The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a treasure trove of free music, much of it suitable for small church choirs. With over 20,000 scores, however, it can be daunting to find the right music in quality editions. Dr. Ryan Kelly will identify outstanding free repertoire, past and present, that works well for small choirs and will demonstrate how to easily modify online scores to meet the needs of your ensemble. Part 1 will discuss how to identify quality, singer-friendly editions of choral music on CPDL and will demonstrate how to easily edit and adapt these digital scores so they are tailor-made for your choir’s needs. Part 2 will highlight quality, captivating, and lesser known sacred music from CPDL, for both ordinary and festival service use, that can be effectively and authentically performed by small to medium-sized choirs. Attendees can expect to do some sight-singing! All attendees will receive an annotated repertoire list of recommended excerpts for church performance.

Ryan Kelly is Associate Director of Choral Activities at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. His D.M.A. in choral conducting is from Michigan State University; he also has degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Houston Baptist University. He is a nationally active conductor, lecturer, and clinician with numerous appearances at ACDA, NAfME, and AGO conferences. He has a critical edition published with Carus-Verlag, articles in Choral Journal, compositions with Augsburg Fortress, and Handel’s Messiah: Warm-ups for Successful Performance published by Hal Leonard with co-author Jason D. Paulk. He is also organist at Proclamation Presbyterian Church in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.