What to Sing with Your Summer Choir

So, you’ve decided to have a summer choir. 😊

You’ve invited your current choir members and put the word out to others in the congregation who might be interested.

Now, it’s time to figure out what you’re going to sing each week.

Depending on how you structure your summer choir, you may have a general sense of how many people you’ll have each week (and how many parts you’ll have covered).

But, if you’re leaving it more open and letting people show up without RSVPing ahead of time, choosing music can be a bit more complicated.

You need anthems that are:

singable and intuitive
written in an accessible way
easy to learn

Today, I’m sharing 28 anthem collections, each featuring anywhere from five to 66 anthems you can use with your choir. Some include simplified part-writing (2-part, 3-part mixed, SAB, and SATB); others include flexible voicing options so you can adapt them to the group you have on a given week.

Most of the anthems in these collections come out to be $1 (or less) apiece, which can be a significant saving over buying individual octavos for your singers.

In addition, two of the collections included here are reproducible, which means you can buy one and make as many copies as you need for your choir.

Ready to get started? Here are 28 anthem collections to you with your summer choir, organized by voicing:

28 Anthem Collections to Use with Your Summer Choir

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

2-Part Choir

Simple Songs for Slim Sundays (various) - 7+ anthems for 2- and 3-part mixed choir
Sunday Savers (Jay Althouse) - five instant anthems for 2-part mixed choir
Sunday Savers No. 2 (Jay Althouse) - five 2-part pieces for the church year (with rehearsal suggestions!)
Easy Choir, Vol. 2 (various) - 10 classic hymn settings now arranged for 2- and 3-part choir
One Rehearsal Wonders, Vol. 3 (various) - 11 SAB and 2-part anthems for any occasion
Instant Anthems of Praise (Larry Pugh) - six 2-part anthems for mixed voices
Partners in Spirituals (Jean Anne Shafferman)* - six well-crafted, 2-part partner songs that can be sung by children’s/youth/adult choirs during the year and used as fun, easy-to-learn anthems for your summer choir
Partners in Spirituals… Again! (Jean Anne Shafferman)* - six more partner songs to sing with your summer choir
Read, Rehearse, and Rejoice! (Stan Pethel) - 10 classic hymns arranged for 2-part choir
12 Anthems for About 12 Singers (various) - a dozen 2- and 3-part anthems for small choirs
10 Anthems for About 10 Singers (various) - have fewer than 12 singers? Here are ten 2- and 3-part anthems you can sing

*These collections are reproducible, meaning you can buy one and make as many copies as you need for your choir.

3-Part Mixed/SAB Choir

Sunday Savers for SAB Choirs (Jay Althouse) - five SAB pieces for the church year
The Pick-Up Anthem Book (Stan Pethel) - nine hymn arrangements for 3-part mixed choir
Simple Songs for Slim Sundays (various) - 7+ anthems for 2- and 3-part mixed choir
Easy Choir, Vol. 2 (various) - 10 classic hymn settings now arranged for 2- and 3-part choir
One Rehearsal Wonders, Vol. 3 (various) - 11 SAB and 2-part anthems for any occasion
One-Rehearsal Anthems, Vol. 2 (ed. Larry Pugh) - a collection of 10 general-use anthems for SAB choir
Ready, Set, Sing! (Jay Althouse) - five SAB anthems for any time of the year
8 Anthems for About 12 Singers (various) - eight Gospel and Spiritual arrangements for small SAB choirs
12 Anthems for About 12 Singers (various) - a dozen 2- and 3-part anthems for small choirs
10 Anthems for About 10 Singers (various) - have fewer than 12 singers? Here are ten 2- and 3-part anthems you can sing

SATB Choir

More Sunday Savers (various) - five easy-to-learn anthems for SATB choir
The Pick-Up Anthem Book (Eugene Mccluskey) - a collection of 14 SATB anthems for general use
The Instant Worship Choir Collection (various) - 20 SATB arrangements

Mixed or Flexible Voicing

One Rehearsal Wonders, Vol. 1 (various) - eight 2-part, SAB, and SATB anthems, plus a bonus benediction
One Rehearsal Wonders, Vol. 2 (various) - 2-part, SAB, and SATB arrangements of a few classic hymn favorites
5 Getty Anthems for About 10 Singers (Keith Getty/arr. various) - simplified settings of five Getty favorites for 2-part, SAB, and opt. SATB choir
The Oxford Book of Easy Flexible Anthems (ed. Alan Bullard) - 66 anthems for the church year, ranging from unison/2-part to SAB to SATB. Flexible scoring options mean anthems can be easily adapted to your choir.
The Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems (ed. Alan Bullard) - 66 anthems for the church year. Flexible scoring options mean anthems can be easily adapted to your choir.