In early 20th-century Chicago, the intersection of classical and gospel church traditions gave birth to the modern gospel chorus movement. This history has made Chicago the gospel choir capital of the world—and continues to have an impact on ensemble singing today.
Impact/Value
More and more choruses are practicing advocacy inside the concert hall, representing social justice and community issues in their performances. What kinds of steps are they taking to ensure that singers are on the same page so that they can perform as a collective?
There are seemingly countless ways to make the case for the arts. The trick is knowing which ones are most effective. Leaders at five different arts organizations explain how they talk about the value of the arts, and how those messages are connecting with the audiences they are trying to reach.
Three choral organizations show how united voices can make a difference for themselves and their communities.
NEA News: 2018 Second Round Grants Announced, House Subcommittee Proposes FY 2019 Increase
Mike Rowan | May 17, 2018On May 9, the National Endowment for the Arts announced the recipients of its second round of 2018 grants. We are excited to see many of our partners and choral organizations represented on the list of awarded grants in arts education, presenting and multidisciplinary works, and music, shown at the end of this announcement.

This article is part of a series highlighting new choral repertoire that can be used by a wide range of choirs to address different community issues.

Each month, Chorus America profiles one of our members in our Meet A Member interview series. To mark the season of giving, we often change things up a little bit for December by speaking with Chorus America donors. This year, we spoke to Hussein Janmohamed and Joan Szymko, the two composers donating compositions for Chorus America’s 2018 Commission Consortiums.

In an effort to renew our understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and challenges choral conductors encounter and how they affect the choral ecosystem, Chorus America undertook a new study, updating survey findings from a decade ago. The results highlight both important challenges and reasons to feel confident about the health of the profession.

This article is part of a series highlighting new choral repertoire that can be used by a wide range of choirs to address different community issues.