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The Voice

Chorus America's award-winning quarterly magazine, The Voice, highlights chorus news, artistic initiatives in the choral world, and advice and commentary on the business of running a successful chorus. The Voice is distributed to nearly 2,000 choral leaders throughout North America. It is published in Spring, Summer, and Fall/Winter; ISSN 1074-0805. Browse articles and past issues in the tabs below. Editor, Liza W. Beth

College a cappella!

College a cappella pretty much started at Yale in 1909 with the Whiffenpoofs, a Glee Club spin-off quartet that sang regularly at Mory's Temple Bar, a campus restaurant. Now, a cappella singing has exploded, spreading to campuses all over the U.S. and abroad. Read about how this movement has taken off.

Many Roads To Choral Conducting

Powerful early experiences set conductors on career paths with unusual twists and turns. Several conductors recount how they got their start.

Managing the Transition to a Community Board

Choruses undergo many transitions in their life span—founder transitions, music director transitions, transitions from volunteer to paid staff. Perhaps the most delicate of these important transitions is the evolution from a singer board to a community board. This shift from a board comprised predominately of singers who have responsibility for every facet of the organization to a governing body with broad community representation can be both a challenging and lengthy process.

When Choruses Collaborate

A chorus by its very nature is a collaboration - singers, instrumentalists, music directors, front-office staff—all, according to Webster, performing work or labor together, especially literary (read artistic) pursuits." So it comes as no surprise that choruses would extend that collaborative spirit beyond their own organizations.

Navigating a Founder Transition

Smooth Sailing or Rough Seas?

What image comes to mind when you hear the term founder transition? Do you think tempest? Do you think sunset cruise? During my work as an arts management consultant I have encountered many organizations navigating a founder transition. This experience has given me a great deal of respect for those who have made successful founder transitions and is the basis for the observations and suggestions I share with organizations facing this important evolution.

How Choral Singing Changes Lives

Activities undertaken by children and teens can profoundly influence the shape of their lives, and singing in a chorus is unusually powerful. Interviews with choral singers show that such early encounters grow into close, passionate relationships with music and choral singing, reflecting the positive influence that choral singing plays in bringing value, direction, and meaning to lives. 

10 Steps To Developing A Diverse Board

There’s a good chance that, like many nonprofits, you aren’t happy with your attempts to achieve diversity. If your best-intentioned efforts are failing, consider these 10 steps to promoting inclusion on your board.

The Leadership Triad

Few performing arts organizations need to be told they are unique. To start with, the leadership structure of performing arts groups is as distinctive from other nonprofits as performing arts groups are from each other. While most nonprofits divide leadership between the board and the chief executive, performing arts organizations include an artistic director and distribute leadership responsibility within a triad.

A New Ethics Environment

You may think that choruses are immune from the transformations that will result from the business and ethics crises that beset politicians and corporations. Far from it. Ethics touches every element of a modern chorus—including board, management, artists, and audience.

7 Critical Questions to Help Your Chorus Develop an Ethics Program

Ask these seven questions to start laying the foundation for an ethics program for your chorus, as recommended in "A New Ethics Environment" by Michael Daigneault, Esq.

Audience Development for the 21st Century

Can we translate the good news of Chorus America's "chorus impact study" into larger audiences for choral music?

When Crisis Hits Home

A crisis is an unwelcome visitor in any organization, but you can minimize its impact with a crisis management plan—here's how to craft yours.

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