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…)
Despite the challenges of this year, we were able to prepare 9 pieces for a performance on June 4. It took all year, between quarantines, remote rehearsals, rescheduled athletic seasons, and everything else this school year threw at us, but we did it. With an almost entirely new group (we graduated 11 last year) I focused a lot on the “Aces Standards” repertoire, which will pay dividends down the road.
I’ve provided links to audio/video and the publisher information wherever available.
Bright Lights, Bigger City / Magic (From Pitch Perfect, Arr. Deke Sharon)
Intermediate. Epic pop medley. We’ve done this a couple years in a row and I’m probably not going to program it next year, because while it’s listed as TTBB, the tessitura for the parts is really more like ATTB. It’s hard, physically, to sing, especially for the baritones and tenor 2s.
* Brothers, Sing On (Edvard Grieg, Arr. Howard D. McKinney)
Intermediate. A classic in the TTBB world, but new to the Aces. Powerful and stirring.
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.
Let The Bullgine Run (Sea Shanty, Arr. Alice Parker)
I love this clever, intricate setting of a Sea Shanty – it’s just classic Alice Parker writing. It proved to be a little to intricate for the Aces to hold onto in a pandemic year, so we ended up not performing it this year. I’m hoping to get a recording of it for the next Aces album, though!
The Longest Time (Billy Joel, Arr. Roger Emerson)
Intermediate. The Aces sing this faithful transcription every year.
The Office Theme – MANUSCRIPT
The Aces t-shirt for the year was Office themed, so naturally we had to put together a little version of it to sing.
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. The 3-part horn line that opens “You Can Call Me Al” is our standard sound check phrase.
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.
Two Coins (Dispatch)
An Aces standards, always well-loved. It showed up in our Virtual Aces Concert.
Wellerman (Sea Shanty)
When TikTok went wild with duets of this Sea Shanty, I did a lift and taught it by rote to the Aces. They had a lot of fun singing it, and its strophic nature made it pretty easy to learn.
Christmas Medley – (Various, Arr. Richard Gregory) – MANUSCRIPT
Advanced. An arrangement I wish I had written. Our one virtual choir performance of the year: