Learning Leadership

Many choral directors take on administrative responsibility with little formal preparation. Here are strategies to excel in the office and boardroom as well as the concert hall.Read more

10 New Ways Your Chorus Can Use Facebook and Twitter

Whether your chorus is a 150-member children's choir or an eight-member a cappella group, social media can be a powerful tool for staying in touch with your members and your audience. Here are some new ideas to help keep your Facebook and Twitter...Read more

10 Tips for Engaging Your Board

It's really the staff's job to position the board to do their best work―and most of that boils down to excellent communication and clarity of expectations.Read more

Member Spotlight; Melinda Pollack-Harris, Sing to Live Community Chorus, Chicago

When Melinda Pollack-Harris was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, she needed music to face the challenge. That was the inspiration for Sing to Live Community Chorus for women, loved ones, and friends touched by cancer.Read more

The Art of Strategic Alliances

When do partnerships add value and when do they distract from a chorus’s mission? Philadelphia’s venerable Mendelssohn Club explores the spectrum of collaboration, from artistic to administrative.Read more

Management & Governance

Chorus America strengthens the governance, management, marketing, fundraising, and operations of choruses by providing practical tools, templates, training, and strategies for its administrative and board leaders. We track the annual operations of choruses, identify best practices and assessment tools, and help our members build audiences for choral music.

Articles

Finding a New Music Director

Jeff Lunden | Conducting, Management/Leadership, Operations, Recruitment

In the 2005 study, Choral Conductors Today, Chorus America learned that as many as one-third of choruses are conducted by their founders, and furthermore that a majority of these choruses were founded a generation or more ago. This data suggests that a large number of choruses will be facing significant leadership transitions and indeed, experience in the intervening years has borne out this assertion. Read more

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Continuity Planning: Prepare Your Chorus for the Unexpected

Jim Nelson | Operations

As organizations of every type struggle to get back on their feet after natural disasters in the recent past, we are all reminded that it could happen to anyone. A business continuity expert shares steps you can take to mitigate the effects of a crisis. Read more

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The Death of Performing Arts Subscriptions - Or Not?

Douglas W. Kinzey | Audiences, Marketing/Public Relations

Clearly the concept of subscribing is not dead, just look at the sports world! To make headway against the challenges to build a robust subscription base, we must work smart, be students of our surroundings, and ask fundamental questions. Read more

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Why Business Support May Come in Smaller Packages

Heidi Waleson | Fundraising, Marketing/Public Relations, Networking

Choruses looking for new sources of corporate support might do well to investigate small businesses, which, according to a survey by the Business Committee for the Arts, represent a largely untapped resource. Read more

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Chorus America Has an Appetite for Learning

And What the Choral Field and Fruit Flies Have in Common!

Ann Meier Baker | Education, Governance, Impact/Value, Management/Leadership, Strategic Planning

For an organization to make significant progress it needs collective thinking, an appetite for learning, and the ability to adapt. Read more

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Is Your Personnel Manual Complete?

Dave Ljung | Finance, Management/Leadership, Operations

Communicating personnel policies to your staff is critical, especially in small arts organizations such as choruses where the lines between staff and board responsibilities are not always clearly spelled out. Here are the policies most commonly missing in personnel manuals of nonprofits. Read more

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But I Don't Have a Tuxedo...

Is Concert Hall Etiquette Exclusionary?

Duain Wolfe | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Impact/Value, Marketing/Public Relations, Operations

We have created an elitist culture around classical music, about clothes and small talk and polite applause, and then we wonder why the cabbies and those who "don't have tuxedos" don't come to our concerts. Should we be working to change this? How can we do it? Read more

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10 Fundraising Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

Kay Sprinkel Grace | Fundraising, Governance

We can all tell stories about things we did that derailed a solicitation or embarrassed us (even if we got the gift!). Mistakes may be inevitable, but our awareness of them can reduce their frequency. Increase your prospects for success by understanding these common misperceptions about fundraising. Read more

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Maximize Your Marketing Impact

Helen Franczyk | Audiences, Management/Leadership, Marketing/Public Relations

A practical guide for improving message strategy and branding. Read more

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Doing Good AND Doing Right: Ethics in Fundraising

Catherine Dehoney | Fundraising

Raising money can pose tough ethical dilemmas. Luckily, guidance is available to help you discern right from wrong. Read more

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Resources

Navigating a Music Director Transition

An Online Seminar

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Governance, Operations, Strategic Planning, Technology

Responding to survey data that revealed that 33% of responding conductors were founding directors that anticipated retiring from their ensembles within 5-10 years, Chorus America created this online seminar, Navigating a Music Director Transition. Packed full of video interviews with leaders in the field who have addressed this transition from all different roles (departing music director, incoming music director, board president, executive director, search committee member, etc.), as well as practical worksheets and tools, the 4-part seminar is a vital resource for any choruses anticipating an artistic change. Read more

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Nonprofit Chorus Self-Evaluation Tool

Chorus America Staff | Evaluation, Governance, Legal/Licensing, Operations, Strategic Planning, Technique/Tool

A comprehensive evaluation tool for choruses that addresses nine areas: organizational purpose, programs & evaluation, governance, planning, fundraising, financial stability & transparency, marketing & public relations, human resources, and operations & facilities. Each section's questions are organized from legal minimums to best practices. Read more

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Chorus Operations Survey Report (2011)

Roland Kushner | Evaluation, Finance, Fundraising, Governance, Management/Leadership, Marketing/Public Relations, Operations, Research/Data, Technique/Tool

Chorus America's annual survey of the operations of choruses, the Operations Survey Report includes more than 40 different analyses, from number of board meetings to board giving, from ticket pricing to chorus dues amounts, from accompanist pay practices to marketing efficiency. The 2011 report features data from the 2009-2010 season. Read more

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Strategic Plan Template

Chorus America Staff | Governance, Sample/Template, Strategic Planning

Use this template as a guide for your chorus. Read more

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Soloist Contract

Chorus America Staff | Legal/Licensing, Operations, Performance, Sample/Template

Use this basic sample letter of agreement to hire vocal or instrumental soloists (or a guest ensemble). Read more

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Singer Information Form

Chorus America Staff | Operations, Recruitment, Sample/Template, Singing

Use this template as a guide for collecting useful information about new and returning singers during auditions. Read more

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Singer Handbook Table of Contents

Chorus America Staff | Operations, Performance, Rehearsal, Sample/Template, Singing

Most choruses provide singers with a handbook for participation; use this sample table of contents to make sure you haven't forgotten any policies. Read more

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Orchestra Contract

Chorus America Staff | Legal/Licensing, Operations, Performance, Sample/Template

Use this basic sample contract when your chorus is retained to perform by an orchestra. Read more

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Music Director Search Audition Evaluation Form

A Sample from the Dessoff Choirs

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Evaluation, Management/Leadership, Operations, Recruitment, Sample/Template

A rating form for singers to use when evaluating all potential conductors during a search. Read more

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Music Director Search Audition Evaluation Form

Template for Evaluating Finalists

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Evaluation, Management/Leadership, Operations, Recruitment, Sample/Template

A rating form for singers to use when evaluating conductors who have been identified as finalists during a music director search. Read more

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Events

Purcell The Indian Queen

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Awards, Careers, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Diversity, Education, Families, General, Impact/Value, Performance, Singing, Symphonic, Venue

H&H presents a program of comedy, romance, intrigue, and beautiful music with this dramatic semi-opera and scenes from other Purcell works. Read more

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Chorus Management Institute 2012

Indianapolis, IN

Chorus America Staff |

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DeKalb Choral Guild Gala Celebration

Sandy Springs, GA

DeKalb Choral Guild | Fundraising

Black Tie Gala celebration in support of the DeKalb Choral Guild -your premier community chorus in DeKalb County GA. Read more

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Fundraiser for The Northern Virginia Chorale

12193 Fair Lakes Promenade Dr., Fairfax VA

Susanne Cook | Fundraising

The Northern Virginia Chorale will have a fundraiser at Barnes and Noble, 12193 Fair Lakes Promenade Dr., Fairfax, VA, on March 17, 2012. We will be performing between 10 AM and 2 PM. There will be activities for children: face painting and bookmark making, and also members will read to the children. The music and activities will have a St. Patrick's theme. We appreciate your support at any time that day (and for five days thereafter online) by using our voucher #10683035, which will give the Chorale a percentage of sales. Read more