Civic Engagement and Community Outreach have been used so interchangeably in our tagging that we propose using one tag: "Community Engagement" instead
Our colleagues at GALA Choruses have designed a new workbook to help explore issues of equity, access, and belonging.
For many choruses, a trend toward last-minute ticket-buying seems to have accelerated in recent months. Pre-pandemic, Christopher Eanes, executive director of Cathedral Choral Society (CCS), had been watching season subscriptions decline steadily, and now, he says, “it's also showing itself in the single ticket sales. People really are waiting until the week of or even the day before to decide.” He reports that ticket sales in the two days before the CCS Christmas concert accounted for 10 percent of event revenue.
The National Endowment for the Arts(NEA) announced the recipients of the first round of 2023 grants on January 10, 2023. The NEA will distribute $34 million in funding to individuals and arts organizations across the United States, and Chorus America is honored to be a recipient of an $85,000 Grants for Art Projects award.
We are also thrilled to see many choral organizations and partners present in the list of awarded grants, including:
American Composers Forum
Apollo's Fire
Barbershop Harmony Society
While the 2022 holiday season is once again filled with live choral performances, more closely resembling a pre-pandemic December, broadcasting partnerships with local television and radio networks are increasingly a powerful way for choruses to reach audiences beyond the concert hall. We share a list of televised and radio-broadcasted holiday specials featuring Chorus America members and details about how to experience them this festive season.
Conductor, administrative leader, and scholar Arreon Harley Emerson’s personal and professional development weaves together many different strands into a singular story. As an equity coach and nonprofit strategist, he consults with arts and cultural organizations to center diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in their work. As the former director of music and operations at the Choir School of Delaware, Harley-Emerson led an organization with a legacy of serving Wilmington’s youth and families that dates back to 1883.
National Native American Heritage Month is celebrated in November in the United States to honor and uplift indigenous communities, their heritage, and history.
We are entering fall, and students are returning to school! For many of us, the phrase “back to school” brings back memories of new classes, new friends, and singing in school choral music programs. Unfortunately, these opportunities are not available for all.
The 2022 Conference In-Person Event in Baltimore, MD, marked the long-awaited return of in-person Conference activities for Chorus America. For two years, COVID-19 forced the flagship annual gathering to shift to an online alternative, but on June 15-17, 2022, the Chorus America community reunited once again for inspiring plenary sessions, uplifting performances, special celebratory events, and more.
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many choruses scrambled to create new virtual connections in an effort to stay engaged with their singers and supporters. Two years on, as singing in-person returns, choral organizations are making the time to reflect on what they’ve learned and to envision a virtual presence that makes sense for their long-term future.
This is a uniquely challenging time for the choral field, full of both hope and fatigue. For two years the ground has shifted constantly beneath our feet, leaving many feeling drained and apprehensive about the future. Yet this has also been a time of extraordinary creativity and innovation, and the reaffirmation of the value of choral music. We asked seven choral leaders to share how they are caring for their organizations, their singers, and themselves right now.
