You’ve got your choir’s sheet music organized and filed away (hopefully by accession number).
You’ve even got a database so you can easily find what you’re looking for.
But how do you know what to look for in the first place, especially if you aren’t familiar with every single piece in your library?
Enter: a choral reference library.
Here’s how it works. First, pull a single copy of every piece the choir owns. Then, group the pieces in magazine files boxes according to parameters that matter to your choir (theme, voicing etc.).
When you get ready to plan, say, all your choir’s Christmas anthems, you just take out the appropriate box and have all your options at hand.
Categories to Use
Here’s some ideas to get started:
- Liturgical Season
- Thanksgiving
- Heaven (including All Souls)
- Holy Spirit
- Easy/Unison
- Children
- Introit
- Benediction
- World Wide Communion
- Peace
- Stewardship
- Renaissance
- Early American
- Obligato instrumental accompaniment
Take Your Choral Reference Library Even Further
I was describing my reference library to my friend Kathy, and she told me she doesn’t stop with a reference library like mine (which she calls a “multiple copy reference library”).
Kathy adds two more: a “single copy reference library” and a library of “larger choral works.”
Her “single copy reference library” includes all pieces where the choir only owns one copy. These single copies are from subscriptions to publishers, and she finds it much easier to look through these copies when selecting new music to buy, rather than looking at it on the computer via a pdf or video.
Her library of “larger choral works” includes scores for longer pieces like Bach Cantatas.
Surprising Benefits of the Storage System
When I started this system, I was thinking of how to help myself get a handle on hundreds of anthems I know only slightly, if at all. (One of the perks of working in a new-to-me church with a substantial music collection!)
But Kathy pointed out another benefit of using this system. Storing your reference library in magazine boxes makes for easy remote working or even quickly moving music from choir room to sanctuary. Just grab the boxes you need and go!
Thanks to Kathy Parkins, Minister of Music at the First Presbyterian Church of Durham, NC, for her input on this article!
