Dale Warland Singers

Warland began taking piano lessons with the church choir director at the age of five and also sang every day in his one-room schoolhouse.

Warland decided he needed forty singers to attain the sound he wanted, rather than the standard sixteen to twenty for most chamber choirs.

Singers for the ensemble were chosen based on their strong musical skills, beautiful voice, solid vocal technique, and positive attitude.

They have collaborated extensively with many notable ensembles and musicians including the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Chanticleer, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

The DWS has additionally sung under the conductors Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Neville Marriner, Edo de Waart, Hugh Wolff, Bobby McFerrin, David Zinman, Roger Norrington, and James Conlon.

[16] The DWS made many radio appearances, including Garrison Keilor's A Prairie Home Companion and annual broadcasts of "Echoes of Christmas" and "Cathedral Classics" which reached audiences of 1.5 million across the United States.

[19] The repertoire of the DWS consisted of works ranging from the great choral masterworks to American folk songs to vocal jazz.

[21] Warland commissioned 270 works from 150 composers, which include Libby Larsen, Dominick Argento, Aaron Jay Kernis, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck, Peter Schickele, Alice Parker, Kirke Mechem, Mary Ellen Childs, Augusta Read Thomas, Janika Vandervelde, Bernard Rands, Emma Lou Diemer, Brent Michael Davids, Bill Banfield, and Eric Whitacre.

[22] Significant works commissioned by the DWS include Water Night by Eric Whitacre, A Procession Winding Around Me by Jeffery Van, and The Road Home by Stephen Paulus.