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In Sibelius, I have a grand choir staff (Soprano & Alto above, Tenor below) where singers pop in and out, and the first time they start singing I want them all announced with their names as cues.

Here’s how I have it laid out when seen in Panorama mode:

Choir grand staff with singer cue names before their part

Thing is, the start of the choir part coincides with a new section on a new page. So when viewed as pages spread horizontally, the singer names end up on the previous page, like this:

Choir grand staff with singer cue names on previous page

I know little about proper engraving rules and conventions beyond what I’ve gleaned from studying the few sheet music books I have, so I don’t know how to handle this. Should I try to cram the singer names onto the new page? Do I do so, but with their names abbreviated (S., A., T.)? Or is it fine to keep their names on the previous page since their part begins immediately afterwards?

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I definitely would not leave the names hanging out on the previous page, and I don't think it's necessary to announce the parts at all, unless you are planning to have more than two parts per staff.

The treble staff looks fine as is - singers will know how to split those parts without extra instruction.

For the bass staff, I would turn the stems upward to indicate that they are sung by Tenors only, and not Tenors and Basses together (in Sibelius, this is done by selecting your notes and hitting the "x" key). You can make clearer by creating a second voice on that staff and filling it with rests.

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  • Thanks for the answer. Question about your tenor comment: Are you saying I should flip the stems upwards even if tenor is the only singer on the bass staff across the whole score (there is no bass singer in the composition)?
    – Walter
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 18:05
  • Oh, I didn't realize there is no bass singer. In that case, what you have is fine. The part names are unnecessary in the middle of the score, but you may want to change the part name to SAT Choir, or at least mention in the performance notes at the beginning of the score that it is an SAT choir.
    – Peter
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 18:40
  • I do specify CHOIR (SAT) on the Instrumentation page at the start of the score. I just thought it was proper to add the singer cues when their parts start. Thanks again.
    – Walter
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 18:56

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