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Abstract
The selection of choral repertoire, one of the most important activities that choral music directors engage in each year, is a time-intensive process that involves many discrete factors. The music education profession in the United States recognizes the importance of repertoire selection in the National Standards by calling for teachers to present a varied repertoire of music. To assist in selection, various types of repertoire lists have been created. Many of these are related to festivals and performance evaluations, and provide only basic information. Workshops often provide reading sessions for new music, but these often focus on the latest releases rather than an inclusive and varied repertoire as suggested in the Standards. One promising source for diverse repertoire is the music chosen for All State Choruses. All State clinicians are widely respected not only for their conducting expertise but also for their knowledge of the literature and their ability to choose music appropriate to the group. The purpose of this study was to examine trends and preferences in high school choral music repertoire in the United States, as identified by All State conductors, and to use this information to create an updated listing of recommended repertoire. All choral pieces chosen for advanced mixed choruses at All State events during the 2015-2016 school year were examined. Analysis indicated a significant preference for music from the Modern period (1900-present) compared to all other accepted style periods. As a model, an annotated repertoire list was constructed based on the selections that were performed more than once at the 2015-2016 All State choral events. The repertoire list may serve as resources for teachers, All State conductors, professors who train pre-service teachers, and other researchers. Further research beyond this study should be done to compare other years to the 2015-2016 school year, especially regarding the style preferences of those who select repertoire for such events.