The Aces endeavor to sing in as many musical styles as possible each year, with no discrimination except quality of music. In that spirit, the entire list is organized alphabetically, as in our folders (except music for December, which goes at the end…) We had around twenty 2-hour rehearsals this year, plus a weekend retreat, for a total of about 50 hours of singing. They had an additional 20-ish one-hour sectionals on their own.
Obviously our year was massively abbreviated – we didn’t get to do our traditional 2+ hour concert, didn’t have our annual RAMChoir open TTBB sing, didn’t perform with TTBB choirs across Michigan at the IMC Seminar, and aren’t currently touring Europe with the EuroAces. That said, we did make some marvelous music together, culminating in recording four separate pieces for a Virtual Concert on the scheduled date of our spring concert.
I’ve provided links to audio/video and the publisher information wherever available.
(* = unperformed)
* The Boy Who Picked Up His Feet To Fly (Joshua Shank/Mark Robinson)
Intermediate. Lyrical, beautiful, and a little bit quirky. It would have been fun to perform this with the 100+ voice Michigan Brothers in Song at the Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses Seminar in March.
Bright Lights, Bigger City / Magic (From Pitch Perfect, Arr. Deke Sharon)
Intermediate. Epic pop medley. This is the piece my students selected, purchased, learned, choreographed, and performed as a surprise to me on our final concert. It will appear on our next album.
* Brothers, Sing On (Edvard Grieg, Arr. Howard D. McKinney)
Intermediate. A classic in the TTBB world, but new to the Aces. Powerful and stirring. Also part of our “Brothers in Song” repertoire.
Dynamite (Taio Cruz et. al., MANUSCRIPT)
Intermediate. When the Aces started singing this, it was the song. Soon after, it was the song that elementary students would sing along with us. Now, those elementary students are in the Aces.
* Fionnghuala (Michael McGlynn)
Advanced. We learned this for State Solo & Ensemble, and also performed it in our opening set for The Real Group in April. It’s in Scottish Gaelic, with a very fast and very intricate choral part punctuated by even faster solos. It will appear on our next album, due out any day.
Get Ready (The Temptations, Arr. Jed Scott) – MANUSCRIPT
Primary. It has everything I love for an easy-to-learn pop song: it’s repetitive, high energy, rhythmically interesting, and fun to sing.
Good Old A Cappella (Carter & Nevada, Arr. Sharon & Raugh)
Primary. This is an Aces standard – we learn it most years. It’s fun, and is certainly an anthem among the a cappella pop set. Deke Sharon’s arrangement is a workhorse – straightforward, easy to learn, and functional.
Help! (Lennon/McCartney, Arr. Jed Scott) – MANUSCRIPT
Intermediate. Always good to have some Beatles in the repertoire.
Hallelujah For The Day (Andrea Ramsey)
Intermediate. Some of the Aces remembered singing this with RAMChoir a few years ago, and requested we bring it back. They all loved it, and voted it as the piece from our classical rep they wanted to perform in our Virtual Aces Concert.
I Can’ Tarry (Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Stacey V. Gibbs)
Advanced. I commissioned this piece from Maestro Gibbs as part of the Michigan Choral Commission Consortium, and was thrilled to be able to perform it with the Aces this year, as well as with Michigan Brothers in Song. I’m hoping that it will be published soon.
In The Still Of The Night (Fred Parris, Arr. Ed Lojeski) Primary/Intermediate. An a cappella standard. We usually take this down a half-step to E from the original key of F. It makes it more accessible for baritone soloists, less rangy for the tenor 1s, and is just generally a slightly brighter key to match the song.
* The Last Words of David (Randall Thompson)
Intermediate. Another absolute TTBB classic that I had never done with a group. The Aces were challenged by its tricky spots, but would have enjoyed singing it with the Brothers in Song choir.
The Longest Time (Billy Joel, Arr. Roger Emerson)
Intermediate. The Aces sing this faithful transcription every year.
* Loveliest of Trees (Jeremy Fox) – MANUSCRIPT
Advanced. We repeated this gorgeous piece the Aces commissioned last year, specifically to take to Europe and perform it in the “Musica Contemporanea” category at the World Choir Games. I love it so, so much, and several Aces listed it as their favorite Aces piece of all time.
* Now Is The Month of Maying (Thomas Morley)
Intermediate. We were performing this in the original SSATB voicing, learning about countertenor singing and Renaissance music. Wish we’d been able to bring it to State Solo & Ensemble!
Paul Simon Medley (Paul Simon, Arr. Jed Scott) – MANUSCRIPT
Primary. Only a few measures of music to learn for each of the songs in the medley – Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes and You Can Call Me Al.
* Pirate Song (Tim Y. Jones)
Intermediate. Funny, silly, and cleverly done. A parody of pirate songs for the contemporary audience. We would have sung this with the Brothers in Song.
Stand By Me – (Ben E. King, Arr. Jed Scott) – MANUSCRIPT
Intermediate. We always close our concerts with this Ben E. King standard, with our alums joining us onstage.
Star Wars Medley (Moosebutter)
If there’s Star Wars premiere in the works, we’ll be singing this classic mashup of John Williams tunes and Star Wars lines.
Take Me Home, Country Roads – (John Denver, Arr. Jed Scott)
Intermediate. I only recently learned just how ubiquitous this song is among our high school students! So I wasted not time in preparing this arrangement for them to perform. It was a hit every time we sang it. It will appear on our next album.
Tantsulaul (Veljo Tormis)
I had been wanting to tackle one or two of Tormis’ ten-movement set of TTBB songs, and the Michigan Brothers in Song was the perfect opportunity. This “flat-footed waltz” is fun to sing, silly, and really clever.
* Trashin’ The Camp (Phil Collins, Arr. Moses Hogan)
There is a sparse piano part, but this can be done a cappella, with beat boxing, drumming, or any number of other ways. This great tune from Disney’s Tarzan is FUN to sing!
Two Coins (Dispatch)
An Aces standards, always well-loved. It showed up in our Virtual Aces Concert.
Christmas Medley – (Various, Arr. Richard Gregory) [Video] – MANUSCRIPT
Advanced. An arrangement I wish I had written.
Silver Bells (Arr. Jed Scott) – MANUSCRIPT
Intermediate. A classic song to deliver with absolute sincerity.
This Christmas (Donny Hathaway & Nadine McKinnor, Arr. Paul Langford)
Intermediate. So much to learn and enjoy in this grooving Christmas classic, and Paul Langford’s great arrangement.