Innovation

Articles

Member Spotlight: Dominick DiOrio, Composer and Choral Conductor, Indiana University

Kelsey Menehan | Composing/Commissioning, Education, General, Impact/Value, Innovation, Participation, Performance, Professional, Singing

Dominick DiOrio is one of the youngest people ever to be hired on the conducting faculty at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He leads the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, a 30-member auditioned ensemble that specializes in music of the last 50 years. Chorus America talked to DiOrio about his own compositions and his passion for finding and performing the music of contemporary composers. Read more

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Going Viral: The Power of Video to Raise Your Chorus's Profile

Kelsey Menehan | Audiences, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Fundraising, General, Impact/Value, Innovation, Marketing/Public Relations, Singing, Social Media, Technique/Tool, Technology

Plug the words “choir videos” into your search engine and you’ll get an astounding number of links (Google found 112,000,000. Yes, million.) Is your chorus among them? It could be—and more easily than you may think. Chorus America asked several choruses to tell us how they are making video a key part of their marketing strategy. Read more

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The Art of Strategic Alliances

Matthew Sigman | Composing/Commissioning, Governance, Innovation, Management/Leadership, Strategic Planning, Technique/Tool

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

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Messing with Messiah

Kelsey Menehan | Composing/Commissioning, Innovation, Repertoire

The "Hallelujah" chorus is the signature piece from Handel's popular oratorio, as much a part of holiday festivities as "O Tannenbaum" and tinsel. In fact, the entire Messiah has permeated our culture so completely that modern-day musicians have felt free to put their own stamp on it. Read more

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The Art of Strategic Alliances: Best Practices

Matthew Sigman | Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Governance, Innovation, Professional, Strategic Planning, Technique/Tool

Considering a strategic alliance? You might also want to consider these best practices drawn from the major findings of the Mendelssohn Club's Strategic Alliances study featured in the article "The Art of Strategic Alliances" by Matthew Sigman. Read more

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Member Spotlight: Erica Battle, Detroit Children’s Choir

Chorus America Staff | Children/Youth, Diversity, Education, General, Innovation, Management/Leadership, Operations, Schools

In Detroit, music and arts organizations are pooling their resources to buy management expertise. That's how Erica Battle, a certified public accountant, stepped into her position as executive director of the Detroit Children's Choir. Here she talks with Chorus America about the shared services model that has been successful in Detroit, her new role, and her recent experience at October's Chorus Management Institute. Read more

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“Call Me Maybe” Gets a Choral Twist

Viral Video Shines New Light on Choral Music

Lauren Rosenthal | Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Profile, Rehearsal, Singing

If you’ve been on the internet during the past month, you’ve probably seen the quirky viral video of a chorus and orchestra covering the popular, can’t-get-it-out-of-your head song “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. There are hundreds of other videos online covering the song, ranging from topics like NFL replacement referees to the United States Olympic swim team, so what makes this one so special? With more than two million hits and counting on YouTube, mentions in newspapers around the country, and even a featured performance on the Today Show, who knew choral music could go so viral? Read more

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Member Spotlight: Jane Ramseyer Miller, One Voice Mixed Chorus

Confronting Bullying Through Song

Chorus America Staff | Audiences, Children/Youth, Community Outreach, Diversity, Education, Families, Impact/Value, Innovation, Schools

One Voice Mixed Chorus, Minnesota's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allies chorus, is committed to building community and creating social change. The group's music director, Jane Ramseyer Miller, talked with Chorus America about how their mission propelled a unique outreach to public school students in the Twin Cities. Read more

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The Changing World of Communications

Communications director Robin L. Perry reflects on how the tsunami of technology has changed the way organizations communicate.

Gayle Ober | CA News, Careers, Innovation, Marketing/Public Relations, Social Media

With this issue of The Voice, editor Robin L. Perry says farewell. After 12 years at Chorus America, she is taking on a new challenge, working with her father on a biography, which will involve a move to California. Chorus America has been the beneficiary of Robin's expertise, creativity, and hard work. She leaves us with a terrific base on which to grow and we wish her all the best in her new venture. I asked her to reflect on her tenure as director of communications and to share with readers her perspectives on how communications have changed during that time. Read more

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The Human Singing Voice in the Age of Twitter

Eric Friesen | Community Outreach, General, History, Impact/Value, Innovation, Participation, Singing, Social Media

Though the river of time engulfs us in change, the purity and beauty of the human singing voice remains a constant. Read more

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Resources

Conference Keynote Speech: There Are No Crises

Russell Willis ... | Audiences, Finance, Fundraising, Governance, Innovation, Management/Leadership

A speech by Russell Willis Taylor of National Arts Strategies that addresses ways to turn times of organizational and environmental crisis into growth and creative thinking opportunities. Delivered at the 2010 Conference. Read more

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Economic Impact Study (2009)

Chorus America Staff | Finance, Fundraising, Innovation, Operations, Research/Data

Member choruses reported on the impact of the recession on their financial and organizational outlook in a brief survey conducted in 2009. Read more

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National Performing Arts Convention Final Report (2008)

Chorus America Staff | Diversity, Education, Impact/Value, Innovation, Technology

The National Performing Arts Convention (NPAC) was a five-day extravaganza, bringing together more than 30 different arts service organizations and their constituents to learn from each other and from high-profile experts from all arts fields. The final report summarizes the activities and outcomes of NPAC. Read more

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Events

CHORAL CHAMELEON SUMMER INSTITUTE for Composers & Conductors

New York City

JefferyThyer | Adults/Seniors, Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Education, Innovation, Networking, Participation, Performance, Professional, Rehearsal, Repertoire, Singing

The Choral Chameleon Institute is an eight-day intensive workshop in New York City, designed to immerse emerging composers and conductors of choral music in the intricacies of the choral idiom in a nurturing environment surrounded by respected professionals. It gives students an opportunity to explore and experiment with writing and conducting techniques in a "best-case scenario". During the course of the institute, many new pieces of choral music are cultivated and ultimately publicly performed, with live recording of the concert. Standards of the choral repertoire serve as a springboard for young conductors to work on challenging matters of gesture, musicianship, and rehearsal technique. Generous lab and podium time is given to all participants to ensure maximum practical and hands-on experience. The Choral Chameleon Institute also places heavy emphasis on ear training and analysis as means of deep, joyful discovery and informed, innovative interpretation. Read more

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Heritage Presents: 13th Annual Concert Sing On!

4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016

Miriam Dixon | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, CA News, Children/Youth, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Diversity, Education, Families, Fundraising, General, Impact/Value, Innovation, Management/Leadership, Marketing/Public Relations, Networking, Participation, Performance, Professional, Recruitment, Schools, Singing, Social Media, Symphonic, Venue, Volunteer

We Preserve the Past. We Inspire the Community. We Sing On. Join Heritage Signature Chorale for our annual concert which promises to stir your soul. Tickets may be purchased at www.heritagesignaturechorale.org or by phone (202) 808-0583. Read more

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The Son of Man

Santa Clara and San Francisco, CA

Susan Rooke | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, CA News, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire

The Peninsula Women's Chorus and The Golden Gate Men's Chorus collaborate in a West Coast premiere. Read more

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Voce Chamber Singers presents I LOVE YOU MUCH

2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, Virginia

Joan Winter Skerritt | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Awards, CA News, Families, General, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Volunteer

Don't miss this exciting concert featuring the world premiere performance of Voce’s newest commission: a stunning setting of the e.e. cummings poem, i love you much(most beautiful darling) by award-winning composer Matthew Harris, who will be in attendance. A reception and silent auction will follow. Read more

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Voce Chamber Singers presents I LOVE YOU MUCH

432 Van Buren Street, Herndon, Virginia

Joan Winter Skerritt | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Awards, CA News, Families, General, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Volunteer

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New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Neptune

Neptune, NJ

New Jersey Cham... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Diversity, Families, General, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Venue

Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem stands among the most respected masterworks in the canon of choral repertoire. Drawing inspiration from Gregorian chant, this requiem evokes a profound depth of human emotion that is timeless yet still speaks to the modern soul. We invite you to surrender all that is out-of-reach and immerse yourself within the lush harmonic colors and generous textures of French romanticism. Join us on this musical quest for healing as we explore both our human frailty and our spiritual immortality. Read more

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Time Zones ~~ Bach and Chaplin Merge!

Pittsburgh, PA

BriGuySinger | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Children/Youth, Conducting, Diversity, Families, History, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic

The season of examining time and travel finishes with a juxtaposition of two distinct Time Zones, the first being that of our forebear and namesake, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the second being that of a writer, star and legend of the silent screen, Charlie Chaplin. In combining the musical genius of Bach with the brilliant silent narratives of Chaplin’s films, the Bach Choir bridges these two bountiful eras, creating a thought-provoking connection between artistic genres. Read more

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New Music for Treble Voices Festival

555 Waverley St., Palo Alto CA

Susan Rooke | Audiences, Children/Youth, Community Outreach, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing

The Peninsula Women's Chorus hosts the sixth annual edition of the exciting and innovative New Music for Treble Voices Festival. Read more

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Voices of Light: The Passion of Joan of Arc

Southborough, MA

Robert Eaton | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Education, General, History, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Singing, Technique/Tool, Technology

Voices of Light merges the legendary silent film masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, with a live performance of a ravishing score by award-winning composer Richard Einhorn. An incredibly moving composition for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, Voices of Light has been hailed as "a triumph" (Los Angeles Times) and "an overwhelming experience" (Chicago Tribune). Read more

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Carlsbad Music Festival

Village of Carlsbad, CA.

sdcchoir | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Children/Youth, Diversity, Families, Innovation, Performance, Singing

The San Diego Children's Choir will be performing with Sacra/Profana on Saturday the 22nd. The festival will feature community musicians performing short concerts at intimate venues throughout the Village Read more