2023 Voices of Distinction

Christopher Tin is a two-time Grammy-winning composer of concert and media music. His song “Baba Yetu”, originally written for the video game Civilization IV, is a modern choral standard, and the first piece of music written for a video game ever to win a Grammy Award.

Eugene Rogers is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and  artistic director of the Washington chorus and orchestra in Washington D.C. He serves as the National Chair of Diversity for ACDA and is artistic director of the EXIGENCE choir. This series began as a series for upper level men only. More recently it has expanded into repertoire for all singers at an upper level.

A second series curated by Eugene Rogers, the music in this series is written by Black or Latinx  composers. It is primarily non-idiomatic and intended for the concert stage.

The King’s Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world’s greatest stages for over fifty years. The King’s Singers were formed in 1968, when six recent choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge gave a concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. By chance, the group was made up of two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the group has maintained this formation ever since that debut.

Judith Clurman has been music director for Sesame Street and the Leonard Bernstein family concerts. She was the Director of Choral Activities at the Juilliard Conservatory and she has been musical director for many Broadway composers. She is currently on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, Associate conductor of the New York Pops orchestra and prepares choirs for The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades. Her choral series is designed for good high school and developing collegiate and community choral programs.

Here is a second series curated by Judith Clurman. Her passion to bring Jewish music to the concert stage through her “Rejoice: Honoring the Jewish Spirit” has been an inspiration to countless choirs and directors. The music in this series is selected for early college and good community choirs.

Richard Bjella has long been admired for his musical sensibilities and skill as a conductor. As a busy festival conductor he felt a need for input into the repertoire available for singers aspiring to grow during these special, large group experiences. His new series addresses this need and is especially suitable for colleges and good community groups.

Andrea Ramsey is one of America’s leading composers and arrangers of music for singers of every level. Along with her understanding of the voice, Andrea strives to include texts that are socially relevant and speaks to singers in meaningful ways. The music included in this series is for high school singers.

Jacob Narverud is an American Composer, Arranger, and Conductor. Dr. Narverud is an active guest Conductor/Clinician for choral festivals and all-state choirs across the country and is the Founder/Artistic Director of the Tallgrass Chamber Choir, a professional ensemble comprised of musicians from across the great plains. As a sought-after composer, Narverud has been commissioned to write new works for a variety of choral ensembles and organizations. Many of his Editors’ Choice compositions are publisher best sellers and are performed worldwide by choirs of all levels.

Carrie Tennant is the artistic director of the Vancouver Youth Choir. Carrie and her singers were a sensation at the ACDA National Conference in Kansas City. Those in attendance, along with the hundreds of thousands who follow the choir on social media, have sought the “out of the box” repertoire that is regularly performed by this ensemble. The music selected is for community youth choirs from easy unison through high school.

Jonathan Palant is Associate

Dean of the Arts and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is founder and conductor of the Credo Community Choir and the Dallas Street Choir, a musical outlet for those affected by homelessness. Recently, Musical America named him one of their “innovators of the Year” for his work. Jonathan’s initial publication with Hal Leonard was his book “Brother, Sing On! Conducting the Tenor Bass Choir”. This led us to start a series dedicated to young men. Since then, as Jonathan’s profile has expanded nationally and internationally, so has his series and now contains music for mixed voices as well as for young men.

Rollo Dilworth has been writing and arranging choral music since he was a student in Chicago, and he has now been a part of the Hal Leonard family for more than 20 years. He has been a guest conductor and clinician in nearly every state in America and around the world. And his work at Temple University is preparing students to be successful as teachers. His music is always focused on making teachers and students successful at every level. The music selected is for upper high school and allconference/all-state choirs.

For 18 years Philip Lawson was a touring member of the world famous King’s Singers, and was for most of that time their principal arranger. Having replaced founder-member Simon Carrington in 1993, he performed more than 2,000 concerts with the group and appeared on many CDs, DVDs and on radio and TV programs worldwide. He now has a writing and consultancy contract with Hal Leonard for whom he holds the title of European Choral Ambassador. Philip has over 200 published arrangements and compositions, and leads regular choral workshops in Europe and the USA. He is on the staff of Wells Cathedral School, Salisbury Cathedral School and the University of Bristol as a vocal teacher and is also Musical Director of The Romsey Singers.

Craig Hella Johnson is often referred to as “America’s Renaissance Man.” As pianist, singer, composer, conductor of Conspirare and TED talk presenter, Craig brings a broad set of skills to his important series designed for upper level high school singers and above.

For every music educator, from pre-school through post graduate, we know the opportunity to develop the whole person is right in front of us each and every day. The Hal Leonard Voices In Harmony choral series is designed to offer resources to help you do just that. Detailed lesson plans that are appropriate for all levels. SEL competencies and their intersections with arts education standards are explained and outlined for easy access. Videos from the composers are included on the Hal Leonard web site to give insight into both the music and the lyrics and how everything intersects with the students as they develop their whole person. A QR code taking teachers and students directly to the resources is included in every octavo.

Engaging in Social Emotional teaching and learning will help to develop the students musically, socially, and emotionally. Hal Leonard is here to assist you in reaching your goals. This series is focused on music for the classroom—elementary through easy high school.

The name SAM-Klang takes the three voice parts from the arrangements – Soprano, Alto and Men – and combines it with the Scandinavian and German words for “sound” to create the portmanteau word “sound together” or “harmony.” The series offers basic and advanced choral repertoire. In addition to new repertoire and new arrangements, you will also find essential parts of the classical German, Scandinavian, French and English SATB repertoire, carefully and considerately reworked for SAM. The arrangements retain the characteristic features of the original movements and have almost the same richness of timbre, resulting in works which sound nearly unchanged to an audience. Piano reductions of all choral movements facilitate rehearsal preparation. The arrangements offer development opportunities for all voice sections, bringing new life and new quality to SAM choir work. SAM-Klang enables youth choirs to gain access to classical choral literature and ensures that mixed choirs who face challenges in finding singers for all male voice parts continue to have access to wellloved repertoire.