Dale Warland

Dale Warland, celebrated American musician, has made an indelible impression on the landscape of contemporary choral music both nationally and internationally. During his time with the Dale Warland Singers, he shaped a vocal ensemble known for its exquisite sound, technical finesse, and stylistic range.  From that platform, Warland not only mastered the traditional repertoire, but also commissioned over 270 new choral works.

The music world bestowed its highest honors on Warland, the most recent including the Weston Noble Award for Lifetime Achievement in Choral Music (2010) from the American Choral Director’s Association; the Cultural Leadership Citation Award from Yale University (2010); the Robert Shaw Award in Choral Music (2007) from the American Choral Directors Association. Other prestigious awards include: a Grammy nomination for Walden Pond; the ASCAP Victor Herbert Award; the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award and the Michael Korn Founder’s Award and others.

Since the closing of the Dale Warland Singers organization Warland has continued to remain active as guest conductor, composer, teacher, and producer of choral programs for public radio.

Warland is committed to sharing his knowledge about the choral arts and has served on many panels and juries both nationally and internationally.  He has lectured on American Music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and most recently has been guest faculty at the University of Utah, the University of California at Fullerton, Azusa Pacific University, Yale University and North Dakota State University.

Warland’s compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by choruses throughout the country. As editor, he has established choral series with G. Schirmer, Hal Leonard, earthsongs, Colla Voce, and Walton Music.

Recordings of Dale and the Dale Warland Singers are available through www.gothicrecords.com. More information about Dale can be found at www.dalewarland.com.


Compositions by Dale Warland

Always Singing

Dale Warland mixed choir, Difficulty : 4, a cappella, 3-5 min.

Benedicamus Domino

Dale Warland mixed choir, Difficulty : 4, a cappella, 5-10 min.

Sed Amore (But by Love) (SA)

Dale Warland treble choir, Difficulty : 2, piano, 5-10 min.

Sed Amore (But by Love) (SATB)

Dale Warland mixed choir, Difficulty : 3, piano, 5-10 min.

1: (Easy) No divisi in voice parts, accompaniment doubles or supports vocal parts, diatonic, symmetrical phrases, textures mostly homophonic, simple rhythms, stepwise voice leading (conjunct), moderate ranges, no extended techniques, and limited sustained singing.

2: (Medium Easy) Limited divisi, voices somewhat independent from accompaniment, some chromatics, phrases may be longer or more fragmented, mostly homophonic, moderate rhythmic complexity, some difficult intervals (disjunct motion), moderate ranges, extended techniques are simple, limited sustained singing.

3. (Medium) Limited divisi, unaccompanied, or with independent accompaniment (voice parts not doubled), many chromatics, phrases of varying lengths, more contrapuntal textures, moderately complex rhythms, some difficult intervals (disjunct motion), moderately difficult/challenging ranges, extended techniques are potentially challenging, and some sustained singing.

4. (Medium Difficult) Abundant divisi, unaccompanied, or accompanying instruments are fully independent from voice parts, many chromatics and/or key changes, long and/or broken phrases, potentially little homophony, complex rhythms, many difficult intervals (disjunct motion), difficult/challenging ranges, potentially difficult extended techniques, and a demand for sustained singing.

5. (Difficult) Adundant divis, unaccompanied, or accompanying instruments are fully independent from voice parts, many chromatics and/or key changes, long and/or broken phrases, potentially little homophony, complex rhythms, extreme ranges, use of challenging or unusual extended vocal techniques, abundant sustained singing.