Chorus Membership
 

Chorus America - Your Voice

We offer a wide array of benefits for choruses including The Voice magazine and eVoice newsletter, a dynamic website with resources and tools you can use, professional development and training programs, valuable choral and conductor survey data, an enriching annual conference, and opportunities to network with your colleagues.

Whether your chorus is large or small, professional or volunteer, adult or youth, a cappella or symphonic, Chorus America has what you need to succeed.

Chorus Membership Dues
 
Budgets up to $89,999...............................  $135
Budgets from $90,000-$533,999..................  0.0015 of budget (0.15%)
Budgets $534,000 and above......................  $800

Chorus Membership Designations

Chorus America tracks our member choruses using five designations: volunteer, professional, symphony/opera, children/youth and umbrella choruses. We ask each member chorus to select the single category that best fits their organization.

Three of the designations are self-explanatory, but here are our definitions of professional and umbrella choruses: A professional chorus can be pre-professional (pays some of its singers some of the time), professional core (pays some of its singers all of the time -- a minimum of 12 singers or 25% of the singers in the chorus, whichever is less) or fully professional (pays all of its singers all of the time), but they must meet the following additional criteria:

  1. Minimum pay to singers: Twice the minimum federal hourly wage for each hour singers are contracted to rehearse and/or perform (based upon an average of combined rehearsal and performance hours per production).  Note: The minimum hourly wage is set by the federal government and required by law.
  2. Seasons and concert requirements: Minimum of two consecutive performance seasons with at least three programs per season.
An umbrella chorus indicates that you operate several groups under one umbrella. So, if Example Chorus, Inc. operated both the Example Choralaires (an adult, volunteer chorus) and Sing by Example! (a children/youth chorus), they would choose "umbrella chorus" as their designation. However, if they operated multiple choruses of the same type, e.g. all children/youth choirs, then they would choose "children/youth chorus" as their designation.

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Chorus Member Benefits

    Multiple subscriptions to The Voice
    Chorus America’s award-winning quarterly magazine with in-depth interviews and profiles, chorus news and activities, opinion and commentary, board leadership strategies, successful marketing and fundraising techniques, and advice on artistic issues.
    Choruses with dues of $800 : multiple subscriptions for full board
    Choruses with dues under $800 : three subscriptions for top leaders

    Multiple subscriptions to eVoice
    Chorus America’s semi-monthly electronic newsletter, with timely news, links to important sources of professional information, training program updates, and tools you can put to immediate use. Available to all of your chorus staff, board, and volunteers.

    Chorus America staff at your service
    Individualized and friendly assistance from the Chorus America staff to help answer your questions and track down information you need in a timely fashion.

    Networking and personal contacts
    Access to leaders in the choral field through national and regional meetings and online discussion groups; personalized advice in one-on-one Buttonhole Consultations at the Annual Conference.

    Members-Only Section
    Access to job listings, concert calendar, survey data, resource center documents, advocacy tools, archived periodicals and features from The Voice, how-to articles on fundraising, marketing, commissioning, leadership, and more.

    • Navigating a Music Director Transition
      Chorus America’s groundbreaking online seminar addressing the challenges of leadership changes in choruses. This two-hour seminar is broken up into four 30-minute sessions for easy viewing and is available free on the Members-Only Section.
    • Membership Directory
      Browse complete information on our chorus, business, and individual members. A wonderful networking tool!

    Industry data, research, and resource center
    Exclusive access to chorus operations data and industry statistics collected through annual surveys and research studies; personally tailored reports from our chorus database.

    Awards, recognition, and visibility
    Eligibility for our extensive awards program, giving your chorus the visibility and recognition you deserve; ongoing coverage of chorus member news and activities in print and electronic publications.

    Annual Conference registration discounts
    Substantial registration discounts for your staff and board members to Chorus America’s Annual Conference, a four-day event featuring in-depth professional development seminars, workshops, concerts, expert consultations, peer-group constituency group meetings, and countless networking opportunities with hundreds of choral colleagues from throughout North America. The 33
    rd Annual Chorus America Conference will take place in Atlanta, GA, from June 16-19, 2010, hosted by The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

    Insurance
  • Health and dental policies
  •   Complimentary Associate Membership for the leaders of your chorus to Fractured Atlas, which manages enrollment for a range of health plans available in 30 states and the District of Columbia. We continue to partner with The Entertainment Industry Group Insurance Trust (TEIGIT), who also offers group health insurance plans depending on state of residence.
     
  • Liability, Directors & Officers, and other insurance policies
  •   Now available through Fractured Atlas, Willis HRH and Acoma Insurance Professionals LLC.


    Consultation program
    Eligibility for expert consultations by some of the nation’s leading artistic and administrative professionals in topics ranging from artistic planning to board development. Individualized attention through an onsite visit or telephone consultation—each consultation is tailored to the organization’s needs. Costs include a $500 fee prior to the onsite visit, as well as the consultant’s hotel accommodations, travel, and meals (fees for telephone consultations are negotiable). Chorus America also has links to a wide variety of professionals who may consult at a discounted fee. Limited to one per year per member chorus.

    Skillbuilding through professional development programs

    Conducting Masterclasses: Designed to give emerging conductors podium time working with experienced master teachers on skill development beyond university/conservatory training. Masterclasses also address the non-musical responsibilities of being a conductor.

    Chorus Management Institute: An intensive three-day workshop for chorus executives and board members covering fundraising, board development, marketing, leadership transitions, and strategic planning.

Mailing list service
Exclusive access to member mailing lists (postal addresses only), purchased in various formats.

Website link
A direct link from Chorus America’s online Membership Directory to your website, providing greater exposure and access for your chorus.

Advertising discounts
Substantial member discounts and preferred placement for display advertising in The Voice, Chorus America’s award-winning quarterly magazine.

Choral Survey Report
Members-only access to the Choral Survey Report, an industry-wide survey of choral activities that provides statistics about the field and answers frequently asked questions about organizational structure, finances, repertoire, education programs, boards of directors, and personnel.

Publication discounts
Member discounts on useful publications such as our newest book, The Chorus Leadership Guide, and Conductors Count: What Chorus Boards, Music Directors, and Administrators Need to Know.

Subscriptions to scholarly journals
Complimentary subscriptions to the American Choral Review and Research Memorandum Series, scholarly online journals for artistic leaders addressing recent research and repertoire issues.

    NEW! Access to Advocacy Tools
    Through our partnership, Chorus America members can become free Advocate members of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, which will provide you with easy-to-use online tools to instantly contact elected leaders at the federal, state, and local levels with customizable messages and timely arts advocacy alerts and news through their online E-Advocacy Center. Learn more.



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