This outstanding series is an encouragement to beginning singers in preparing a vocal solo. Songs have been carefully chosen for each voice type after consulting many official state contest repertoire lists. All the songs, for instance, are on the Texas list. The series will be useful to any novice singer, not just limited to those preparing an actual contest solo. Each volume contains 10 songs: 5 art songs in English, an African-American spiritual, 2 songs in Italian, a song in German and a song in Spanish. There are new editions and engravings of all songs. Biographical information is included on each composer. Interpretive suggestions are given for each song, and the preface on “Learning a Song” is especially instructive. Companion recordings include beautiful performances of all the songs by a professional singer, and excellent accompaniments by pianist Laura Ward. Also included on the recordings are pronunciation guides in Italian, German and Spanish.

Soprano Book Contents: Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel • Do Not Go, My Love • El tra la la y el punteado • I Attempt from Love’s Sickness to Fly • It Was a Lover and His Lass • Lachen und Weinen • Nel cor più non mi sento • Se tu m’ami • Solveig’s Song • ‘Tis the Last Rose of Summer. Audio is accessed online using the unique code inside the book and can be streamed or downloaded. The audio files include PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right.