Hair: A Choral Medley: SSA Choral Octavo

Greg Gilpin's medley distills Hair into six minutes of pure energy without sacrificing any of the score's infectious hooks. Your singers get to inhabit the optimism and rebellion of the era through music that demands they commit fully to both the rock groove and the vocal lines, making this a performance that feels genuinely alive rather than nostalgic.

Electric optimism mixed with the defiant joy of a generation questioning everything. The music bounces between memorable melodies and rhythmic drive, capturing both the theatrical spectacle and the genuine passion that made Hair revolutionary. You'll feel the sun, flowers, and freedom in every phrase.

SSA and SSAA choirs looking for contemporary Broadway material that engages both singers and audiences. This works equally well for high school ensembles seeking something substantial with modern appeal and college/community choirs wanting a crowd-pleasing set piece.

• Let the groove breathe. The rock foundation means your singers need to feel subdivisions clearly; a rhythm section or a metronome click during rehearsals will anchor the ensemble more effectively than typical metered counting.
• Build dynamic contrast between sections. A medley structure requires dramatic shifts in energy and volume to signal when you're moving between songs; mark these transitions explicitly in your score and rehearse them as intentionally as you would a key change.
• Commit to the text. The lyrics carry political and social weight. When your singers connect emotionally to what they're singing about rather than just hitting the notes, the performance transcends a fun retro moment.

Include this as your spring concert closer or as part of a multi-era Broadway showcase. The 20-page length and recorded accompaniment option make it flexible for concerts where you're balancing classical and contemporary work, and the recorded version allows smaller programs to present it even without a live band.

• Singing against a rock groove and syncopated rhythm section
• Navigating register shifts and belt-style vowels in SSA voicing
• Balancing pop/rock phrasing with choral blend
• Responding to text inflection as a tool for emotional communication
• Managing tempo and dynamics across contrasting song sections