Summer Reading List
An offering of summer reading suggestions for choir directors. Drawn from our Music Education and Sacred divisions, these selections cover topics like conducting, theology, hymnody, and creativity.
For many, summer offers some space to listen, reflect, and learn. Between liturgies, rehearsals, planning meetings, and the countless responsibilities that come with music ministry, finding time for professional and spiritual renewal can feel like a luxury. Yet some of the most transformative growth happens when we step back long enough to encounter a new idea, a fresh perspective, or a deeper understanding of our craft and calling.
Whether you’re looking to sharpen your musicianship, explore the theology that undergirds your ministry, or simply find inspiration for the year ahead, this summer reading list offers resources to nourish both mind and spirit. Consider it an invitation to refill the well—one book, article, and insight at a time.
Choral/Conducting Resources
The Conductors Triangle
In The Conductor’s Triangle, Grammy-nominated conductor James Jordan—seventh conductor of the renowned Westminster Choir—illuminates the core of expressive conducting. At the heart of every great performance, Jordan reveals, lies a dynamic triangle connecting gesture, communication, and artistry.
Drawing on a remarkable “accidental case study” from his first high school choir more than forty years ago, Jordan traces how his students’ insights—and the influence of his mentor, Elaine Brown—shaped his understanding of conducting as both human science and artistic communion.
With clarity, wisdom, and practical guidance, Jordan reframes conducting pedagogy around human connection rather than technique alone. He challenges teachers and conductors to embrace a “less is more” approach—one grounded in authentic communication, emotional awareness, and deep ensemble trust.
The Conductor’s Triangle is both a philosophy and a framework for anyone seeking to elevate their conducting to an act of shared artistry and profound human connection.
The Choir Playbook
In this choral conducting book unlike any other, the author—conductor, educator, and self-professed “science nerd”—translates two decades of research in psychology, neuroscience, and human behavior into practical and fun strategies for today’s choral director. This book demystifies great conducting with techniques that can literally be used the same day!
How does a character study of Tony Soprano, learning about animation techniques in Pixar movies, watching college basketball, or viewing an episode of The Twilight Zone offer real practical guidance on conducting gestures?
Ever thought about how to use the same storytelling techniques that led to the enormous success of KPop Demon Hunters?
Cultivate the mindset of the “self-driving choir.” Develop an ensemble with high IQ, where singers possess strong situational awareness to anticipate musical needs, akin to Neo in the Matrix seeing the processes unfold around him.
How can we harness the power of the subconscious and contagious emotions, a clinically proven effect, to instill better rhythmic acuity in our ensembles?
Unlock vocal chemistry. Learn how the physical act of enunciation unlocks areas of the brain that create deep aesthetic connections with the sound for both the singer and the listener.
How do oxytocin and dopamine spread across the choir during group singing to form closer expressive bonds between singers?
Thrive in the “choral multiverse.” Learn to leverage your Default Mode Network to promote more “eureka!” moments in everything from concert programming to rehearsal planning, and combat teacher burnout by embracing “deep play.”
Choral Charisma
Choral Charisma presents an accessible yet comprehensive approach to singing with expression. Written for directors, singers, and teachers at all levels, the book presents techniques and insights empowering the reader to bring even more humanity to their craft. The heart, mind, body, and spirit can play together to make singing even more fulfilling—for you and your audience.
Ministry/Theology
Sharing the Song
Alice Parker firmly believed that everyone is a singer and a song leader, and that “song is given to us to fulfill a basic human need.” The manifestation of this conviction was her SINGS, which over many decades united thousands of people in song.
Sharing the Song posthumously concludes Alice Parker’s trilogy devoted to her philosophy of music, following The Anatomy of Melody and The Answering Voice. In this final volume, Parker distills a lifetime of wisdom into four concise chapters that guide readers through the art of communal singing.
She begins by defining what a song truly is and what it means to be a song leader before exploring how melody, gesture, and imagination inspire authentic musical response. She then offers a step-by-step process for preparing and leading a SING, describing how singers can “become the song” through movement, listening, and shared intent.
The book concludes with personal reflections and memories from Parker’s own SINGs, tracing the joyful history of this tradition and its power to connect hearts through music.
A culminating expression of her teaching and philosophy, Sharing the Song stands as Alice Parker’s final empowering gift to all who yearn to sing.
In Search of Inspiration
Choral conductors shoulder a great responsibility as custodians of their craft. And there is perhaps no better source of inspiration and guidance for today’s conductors than the experiences and insights of choral giants who have blazed the trail we now tread.
In Search of Inspiration is a collection of in-depth interviews with fifteen highly respected choral conductors from around the world. Each answers a series of fundamental questions about how they shaped their achievements: How do they balance their time making music and fulfilling teaching schedules and concert schedules? How do they motivate students, manage outside professional commitments in the educational setting, and satisfy administrators?
Each conductor generously shares their wisdom and expertise, discussing memorable educational moments on the podium and in the classroom, recounting stirring experiences in the concert hall, and sharing stories about their work with historic figures in music. They also offer insights on programming repertoire and explain how they have successfully navigated a career in music.
Let the Church Sing On
Under Executive Editor James Abbington, GIA’s African American Church Music Series has expanded to over 400 choral selections—not to mention hymnal supplements, organ music by Black composers, exceptional recordings, and other publications—representing the best African American composers present and past. And now, under the leadership of Brandon A. Boyd, the series shows no sign of slowing down.
The knowledge and expertise that informs the African American Church Music Series is contained in the essays, introductions, chapters, forewords, articles, and other writings that Abbington penned at the request of publishers and editors. Now, these elements come together inside the cover of one book in four sections: The Spiritual, Pioneering and Contemporary Hymn Writers, Pastoral Considerations, and Worship Resources. This unique and informative compilation of Abbington’s writings will prove vital to pastors, musicians, students, and worshipers in the African American music tradition—and beyond.
Sing with Understanding - 3rd Ed.
A well-known and respected authority on hymnody for more than forty years, Sing with Understanding is now available in its updated third edition. This edition builds on its predecessors’ scholarship, and enhances it with recent developments. New to this edition is a focus on the theology of hymn texts and their music as they form Christians in prayer. More than one-hundred fifty congregational songs from the treasures of Western hymnody, recent Contemporary Christian repertoire, and the global church are analyzed in depth. Also new is a companion website featuring bibliographic resources for additional research, articles referenced in the print version, as well as a glossary of musical/theological terms and indexes. This truly makes this a “book with no back cover.”
Distinguished hymnologist C. Michael Hawn headed a team of contributors including Beverly A. Howard, Martin V. Clarke, and theologian Geoffrey C. Moore. They bring their expertise and perspectives to the ongoing and emerging work in hymnology and its related fields. For students studying hymnology, to clergy or worship teams selecting music, to people in the pews who want to know more about the prayer they sing, Sing with Understanding, Third Edition will help everyone sing with both spirit and understanding!
The Song of the Singing Assembly
The Song of the Singing Assembly is a penetrating study of how theology is found in great hymns of faith. Judith Kubicki’s analysis of over 50 hymns will help you bring texts to life and renew the importance and vitality of hymn singing for your assembly. Her compelling case for how “syntax, imagery, and symbol interact with other elements of the liturgy to express faith, provide theological meaning and help shape a group of singers into an assembly” is divided into six insightful chapters, ranging from “How Do Hymns Do Theology?” to “Finding the Theoligical Pulse of a Hymn Text” to the “Transformative Power of Classic Hymn Texts.” This book “will serve as a reminder about the importance of hymn singing, not just for the liturgy, but for the life of the parish.”
