Crossing a Bridge: SSA Choral Octavo

Flaherty's melody for this coming-of-age moment lands with genuine warmth, and DeSpain's SSA arrangement respects that without oversimplifying it. The piece gives your singers a Broadway-quality experience while remaining manageable on the page, a rare combination.

Introspective and gently hopeful. The arrangement captures the moment when someone begins to understand themselves, with enough harmonic interest to keep singers engaged while maintaining a conversational intimacy that prevents the piece from feeling overwrought.

SSA choirs wanting to program Broadway repertoire that connects to meaningful themes. The piece works for high school choirs and community ensembles with treble voices and basic music-reading skills.

• Balance the melody clearly between your sopranos and altos. The voices share the tune, and clarity of line matters more than perfect blend here.
• Anchor the piece with steady diction across the section voices. The rhythm lives in the text, so commit to clean consonants throughout.
• Shape the arc toward emotional moments rather than technical ones. This is a character song first, so let the words guide your phrasing.

Include this in a Broadway-themed concert or a spring program built around identity and growth. At eight pages, it pairs well with shorter selections and allows soloists or small ensembles to take featured moments if your arrangement permits.

• Singing sustained melodic lines across phrase boundaries
• Balancing melody and accompaniment within treble voicing
• Interpreting character-driven expression in contemporary musical theater