Annual Meeting and Plenary Workshop - Beyond Covid-19: Immersed in the Future

Thursday's Plenary Workshop will begin with recognition of the 2022 Chorus America Award Winners and our organization's Annual Meeting.

What choral music experiences will attract the next generation of audiences? While Covid-19 recovery efforts have quite naturally focused on re-claiming and re-engaging audiences, a segment of the audience may never return to live programs. During the pandemic commercial producers have invested heavily in new technologies and experiences (e.g., Van Gogh). To remain competitive, the choral music field and its supporters will need to collaborate more broadly on product development. What experiences will generate new interest in choral music and attract the next generation of audiences?

During this Plenary Workshop, immediately following Chorus America's Annual Meeting, Alan Brown will share an overview of research on emerging programming practices in the arts and entertainment sector, covering live and digital programs, immersive and augmented formats, and virtual experiences.

Specifically, the session will cover: 

• Historical perspective on immersive technologies 

• Theoretical underpinnings of the transition from mental immersion to sensory immersion, and from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 

• Commercial sector adoption of immersive experiences, in fashion, theme parks, public art and real estate  

• Adoption of immersive formats in the museum field (nonprofit and commercial), and what’s coming post-Van Gogh 

• Immersive and virtual reality experiences in the performing arts 

• Approaches to product development