The art of music selection

Broadway, baseball, and jazz.  Three truly American pursuits.  Just like jazz and baseball, Broadway musicals have expanded and flourished beyond American borders and are now some of the most beloved works of art around the world. ​

There have been millions of songs from tens of thousands of musicals written over the last 100 years of Broadway, so planning a Broadway concert always presents a special challenge.  Since this is a choral concert, I tried to pick songs that were originally composed as ensemble pieces.  Many of the works you are going to hear in this concert will be presented almost exactly how they were written for their Broadway shows. 

As I often try to do in my concert planning, I wanted to choose some works that were lesser known, along with some smash hits.  Some of the best Broadway songs are from shows that never became household names, and I am excited to share several of these selections with our audience. In my opinion, wonderfully composed Broadway music can stand side by side with the great music from any genre.   

I very much enjoyed the challenge of choosing works that featured choral singing as well as soloists.  We are going to be joined by two excellent soloists, Alan Naylor and Kelly Curtin, and I wanted to make sure that they had prominent roles in this concert, while still making sure that, at its core, this really is a choral concert.  I will blog more in the future about some of the specific selections that we will be performing.  Stay tuned.

Jeff Dokken

CoroAllegro Artistic Director