Church Choir Anthems for Rally Day

Welcome and acceptance are at the heart of this warm choral offering, served up in a feast of old-time gospel with an embracing "Amen." A powerful concert opener, call to worship, or building dedication

A soulful rendering of Rabindranath Tagore's poetic aphorism on faith, featuring blues-inflected solos, varied choral textures, and a dazzling final chord. A favorite of high school and college choirs, and

The Gate is Open offers contemplative listeners a gentle unfolding, trembling with stillness and mystery. Its three central symbols - the gate, the woods, and the Star - are observed but not

Set in a rhythmically dynamic contemporary a cappella riff, this original piece muses on the power of curiosity to shape anger into something beautiful, powerful, and even transformative. By turns fierce,

An uproarious affirmation of the multifarious "handles" which adorn women's bodies, minds and spirits. This eclectic, good-natured travelogue covers a lot of terrain, including dimples, wrinkles, jiggles,

This musical "instruction manual" is as whimsical as the singing planet which inspired it. A genre-defying showpiece evoking both the ethereal and the "grooving", How To Sing Like a Planet offers up equal

A powerful reflection on personal strength and resolve, this song blends poet Evelyn Dudley's Southern tenacity and hardy faith with composer Elizabeth Alexander's Appalachian roots and musical vision. The

Two different a cappella arrangements of the beloved Polish carol Infant Holy, Infant Lowly. The "Soulful Close Harmony" version is caressed with folk inflections and pentatonic embellishments. The

Let It Matter is an urgent call to deep listening across cultural divides, crafted with grit, tenacity and passion. Its pithy, emotionally layered lyrics are punctuated with edgy internal rhymes

In this progressive reimagining of an old-time revival tune, the faith community expands beyond its "walls and steeple" to become "a gathered people," blessing the world with its words and deeds. This

No Other People's Children is a blessing and a bridge, a song of reconciliation that affirms the worth and dignity of anyone we might be tempted to see as "other." Explicitly acknowledging past

Sing Me Awake is both lamentation and celebration, a radiant setting of a tender poem by Gregory Orr. This powerful work looks head-on at all that has been lost, as well as our own transcendent

Elizabeth Alexander's fluid, luminous a cappella setting of one of Kabir's most intimate prayers honors the unity of all things sacred and secular. "You are in us, and we are in You, Each being distinct,

An exuberant song of gratitude and joy for all ages. Based on a simple, universal prayer appropriate for any religious or secular occasion, this song celebrates cherished communities with people both far

A soulful reminder of music's power to lift the heart during hard times, What’s Keeping You from Singing? addresses the joy and well-being so easily obscured by depression's somber