Resources for Singers, Voice Teachers, Choir Directors
The following sites offer resources for singers, voice teachers, choral conductors, and opera lovers. For vocal health guidelines, see the Wellness page and Chapter 13 of The Musician’s Way. Career links are posted on the Music Careers page.
Warm-Ups for Singers
The Total Warm-up. An inclusive approach from The Musician’s Way Blog.
Fit to Sing. A fact sheet from the British Assoc. of Performing Arts Medicine.
Dr. Ingo Titze’s Top Five Warm-ups for Singers. Journal of Singing, 57/3, 2001.
The Choral Warm-Up Collection, by Sally Albrecht (Alfred, 2003). “167 favorite warm-ups contributed by 51 choral directors.”
Influence of warmup on singing voice quality. The beneficial effects of vocal warm-ups (Journal of Voice, 19/2, 2005).
“Hydration and Vocal Health,” by Gerald Klickstein.
More vocal health resources on the Wellness page at MusiciansWay.com.
Opera Resources
Free opera scores from the IMSLP.
Online Music Scores. Links posted on the MW Practice page.
Opera scores from the Indiana University Library.
Univ. of N. Texas Rare Music Room. 18th-cen. French opera manuscripts.
Musical Theater Scores | Opera Scores | via Amazon.com.
The Oxford Handbook of Opera, Helen Greenwald, Editor (Oxford, 2014), 1218 pages.
What the Fach?! A Guide for Opera Singers Auditioning & Working in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (2010), by Philip Shepard.
The Aria Database, maintained by Robert Glaubitz.
Libretti d’opera italiani.
200 Opera Plots. Free ebook by Gladys Davidson (1911).
Operavision. Free live & recorded European opera performances.
Opera America | Opera America Educator Resources.
National Opera Association.
Opera Today. “Opera news, commentary, and reviews.”
Opera News. A publication of the Metropolitan Opera Guild.
Opera Magazine. Publishing in Britain since 1950.
Operabase. Info about performances, artists, managers, companies.
YapTracker. Find and track opera auditions. $59/year.
Music Career Resources via MusiciansWay.com.
Choral Resources
Choral Scores
Free choral scores from the IMSLP.
ChoralWiki. The Choral Public Domain Library.
Musica International. “The Virtual Choral Library.”
See the Practice page for more links to scores.
Choral Organizations
American Choral Directors Association.
ChoralNet.org | Chorus America.
Choristers Guild FAQ. Tips for leaders of children’s choirs.
British Choirs on the Net.
Vocal Area Network. New York City area.
Books for Choir Directors
Choral Repertoire, by Dennis Shrock (Oxford, 2009; 800 pages).
Choral Scores, by Dennis Shrock (Oxford, 2015; 1016-page anthology).
A Conductor’s Guide to Choral/Orchestral Repertoire, by Dennis Shrock (GIA, 2016; 336 pages).
The Choral Warm-Up Collection, by Sally Albrecht (Alfred, 2003). “167 favorite warm-ups contributed by 51 choral directors.”
Art & Science in the Choral Rehearsal, by Sharon J. Paul (Oxford, 2020).
Prescriptions for Choral Excellence, by Emmons & Chase (Oxford, 2006).
Choral Pedagogy and the Older Singer, by Smith & Sataloff (Plural, 2012).
Articles for Choir Directors
“Benefits of choral singing for social and mental wellbeing.” By Livesey, Morrison, Clift and Camic (Journal of Public Mental Health, 2012).
“Why I joined a choir (and why it’s the best),” The Globe and Mail (2014)
“An Investigation into the Choral Singer’s Experience of Music Performance Anxiety,” by Ryan and Andrews (JRME, 57/2, 2009).
- See the Performance page for more performance anxiety resources.
General Resources for Singers
Free scores from the IMSLP.
ArtSongCentral.com. “Free sheet music for singers and voice teachers.”
Online Music Scores. Links to diverse resources via MusiciansWay.com.
Vocal Music Scores | Musical Theater Scores | Opera Scores | via Amazon.com
Online scores – songs. From the Indiana University Library.
The Aria Database.
LiederNet Archive. Texts and translations.
Oxford Song Database.
Master Singers: Advice from the Stage, by D. George & L. Mauro (Oxford, 2015).
A Handbook of Diction for Singers: Italian, German, French, by David Adams, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 2007).
National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Resources & articles.
Find a voice teacher in the U.S. & Canada, courtesy of NATS.
Hydration & Vocal Health | 10 Warning Signs of Vocal Trouble – Articles by Gerald Klickstein.
SingWise.com. Technique tips by Karyn O’Connor.
Articles for Singers, from Vocal Process.
Classical Singer magazine. Articles, links, resources, tips, forums.
Vocal repertoire compiled by Thea van der Putten, with links to fact sheets.
Books for Singers
The Musician’s Way, by Gerald Klickstein (Oxford, 2009; 19th printing, 2023; 350 pages). Comprehensive guidelines to learn, memorize, and perform songs as well as build a career.
On the Art of Singing and other books by voice teacher Richard Miller.
Singing and Teaching Singing, by Janice Chapman (3rd edition, 2016)
Vocal Repertoire for the 21st Century, Vol. 1, by Jane Manning (Oxford, 2020)
The 21st-Century Singer: Making the Leap from the University into the World, by Susan Mohini Kane (Oxford, 2015).
The Owner’s Manual to the Voice, by Rachael Gates (Oxford, 2013).
A Soprano On Her Head, by Eloise Ristad (Real People Press, 1981).
The Ultimate Guide to Singing. Advice from 136 experts, including Gerald Klickstein (TC-Helicon, 2014; 420 pages).
Researching the Song, by Emmons & Lewis (Oxford, 2006).