Our Story
Festival Music Press is a Ecom Music Shop, offering sight-reading examples used from past state choral festivals to help teachers
and students prepare for festival sight-reading.
Background (About the composer): My name is Norman L. Crarey, I am a retired music educator. I taught in public and private schools for 39 years. I have had the privilege to teach music at every level K-12 and College. I have a BS degree in Music Theory and Composition and a MM degree in Choral Conducting. I currently hold the NBPTS Certification - EAYA Music.
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I have been composing choral festival sight-reading exercises for 23 years.
Bad days: As a public choral teacher, I enjoyed preparing my students to sing at the State Choral Festivals. At Festival, the performance of graded music for adjudicators was the high point. However, the sight-reading component was frequently disappointing. I knew it could be better. So instead of complaining, I got involved.
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Better times: On the State Music Board, I worked to improve the Festival sight-reading component. After in-depth analysis of popular vocal sight-reading method books, our Board members-consisting of a group of choral music educators from all levels (elementary, middle, high school and college), created a set of rubrics to compose musical examples for Middle and High School choral students to sing at Festivals. The rhythmic and melodic examples I compose cover all levels of choral festival performance with careful attention to the range of singers at developmental stages.
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At Festival Music Press, choral teachers can purchase reproducible sight-reading examples used in past State Choral Festivals to prepare their students for sight-reading at Festival. There are 23 years of past examples that teachers can use to run 'mock' festival sight-reading drills in the classroom...and more are on the way!