
Register by October 17 to Secure Your Spot!
Registration Type | Member Price |
---|---|
Early Bird Registration (Sept. 11-Oct.3) | $750 |
General Registration (Oct. 4-Oct.17) | $850 |
Registration Type | Member Price |
---|---|
Early Bird Registration (Sept. 11-Oct.3) | $750 |
General Registration (Oct. 4-Oct.17) | $850 |
Registration Type | Member Price | Non-Member Price |
---|---|---|
Early Bird Registration (Sept. 11-Oct. 3) | $750 | $850 |
General Registration (Oct. 4-Oct.17) | $850 | $950 |
Not a member? We'd love to have you join us for this event and become part of the Chorus America community! Visit our membership page to learn more, and feel free to contact us with any questions at [email protected].
Registration Type | Non-Member Price |
---|---|
Early Bird Registration (Sept. 11-Oct. 3) | $850 |
General Registration (Oct. 4-Oct.17) | $950 |
Think you should be logged in to a member account? Make sure the email address you used to login is the same as what appears on your membership information. Have questions? Email us at [email protected].
Registration Type | Price |
---|---|
Individual Session | $30 each |
All Four (4) Sessions | $110 |
*Replays with captioning will remain available for registrants to watch until November 1, 11:59pm EDT.
Member Professional Development Days are specially designed for Chorus America members. If you're not currently a member, we'd love to welcome you to this event, and into the Chorus America community! Visit our membership page to learn more about becoming a member of Chorus America, and please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions at [email protected].
Registration Type | Price |
---|---|
Individual Session | $30 each |
All Four (4) Sessions | $110 |
*Replays with captioning will remain available for registrants to watch until November 1, 11:59pm EDT.
Registration Type | Price |
---|---|
Individual Session | $30 each |
All Four (4) Sessions | $110 |
*Replays with captioning will remain available for registrants to watch until November 1, 11:59pm EDT.
Member Professional Development Days are specially designed for Chorus America members. If you're not currently a member, we'd love to welcome you to this event, and into the Chorus America community! Visit our membership page to learn more about becoming a member of Chorus America, and please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions at [email protected].
Interactive performances are transforming the traditional concert experience, inviting audiences to participate in ways that feel personal, playful, and deeply meaningful. By breaking the fourth wall, choral groups can offer a radical welcome that opens the door to new voices, new communities, and a new sense of belonging.
When the audience arrived for the North Folk Community Choir’s “Fabric of Gratitude” concert in Paonia, Colorado, each listener received a small paper square, along with a simple request. Guests were invited to reflect on the concert’s theme and write down something they were thankful for as they listened. The performance was a collaboration with a local quilt club, which displayed a quilt show in the lobby. After the music ended, audience members added their written reflections to a large “Quilt of Gratitude”—a piece of shared art inspired by both the theme and the community partnership. While simple, this communal task deepened the experience for the audience. “They loved it,” says director Stephanie Helleckson. “It was really top of mind for a long time afterward.” This phenomenon, where an experience sticks with the participant for a while afterward, is what researchers call an “Impact Echo.” Interactive elements, like the Quilt of Gratitude, can increase the Impact Echo by helping people feel connected to the performers and emotionally moved by the music. A growing body of research shows that people of all ages are still very interested in classical music, but they are less interested in the passive nature of the traditional concert experience. Today’s audiences are gravitating toward art experiences that are inherently participatory, encourage interpretive opportunities, or feel communal (e.g. music festivals and interactive art exhibits). In short, people are looking to feel more in their encounters with live music. As choral musicians, we know that choral music can provide all these things, but the hard truth is that program notes and onstage remarks may not always be sufficient to deeply connect our listeners to the music we perform. The good news is that we do not need fancy light shows or expensive projections to engage audiences. In fact, the most effective audience engagement comes from taking time during the performance to simply invite listeners to interact with the performers and the musical material in ways that deepen their listening. Our colleagues in visual arts, dance, theater, and instrumental music have been utilizing interactive and immersive performances for quite some time, and choral musicians can also reap the benefits of this practice. According to Helleckson, “Choral singing is already an inherently collaborative, connective experience. Our challenge is connecting with people who are not choral musicians, those who can’t connect with us directly through singing themselves. It’s important to have ways for those people to access the same emotional wavelength, to experience that same sense of community.” When we help listeners make these connections, the potential for audience satisfaction and retention is much higher
Choral audiences usually include patrons with widely varying levels of musical expertise. Our audiences likely include other musicians whose understanding of concert music is deep, but the other largest portion is made up of friends, family, and colleagues of the performers who may have little familiarity with choral music. Despite this dichotomy in musical expertise, a 2016 audience impact study found that both frequent and first-time choral patrons wished “to be emotionally moved or inspired” when attending concerts (this was consistently cited as a chief motivation for attendance). This is not to say that the desire to witness high-quality singing and craftsmanship has been completely eclipsed. Rather, it demonstrates that both musically experienced listeners and novices place high value on the emotional rewards of live performance. So how do we emotionally engage both newcomers and veteran patrons? One answer is to invite them to do a little more than just be passive receivers. We can ask them to reflect, ask questions, and connect the concert themes to their own lives to create something more meaningful. We can shift the paradigm from a focus on selling repertoire to selling an experience. We can program challenging repertoire without fear of turning away our subscription base or ostracizing non-musicians. We can combat the persistent idea that one needs to know a lot about this music in order to “get it.” This focus on the listener experience can foster a stronger sense of community within the concert hall and beyond. It can also endear your organization to ticket buyers, showing them that you care about the way your music enriches their lives. The good news is that creating interactive moments doesn’t require elaborate technology or a total overhaul of your program. In fact, there are many simple strategies for inviting audience participation in thoughtful ways. Below you’ll find some examples of interactive concert elements that are cost-effective, easy to implement, and impactful.
Once you’ve decided to incorporate interactive elements, how you do it matters just as much as what you do. The most impactful audience experiences are designed with intention, clarity, and care. Whether you’re experimenting with one new idea or crafting an entire concert with audience interaction in mind, the following principles can help ensure your efforts feel purposeful and enriching for your audience and your performers alike.
Dr. Lindsey Bruner Woodcock is Director of Choral Activities and Coordinator of Music Education at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Lindsey’s research is focused on audience engagement and the ways in which interactive performances can enhance the concert experience