Look To The Rainbow: SSA Choral Octavo

Mark Hayes gives this showstopper the arranging clarity it deserves, with voicing that lets each part breathe while keeping the song's essential warmth intact. The melodic hook is instantly memorable, yet the piece never feels cheap or thin. Your singers will love having something joyful and accessible that still asks them to blend, balance, and shape a real phrase.

Bright, hopeful, and genuinely uplifting. The song carries the warmth of a mid-century musical number while feeling fresh in a choral setting, inviting singers and listeners alike into something generous and good-natured.

Intermediate to advanced treble choirs with solid blend and a comfort singing standard American songbook material. The piece works beautifully for singers who enjoy storytelling and emotional directness without needing complex rhythmic or intervallic challenges.

• Find the sweet spot in tempo where the song feels unhurried but never drags; a slight lilt helps the text land naturally.
• Balance the melody against the inner voices, especially where the arrangement thickens. The hook needs to soar without the SSA texture becoming muddy.
• Shape the phrase arcs dynamically rather than with sudden shifts. This song breathes on optimism, so let the crescendos feel organic.

Pair this with other Hayes arrangements or mid-century American standards to create a concert set with coherent style and era. It opens doors beautifully, lands perfectly as a lighter moment between heavier works, or anchors a pops concert with genuine substance beneath its accessibility.

• Legit singing technique in a popular music context
• Phrase shaping and sustained line work
• Ensemble blend across three voice parts
• Textual interpretation and character in singing
• Intonation in major key harmony