Andrea Ramsey : At the Spring Dawn

Poet Angelina Weld Grimke was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Here she describes the dawning of a new day, a text captured by the composer in colorful and descriptive writing. Scored for marimba (optional piano) and treble voices, this is a beautiful example of word painting as the choir sings, it is good to love, it is good to be alive.

The text for Alterations was written by a former junior high student of the composer. It is optimistic and hopeful and the music reflects this beautifully. It is syncopated and dance-like and full of joy.

The world delights as the long winter turns to spring, new beginnings, and possibilities. The music is full of rhythm and energy, and beautifully reflects this hope and the awakening of spring.

This setting of a profound text by poet William Ayot explores the deep emotions that a person travels in a lifetime. The music depicts our turmoil, vulnerability and sense of inadequacy, but ultimately provides a sense of repose.

With a text taken from a 4th century Latin hymn, this fiery anthem explores the contrast between heaven and hell in a contemporary neoclassical style. An exciting and powerful concert opener, and especially ideal for a reverberant performance space! With opt. string quartet.

This work features the traditional liturgical text from the 14th century and has been set here in a neo-Renaissance style. Ideal for younger and developing mixed choirs, singers will develop the important ensemble skills of intonation, blend and expressiveness. Duration: ca. 3:20

Jointly commissioned by a consortium of choruses to benefit the programs and services of Chorus America. This socially conscience work merges a Christina Rossetti text with words from choir students in Flint, Michigan. This was the personal revelation for the composer that there was something she could do to affect in a positive way the tragedy of the Flint Water Crisis. This is also a vehicle for you and your students to positively affect this tragedy as half of the profits from the sale will go directly to Flint Rising, a coalition of community organizations and allies. There is a QR code in the music for the audience to make a donation and the web site is also included.

Written for men's chorus, this piece was created to teach young men how to sing expressive legato phrases. The text is based on the poemLove by Charles Stuart Calverly, and adapted into a sincere love song for boys to sing. Duration: ca. 4:00.

The Highwomen is a new contry supergroup featuring Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires. With a message for women and young girls to band together, abandon as much ego as humanly possible, hold one another up and amplify other women every chance we get this is a powerful message for your women to sing about and your audiences to hear. This song from their debut album is about looking for a world where everyone is given a chance to fit in. This isn't about leaning in or fighting for the top chair. It's about making room.

Performed By: The Highwomen

This compelling a cappella setting of a poem by Henry van Dyke opens plaintively, then moves into a dance-like tempo leading to the powerful high point where the doors of daring are thrown open before us and the final broadening tempo leading to the closing cadence. A challenging work for advanced choirs. Duration: ca. 3:00.

Arranger: Stan McGill

A colorful text about the sea; sing it in Spanish as preferred by the composer, or use the alternate English version. The composer has given the piece a distinctive Spanish style and dramatically brings the colorful text to life. Conservative ranges and no divisi make this piece accessible to many choirs.

Three short musical pictures charmingly capture aspects of nature at a river: a spider web in the morning, playful children at a rope swing, and buzzing dragonflies. With piano.

This delightful children's piece uses a text that suggests that as grows a tree, so do we.

Voicing: SS | Sheet Music | $1.95 |
(Minimum order 4 copies) | SBMP1170

With a text taken from a traditional Ghanian fisherman's prayer, this original work is full of space and freedom, with syncopated melodic lines and a soulfulness that will bring a creative and joyful atmosphere to honor choirs, concert and festival occasions. Djembe and shaker parts provided, but improvisation and additional percussion are encouraged.

Country: Ghana

This serene setting of the traditional French carol for voices, keyboard and flute will be an excellent processional or combined number for Christmas concerts. Each verse has a special flavor leading to the final stanza with its glorious descant and concluding Hallelujah, amen.

The eloquent text by Charles Anthony Silvestri serves as the driving force of this work. It addresses the beauty all around us that we often fail to notice - those glimpses of heaven right here on earth. A perfect selection for a children's or youth treble choir, with piano and cello accompaniment. Written mainly for two-parts with limited divisi passages. Duration: 4:45.

The composer has beautifully and sensitively set an English translation of a poignant text by Spanish poet Antonio Machado. A dramatic and elegant piano accompaniment lends great support to this delightful piece.

This setting of an anonymous 15th century text mixes polyphony with homophonic writing, offering broad contrasts in dynamics and range/tessitura that are appropriate for high school and festival choirs. The text offers deep meaning that will draw your singers in and resonate profoundly with them.

Considered the anthem of the American West, this a cappella arrangement will show off your choirs tuning and blend, with unison lines blossoming into full harmonies for an accessible and impressive choral showcase.

Composer: Daniel E. Kelley

The poem challenges us to "love life for its own sake." This charming piece has appeal for both the young and the old in its beautiful vocal lines, which are supported by a rich, flowing accompaniment.

A strong statement of faith by poet Emily Bronte comes to majestic life with a vibrant piano accompaniment providing the backbone for this elegant choral rendition. The piece is framed by a dramatic opening that is echoed and enhanced at the powerful ending, with delicate, expressive moments closely tied to the meaning of the text forming the middle. Large choirs will especially enjoy this dramatic piece.

Poetry By: Emily Bronte

Voicing: SATB | Sheet Music | $2.10 | With Piano |
(Minimum order 4 copies) | SBMP1040
Other Voicings: TTBB, SSAA

Andrea Ramsey brings to life Paul Fleischman's highly creative poem of cicadas singing, humming, buzzing, droning, booming, and sending forth their joyful noise in this playful arrangement. Clever and fun, this piece is a true delight that will brighten any program.

Commissioned by a consortium to celebrate the life and contributions to the arts of Dr. Susan Wharton Conkling, this music is written to be performed by either an SSA choir or an SSATB choir. The tenor and bass parts are optional. This is a work that should dance and not stomp. It is a celebration from beginning to end.

This original, evocative work is a fine and accessible choice for high school and beyond. The powerful experiences of the poet, while singing in her high school choir, inspired the composer of this piece. The accents and shifting pulse of the music describe the "luminescence",Ê light, music, human beings, and the joys of singing together. Duration: ca. 5:00. SSAATTBB A CAPPELLA

Arranger: Blaire Ginsburg

From its gentle opening of graceful simplicity, this expressive setting of a 19th century text gradually builds into an outpouring of hopefulness and comfort. Stunning!

Elizabeth Browning's poem credits the beauty of nature with chasing away our ills, This happy, sprightly piece would be a delight in a spring program.

These a cappella psalm settings capture two juxtaposed ideas of worship: collective, celebratory praise, which is portrayed in Praise Him, and the reverence of quiet solace and individual contemplation in Be Still. Duration: ca. 5:40.

Alternating chant style with up-tempo, rhythmic sections, this piece, written for the Allegro Community Children's Choirs of the greater Kansas City area, is an ideal work for combining choruses of varied levels. Duration: ca. 4:50. Performed by Allegro Community Children's Choir of the Greater Kansas City area, Christy Elsner, conductor.

British singer/songwriter Laura Mvula has crafted a song portraying the cycle of life of a female and the accompanying questions, emotions, and feelings of desperation. These emotions are captured beautifully in this arrangement for women's voices. The pop style is strong and free and a wonderful opportunity for your women's choirs to connect to these important lyrics in an arrangement that never gets in the way of the powerful emotions.

Composer: Steve Brown

Weaving choral textures and warm harmonies evoke the gentle undulation of the river in this sensitive a cappella setting. Accessible for developing choirs, this work will provide wonderful opportunities for developing important choral skills. Duration: ca. 3:00

Country: American Folk | TV/Movie: Casablanca

The first release of the Andrea Ramsey Choral Series is an amazingly beautiful piece by Stuart Chapman Hill. The text (by the composer) is thought provoking and perfect for women's choir in high school and up. The ranges are appropriate, the piano is supportive but independent.

An uplifting text is set to charming music in this wonderful piece with melodic interest in all parts and conservative ranges. Ramsey's sensitive and skillful writing makes for tender moments that truly evoke the meaning of the text.

Voicing: SA | Sheet Music | $1.95 |
(Minimum order 4 copies) | SBMP1003

An uplifting text is set to charming music in this wonderful piece with melodic interest in all parts and conservative ranges. Ramsey's sensitive and skillful writing makes for tender moments that truly evoke the meaning of the text.

Commissioned by the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club here is a passionate tour de force for advanced men's choirs. Full of rubato and with a text that is powerful while at the same time sensitive this is a wonderful addition to the collegiate repertoire.

From The Civil War by Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy, this dramatic song brings the reality of war into strikingly personal terms as a young soldier sings of his father and his own mortality. A powerful choice for men's chorus! With violin. Available: TTB. Duration: ca. 3:53.

Composer: Frank Wildhorn | Lyricist: Jack Murphy | Musical: The Civil War: An American Musical

Setting a prose text penned by Helen Keller, composer and conductor Andrea Ramsey has created a sensitive yet powerful new work that explores the theme All that we love deeply becomes part of us. Duration: ca. 3 minutes 20 seconds.

This delightful set of two Ogden Nash poems tells the story of the remarkable Isabel and her adventures. Excellent performance repertoire for younger choirs, your singers will display diction, dynamic contrast and rhythmic precision with these clever and humorous works! Includes Isabel and the Bear, Isabel and the Doctor. Includes oboe and bassoon parts. Duration: ca. 3:00.

Poetry By: Ogden Nash

With a poetic text written by a young poet, this work perfectly captures the vulnerability of growing up, with beautiful imagery of a roof as steady, sheltering, inclusive and warm - things all people need, but especially the young. With rich harmonies, arching phrases and violin obbligato, this is a stunning work for concert and festival programming.

Madeline L'Engle's The Sky Is Strung with Glory, an excerpt from her poem Instruments (1), is rich in evocative imagery that ties celestial elements to musical experiences. Set for treble chorus and four-hand piano, the work represents the grand scale of the glory of the heavens. A great addition to festival choir repertoire or for any concert celebrating the awe and wonder of music. Duration: ca. 3:15

The text comes to spirited life as this gospel-style setting lauds the value of a song to improve the quality of our lives. Chord symbols are included for the addition of instruments or improvisation by the accompanist. This is a song that needs to be sung!

Voicing: SA | Sheet Music | $1.95 |
(Minimum order 4 copies) | SBMP963
Other Voicings: SATB

This favorite hymn has been tastefully arranged for 4-part women's a cappella voices. Singers will enjoy the interesting lines, and listeners will celebrate a new arrangement of this classic hymn. Available: SSAA a cappella.

A delightfully provocative piece for children, Andrea Ramsey has created a masterful setting of this text by Mark Twain. The music changes with each short section, moving from ragtime to a waltz and finally to the blues. Great fun for all!

Voicing: SA | Sheet Music | $1.95 |
(Minimum order 4 copies) | SBMP892

Adapted from the writings of Helen Keller, Andrea Ramsey drafted a wonderful piece of hope for The Arkansas Tech University Concert Chorale. Describing the text in music ranges from haunting passages of darkness to rhythmically vibrant awakenings of understanding and light. Although destined for the concert halls of high school and college choirs, a good church choir would find it fitting in worship as well.

A sensitive setting of the Robert Herrick poem. The artistic melodic and harmonic treatment, with very little divisi, this piece can serve the interests of many choirs.

Dramatic, profoundly moving, and with text from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," this work is an outstanding piece for the large choir. Organ and timpani provide color and excitement. At six and a half minutes in length, this would make a fine closer or centerpiece for any concert.

1. "Mangwani mpulele" is a Sotho folk song of the Bantu people in South Africa, Lesotho, and Botswana. It was made popular in the United States by The Kingston Trio, a prominent part of the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. One rendering of the text into English has:Aunt, open the door for me. I am getting wet with rain. Whether it's here or whether it's there, I am getting wet with rain.2. "Ise oluwa" is a well-known Yoruba (Nigerian) Christian song that was made widely popular by the African American singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock. It was first arranged (or perhaps composed) by Thomas Ekundayo Phillips (1884-1969), the "father" of Nigerian church music, when he was organist and choir director at the Anglican cathedral in Lagos, Nigeria. The translation of the text is: The works of God cannot be undone.Improvised percussion should be played throughout both songs, intensifying where percussion "fills" are indicated. Appropriate instruments include: djembe (or low-soundi

With vocal sounds evoking the rushing wind, this setting of the 13th century Latin sequence moves into an opening chant over djembe accompaniment. Expansive phrases transition into a driving accelerando of vocal clusters and finally a broad and spacious ending with the repeated word spiritus, and the sounds of the swirling wind. An ideal opening selection or processional!

Poet Charles Anthony Silvestri created an intriguing poem for the composer about the "Voices of light." To be sung in Latin, "Voces Lucis" contains a beautiful choral melody that develops into an interwoven tapestry involving the four voice parts. The texture is made special by the cello countermelodies and the artistic piano accompaniment. With no divisi, this elegant piece will appeal to many choirs.

Composer Andrea Ramsey brings her magic touch to this special text about the glories of a song as it soars all the way to heaven. Melodic in all three voice parts, this selection is a piece that singers will love to sing. The artistically rendered piano accompaniment lends special support to the voices.

Voicing: SSA | Sheet Music | $2.10 | With Piano |
(Minimum order 4 copies) | SBMP1027