Malcolm Merriweather

Don’t let that baby face fool you: Malcolm Merriweather is 31, but even so, he’s packed a lot in: A singer and conductor, he’s on the faculty of Brooklyn College, artist-in-residence at Union Theological Seminary and is the music director of Voices of Haiti, a 60-member children’s chorus. He also conducts New York’s Dessoff Choirs, which performs Bach, Barber and more on April 1 (tickets at dessoffchoirs.org). “I’m the only musician in my family,” said Merriweather, who grew up near Buffalo and now lives in Harlem, at the site of the old Savoy Ballroom. “My dad worked for General Motors, and my mom is a financial analyst. But they supported me, drove me to rehearsals and came to all my concerts.” Here’s what’s in this musician’s library. — Barbara Hoffman

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer by Tracy Kidder

I read this book before my first trip to Haiti, where the Andrea Bocelli Foundation asked me to create a children’s choir in Port-au-Prince. Reading about how Dr. Farmer worked to eradicate tuberculosis and other infectious diseases there, using his gifts as a medical doctor and scientist, gave me a dynamic way of thinking about what I was doing there.

Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner

This is basically a biography of Bach by John Eliot Gardiner, a prominent conductor. I read a lot of esoteric music books, but I think a layman would appreciate this one because it’s not overly technical. Bach’s music is like architecture: Form is everything, and it’s also evocative.

Working with Bernstein by Jack Gottlieb

I was a fellow at Tanglewood, where Leonard Bernstein had a long history. I’d heard so many anecdotes from teachers and conductors who worked with him. His energy! He’d get up at 6, go through correspondence, attend rehearsals with the NY Phil, meet with whomever, then have dinner at 9 that went till after midnight.

SomebodyS Blew Up America & Other Poems by Amiri Baraka

Baraka’s aesthetic was avant garde, politically charged, vivid and often poignant. One of the poems here, “In the Tradition,” well, it’s epic. Music — mostly references to singers, bands, musicians — appears in almost every stanza. I am inspired by that, and this poem sings to me.