Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective introduces the little-known traditions and repertoires of the world’s choral diversity, from prison choirs in Thailand and gay and lesbian choruses of the Western world to community choruses in the Middle East and youth choirs in the United States. The book weaves together the stories of diverse individuals and organizations, examining their music and pedagogical practices while presenting the author’s research on how choral cultures around the world interact with societies and transform the lives of their members.
Through an engaging series of portraits that pushes beyond the scope of extant texts and studies, the author explores the dynamic realm of world choral activity and repertoire. These personal portraits of musical communities are enriched by sample repertoire lists, performance details, and research findings that reposition a once Western phenomenon as a global concept. Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective is an accessible, engaging, and provocative study of one of the world’s most ubiquitous and socially significant forms of music-making.
List of Figures / List of Videos/ Series Foreword / Preface / Acknowledgments PART I The Chorus: Traditions, Evolutions, and a New Perspective / 1 The Book, its Context, the Author / 2 The Chorus: Then and Now / 3 Sketching a "New Normal" / PART II Choirs in Context / 4 Indonesia: The Choral Explosion / 5 The Arab World (Levant) and Israel: Choral Fractures and Bridges / 6 Campus Voices / 7 Not Society’s Trash: The Incarcerated Voice / PART III Focusing in on Choruses / 8 Choirs in Global Engagement and the Manado State University Choir / 9 Out and About and In Between: Identity and Orientation in Gender, Sexuality, and Choral Music / 10 Claiming Voice, Ending Silence: Women in Choral Leadership / 11 Doing Something Good After School: The Young People’s Chorus of New York City / Afterword and Afterward / Glossary / Index
Biography
André de Quadros is Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Education Department at Boston University, where he holds affiliations in African, Asian, and Muslim studies, and prison education.
