Finding songs for the new choir season

• Posted by Chris Rowbury December 24, 2025 - Filed in Choir Post - 590 views

  [The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from almost 30 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions across the globe. Your experiences may differ from mine, so do feel free to leave a comment and let's begin a conversation! A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]

   

  A new season kicks off for many choirs in a the next few weeks. I don’t know about you, but I always seem to leave it to the last minute to find new repertoire for my choir!

   

  

   

  Here are some ideas for finding new material for your next choir season.
  
  There are lots of things to consider when planning for a new choir season before you decide on which songs to look for. Here are some things to consider, many of them refer back to previous posts of mine: just click on the blue link.
  
  

   

  planning for the new season

  You’ll need to make a plan.
  
  Planning for a new choir season
  
  You might:

  • have a concert coming up — Choosing the right songs for a concert
  • decide on a theme for the whole season — it’s Christmas soon!
  • choose to revive and work on your back catalogue — 10 ways to breathe new life into old songs
  • take the opportunity to get your choir out of a rut — Re-booting your choir: shaking things up for a new season

   

   

  don’t always chase the new

  It’s easy to forget that singers come to choir to sing! Don’t feel obliged to keep introducing new material as most choir members will be more than happy to sing the old songs:
  
  Less is more: don’t feel you have to teach or learn new songs all the time
  
  If you’re worried about your older repertoire becoming stale, there are ways to keep them alive:
  
  How to keep the old songs in your repertoire from going stale
  
  If you take on new recruits at the beginning of a season, then the old songs won’t be familiar to them. You’ll have to find a way of getting the new singers up to speed:
  
  Helping new choir members learn the old songs
  
  

   

  choosing new songs

  There are several things to consider when deciding on new songs:

  • what voice parts do you have in your choir? — not only that, but what kind of range do your singers have? Fit the song arrangement to your singers and not the other way round
  • what level of songs are you considering? — Easy songs for your choir 1: what is ‘easy’?
  • do you want to try a new and unfamiliar genre? — Using world songs in the classroom: a teacher’s guide to sourcing songs and how to teach them
  • fancy having a go at arranging songs yourself? — Arranging songs for your choir

   

   

  where to find new songs

  Having decided on which songs you’re looking for, how do you actually find them?
  
  Where do you find all your songs?
  
  Finding songs for your choir
  
  Songbooks and other resources for choirs
  
  Buy my song arrangements for your choir
  
  Easy songs for your choir 2: rounds, chants, call & response
  
  I do hope this has helped a little. Do let me know if you have other ideas for how to find songs for the new choir season. And good luck with it all!!

   

   

   

   

   

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  Chris Rowbury

  website: chrisrowbury.com
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