Articles
Hiring an administrator is one of the most significant steps volunteer-run choruses can take to support their organization’s growth and development. During the height of the pandemic, most organizations were too busy staying afloat to make that kind of move, but recently a number of choruses have decided they are ready for the plunge. The five organizations represented in this story are facing today's hiring challenges by relying on strategies that evidence an increasing willingness to think big.
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.
SPONSORED STORY FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER
Music education - and inspiring a new generation of singers - is central to the mission of Albany Pro Musica, which has been elevating choral music in New York's Capital Region since 1981. Now, the chorus is embarking on its largest educational project yet, launching the inaugural Pro Musica International Choral Festival to be held in the summer of 2023. In partnership with the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University in Ontario and the University at Albany, this new festival will bring students across the U.S. and Canada together to study and perform with distinguished faculty and world-class musicians. Thanks to a generous grant from Bader Philanthropies, Inc., the costs of tuition, room, and board are fully covered for every participating student.
With its longstanding commitment to working with young singers, Albany Pro Musica understands the value of bringing in a top-notch faculty to engage with the students, including one person with whom the Chorus America community is certainly familiar. We asked Rollo Dilworth, our current board member and past chair, a few questions about the inaugural festival, where he will serve as festival guest conductor and composer, and direct the closing performance including a new work commissioned from him for the festival.
The digital edition of our Summer 2022 issue of the Voice is here! Read more for a letter from the president & CEO Catherine Dehoney reflecting on the 2022 Chorus America Conference, news from our members, the 2022 Chorus Operations Survey Report, and Singing All of Us: A New Article Series.
*Log in with your Chorus America username and password to view the digital Voice.
We know the potential of ensemble and choral singing to bring us together. When group singing builds trust, honors authentic relationships, and restores community connections, that potential is fully realized. Singing All of Us: Restoring Relationships in Choral Communities shares the first two articles in a four-article series focused on organizations and people using ensemble singing and choral music to address racism and repair racial harm.
The story of a program developed by the Tucson Girls Chorus and the Native American Advancement Foundation to serve students in the GuVo District of the Tohono O’odham Nation shares lessons about centering relationship-building and community-centered collaboration.
The story of the Salt Lake Chinese Choir, under the leadership of Yu-Feng Huang and board president Fan Kwan, offers a model of a community working together with a talented conductor to build a restorative space through choral music and a shared dedication to artistry and cultural pride.
SPONSORED STORY FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Steve Smith was five months into his new job as president of Berkshire Choral International (BCI) with a mandate to reset and re-energize the summer program for a new generation of choral singers. COVID-19 then forced cancellation of all BCI live events for both 2020 and 2021. After a two-year gap of in-person programs, the summer of 2022 has seen a much-anticipated reopening. Chorus America checked in with Steve to see how the return is going and what lessons he and the organization have learned.
The digital edition of our 2022 Spring issue of the Voice is here! Read more for feature articles, a letter from chair Brian Newhouse reflecting on the past three years and resilience shown by the choral field, news from our members, and 2022 Chorus America Conference content.
*Log in with your Chorus America username and password to view the digital Voice.
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.
An artist, arts educator, teaching artist, policymaker, and philanthropist, Alysia Lee has a broad perspective on the arts ecosystem. As the founder and artistic director of Sister Cities Girlchoir and as the inaugural president for the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (a position she began in early 2022), she works to advance access, equity, and decolonization—always with a focus on youth, anti-racism, creativity, and justice.