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High Notes Blog

Chorus America's High Notes blog is curated by the Chorus America staff. Here, find articles on what our members are up to, and links to the latest news and commentary on the issues that matter to the choral field. High Notes also includes information about policy issues and advocacy alerts.

Additional Advocacy Information

Chorus America is a member of the Performing Arts Alliance (PAA), a national coalition of nonprofit arts service organizations advocating for federal policies that impact the nonprofit performing arts sector. Membership in Chorus America includes membership in PAA and you can learn more about PAA's policy agenda in the PAA Advocacy Center.

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  • New COVID Relief Funding Resources
    by Liza Beth

    At the end of December, the U.S. Congress passed a year-end package of FY21 federal funding and coronavirus assistance of unprecedented scope. Now the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Treasury are working to issue official guidance on how the new laws will be implemented, including relaunching the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which reopened this week for both first and second draw loan.

  • A Game-Changing Technology for Remote Singing
    by Mike Rowan

    With some help from Silicon Valley, we may be on our way to overcoming the choral field’s most persistent hurdle during the pandemic—latency from internet connections that prevents choruses from truly being able to hear each other and sing together synchronously online. Software entrepreneur Mike Dickey, a parent of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus of San Mateo, California, worked with Stanford University researchers to develop a technology platform called JackTrip Virtual Studio that makes real-time remote singing possible with common internet connections.

  • Adapting Traditions for a Virtual Holiday Season
    by Mike Rowan

    In a year when choruses and audiences are not able to gather in concert venues for some of their most beloved and time-honored traditions, many groups are coming up with new ways to celebrate the season.

  • To Tim Sharp: A Letter of Appreciation upon His Retirement as Executive Director of ACDA
    by Chorus America Staff
    A Letter to Tim Sharp

    Catherine Dehoney, President and CEO

    Brian Newhouse, Board Chair

    Dear Tim,

    On behalf of the Board, staff, and members of Chorus America, we thank you for your extraordinary leadership of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). As you begin your next phase professionally and personally, please know that your tireless efforts to ensure quality choral music education in this country and beyond will have ripple effects far into the future.

  • Post-Election Advocacy Update: COVID-19 Relief and Relationship Building
    by Liza Beth

    In the wake of the 2020 election season, here is an update from our partners at the Performing Arts Alliance about how you can take immediate action for COVID-19 relief and begin the process of building relationships with policy leaders in the new year.

  • Reflections on the 2020 U.S. Election: Choruses, This is the Work Ahead
    by Catherine Dehoney
     
    A Letter from Catherine Dehoney

    President and CEO, Chorus America

     

    Dear choral colleagues,

    I spent election night watching a movie to keep anxiety at bay, with brief breaks to check on the news. Every update on the vote count felt like another confirmation of the division present in our country and the uncertainty we all face. At one point, my husband Bill turned to me with a tired sigh and said, “Choruses are great, but I don’t think you can sing your way out of this.”  

  • Choral Field Embraces the Democratic Process
    by Mike Rowan

    As this article is published, votes are still being counted in the 2020 United States general election - though for months now, the choral field has been using the power of our art to encourage the public to make their voices heard in this much-anticipated event. Our Chorus Impact Study has consistently found that choristers exhibit remarkably high levels of civic leadership, and the projects of these choruses and composers certainly live up to those research findings.

  • Commemorating the 19th Amendment: Singing about Suffrage and Exploring Intersectionality
    by Jennifer Weyman

    “Awake! Awake! Ye sisters all,” is the opening line to the “Suffrage Marching Song,” by Fanny Connable and Florence Livingston Lent, composed in 1914 to benefit the Equal Suffrage Cause. Like many political movements, the suffrage movement was inherently linked with music, making the 2020 centennial of the 19th Amendment’s ratification a natural programmatic theme. Choruses across the U.S. are honoring this anniversary with new events and commissions featuring women’s voices, including premieres happening this weekend.

  • Fall 2020 Chorus Survey and Member Forums
    by Chorus America Staff

    With a few months of fall behind us, and the holidays and planning for spring ahead, it feels like a good time to check in. We're hearing from many of you with questions about how choruses like yours are operating at this point in the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Fall 2020 Chorus Survey and Member Forums are designed to help answer these questions and inform your future planning.

     

  • Chorus America’s Scholarly Journals Find New Home at National Collegiate Choral Organization
    by Chorus America Staff

    Chorus America is pleased to announce a transition for the American Choral Review (ACR) and the Research Memorandum Series (RMS) to a new home with the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO).

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