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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

Voice Magazine, Issue 43.2 - Winter 2019/2020

Insurance 101 for Choruses

What’s the best way to identify your chorus’s insurance needs and find affordable options to cover them? Choral leaders who have gone through the process share what they have learned.

Voice Magazine, Issue 43.1 - Fall 2019

Q&A with John Rosser; Artistic Director, World Symposium of Choral Music 2020 in New Zealand

The World Symposium on Choral Music is an eight-day festival held every three years, organized by the International Federation for Choral Music. The next symposium is scheduled for July 2020, to be hosted in Auckland, New Zealand. In anticipation of WSCM2020, symposium artistic director John Rosser, who also founded and directs the Auckland-based chamber choir Viva Voce, spoke with Chorus America about next year’s event and its theme, tangata whenua.

Sharing the Breadth and Beauty of Jewish Choral Music

The Zamir Chorale of Boston is launching a new online resource intended to share the breadth and beauty of the repertoire that has been its specialty for 50 years. The chorale’s founder, Joshua Jacobson, explains why he believes choral music from Jewish traditions will be a welcome discovery for choruses of all kinds.

Creating a Culture of Belonging

An Interview with Nicole Robinson

Aiming to foster a more welcoming and connected choral community in the city of our 2019 Conference, Chorus America has been bringing representatives of Philadelphia-area choruses together since last October for a series of workshops and online learning activities called “Voices of Change: Building a More Inclusive Choral Community.” Led by Nicole R. Robinson, a music educator and the founder of the consulting firm Cultural Connections by Design, the project is intended to support choruses in considering diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work and to explore strategies for increased communication and collaboration between different kinds of choruses.

Cultural Appropriation: From Culture Stealing to Culture Sharing

How can choruses explore music from cultures other than their own in a respectful way? Rollo Dilworth’s research provides a framework for thinking about cultural appropriation and its intersection with choral music.

Singing a New Song: The Power of Commission Consortiums

One of the most important ways to encourage the health of choral music is for choruses to become involved in the process of commissioning and premiering new works. Chorus America has been democratizing this process for over a decade through its Commission Consortium program, which enables a wide variety of choruses to participate in this exciting work. Recently, the concert tour company Classical Movements became a leading partner of this program—a development that promises to enhance the program’s reach. Here’s a look at the Commission Consortiums opportunities for 2019.

Transitioning to a Community Board

As nonprofits evolve, what they need from their board members shifts. Some choruses reach a point where they consider bringing in people from the community to augment their own internal leaders. If you’re thinking about that, here are some factors to consider.

Featuring African American Female Composers

Two leaders of very different choral organizations share their experiences with this programming focus.

Community in the Professional Chorus

Last fall, Indiana University music professor, conductor, and composer Dominick DiOrio took a sabbatical to travel across the United States to observe a wide spectrum of professional vocal ensembles, from small to large and from nascent to established. After attending rehearsals and performances and meeting with artistic directors, executives, and singers, he was left with the sense that, at their core, these professional choruses have more in common with their community counterparts than he imagined. 

Priced Out of the Market

How Choruses Are Responding to the Concert Venue Crunch

Churches are the traditional performance venue of choice for many choral music organizations. But as rental costs rise and competition for event space becomes tighter, choruses are feeling the squeeze. Here are a few innovative, affordable solutions they’ve found.

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