My Wish (arr. Ed Lojeski): SATB Choral Octavo

Ed Lojeski's arrangement captures the warmth and accessibility that made this song resonate across demographics, without sacrificing the emotional weight that gives it staying power. The SATB voicing sits naturally for mixed ensembles and avoids excessive complexity, letting singers focus on the sincerity of the lyrical message rather than technical gymnastics. Programming this alongside traditional concert fare or as a pops set closer gives your choir repertoire that connects directly with audiences beyond the usual choral loyalists.

There's an unhurried intimacy here, the kind that fills a room without demanding you lean forward to hear it. The arrangement wraps you in familiar warmth while maintaining the earnestness of the original; it's music that sounds like a genuine wish expressed rather than a performance delivered.

Choirs seeking accessible contemporary repertoire with broad audience appeal will find this arrangement immediately singable without feeling thin or under-arranged. High school choirs, college non-majors ensembles, and community groups benefit from the straightforward voicing and emotional directness that audiences recognize from the original recording.

• Shape the melody through subtle dynamic waves rather than holding at one volume level; the strength of this arrangement lies in its conversational quality, not dramatic gestures.
• Balance the harmony voices to ensure they support rather than overshadow the primary melodic line, particularly in passages where upper and lower voices diverge.
• Let the text drive your phrasing choices. This is a song about personal wishes and reflection, so resist the urge to rush through lyrical sections where the arrangement sits simply.
• Work out blend across sections before focusing on blend within sections; the four parts need to sound like they're singing together, not singing at each other.

This works beautifully as the emotional anchor of a varied concert, particularly effective placed after more technically demanding pieces to give audiences a moment of connection and singers a chance to breathe. Pair it with other contemporary pop or country arrangements for a pops concert, or use it as a closing number on an evening that moves between classical and modern repertoire to remind listeners what brought them to the concert hall.

• Balancing solo melody with harmonic support across four parts
• Sustaining legit and expressive tone in contemporary idiom
• Navigating simple but effective harmonic movement
• Connecting emotional content to vocal production and phrasing