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| The Voice of Chorus America Newsletter - Spring 2001 | |||||
| Education Programs: Partnership with our Future | |||||
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Choruses find education programs a win-win endeavor
by Heidi Waleson
Photo Credit: Jeanette McCune
Photo Credit: Stan Sholik
In 1985, the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston began thinking about education programs largely in an effort to change its image. "The outside world had the impression of Handel & Haydn as being very insular and precious, performing for our own people in Symphony Hall," says Mary Deissler, executive director. A decade and a half later, the group devotes about 20 percent of its budget to education programs. These include an in-school performance program consisting of scripted shows performed by a professional quartet and accompanist, as well as the innovative Vocal Apprenticeship Program, which provides intensive vocal and musical training for more than 100 talented Boston-area students who would not otherwise have the means to develop their musical gifts.
An investment in education had the desired effect. "It gives us a more humane face," Deissler says. "The education program helps the board understand that they are supporting not only terrific music, but something that's an asset to the whole community. The organization cares about giving something back. It has also made the organization an easier sell."
Symphony orchestras have been involved in the education business for decades. Kiddie concerts and one-shot, in-school efforts began as an attempt to provide additional income for salaried players. But as music education in public schools diminished, it became clear that performing arts organizations could have a much greater impact. All kinds of cultural groups recognized that children who received no musical training in school were unlikely to become the performers and audience members of the future. What is more, by creating sustained, well-thought-out education and outreach programs they could acquire recognition in their communities that would not come through performance alone. Today, arts groups all over the country have embarked on mutually beneficial partnerships with schools, creating sophisticated programs that serve everyone's needs.
Creativity Counts: Bigger is not Necessarily Better
But there are countless examples of smaller, less costly projects that can be undertaken by choruses with less extensive resources. As singing is a fairly universal skill, choruses have a natural affinity in the education world, even more so than that of symphony orchestras. Chorus America's extensive listing of education and outreach programs shows a wide variety of activities that center on developing a relationship with schools or community groups through singing-choral festivals, mentoring projects, masterclasses, side-by-side events, and similar activities that can fit very naturally into the work and mission of a chorus.
Tom Hall, music director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and president of Chorus America, offers one simple example. "We did a performance of Elijah and we had a kids' chorus from Baltimore singing the role of angels. The audience loved it and the kids had a blast. They got to sing in a hall for 2,500 people and got a big standing ovation. It's not going to change the world, but for those 100 kids, it was a unique and special experience."
Such collaborative events are also a productive way to make links with community groups. The Minnesota Chorale's "Bridges" program creates sustained links among different ethnic, social, and cultural groups in the Twin Cities. Adults, after all, represent an important constituency for outreach as well.
The Choral Arts Society got into the outreach business through its annual concert tribute to Martin Luther King. The tribute, started the year after King was assassinated, has grown into a big event, with many local choruses participating, and an array of other activities such as school workshops, radio broadcasts, and a CD. "This was a way we could be more involved in the community," says Judy Brophy, the group's executive director. "We forged new relationships that weren't otherwise occurring simply from giving concerts." Through the King event and relationships with high schools, the Choral Arts Society found out that only 40 percent of D.C. schools had music teachers, unlike the suburban communities surrounding the city. That knowledge was the impetus for starting the more in-depth ArtsACCESS program.
The first step in investigating education programs is making sure that the organization is committed to them. "You need a commitment from the top down-music director and board-that education is part of your mission," Deissler says. "If you don't have that, then it's just a revenue generator and it shouldn't be." Deissler and her colleagues caution that while funders may be willing to pay for an education program but not the core concert series, choruses must guard against falling into the trap of creating a program just to get the grant. She also points out that choruses must figure out what their own resources are and whether they will be able to manage an education program. "So many groups have only a part-time administrator. Is it fair to stress that person with running an education program when they have to deal with getting the risers on the stage and everything else?" Any education program must be carefully administered and monitored.
The next step is to look at the community and see what its needs are. "You need to identify and maximize the opportunities you have in your own community," Tom Hall says. "If you're in downtown Milwaukee, simply performing for kids who wouldn't otherwise be exposed to art music might be a valid choice. In Racine, Wisconsin, with a different demographic, you would concoct a program that meets their needs." It is critical, however, to go to the schools first and talk to teachers and administrators to determine their needs. "As independent organizations we have to find ways to partner with these systems," Hall says. "We can't come from the outside and say, 'we know how to do this.' That's arrogant. It's up to me to make my organization and resources available and to ask what we can we do to complement what the system is doing."
Mary Lyons, board member of the Pacific Chorale and Chorus America, points out that an evaluation process is also critical. "We need real feedback, not just to have some sense of how it works, but to know what the impact is. We're all idealists. We want to dream up wonderful ideas and let them fly, but that's dangerous because you can be wasting a lot of money or time, and none of us have that to spare." Lyons gives as an example "Passage to the Arts," a Pacific Chorale program designed to bring students to concerts by having subscribers and others pay for tickets that went free to schools. "We started with schools and directors we knew, but we sent the tickets to schools. We later realized that we needed to send them to the choral directors and have the directors be part of the program because sometimes the tickets weren't even used. Now tickets go to the directors, kids write evaluations of the concerts, and we have more built-in monitoring devices."
The Power of Partnerships
The Vancouver Chamber Choir is now in the 21st year of its Conductor Symposium. The program began, coordinator Violet Goosen explains, because the Canada Council had a similar program going in the eastern part of the country and wanted one in the west.
"The Council had lots of money and funded the whole project. It grew into an international event - we have six conductors who work with us, as well as 10 observers. As money got more scarce, the Council stopped funding it, but we kept it up." In addition to giving conductors experience working with a professional choir, Goosen says that the symposium has made many friends for the choir from around North America. Conductors who have been with them have often helped arrange concert bookings in their home area when the choir tours. "They take our recordings with them. It has helped us build relationships with other musical organizations, with choirs in other communities and countries."
Forging relationships through mentoring, workshops, and the like with youth and university choirs also gives the adult organizations an important link to the future. "Without education programs, I think you lose touch with the world out there," Goosen says. "We know who has good programs, and who is struggling. We keep our eye on them for future singers for our choir. I think there's a danger in being 'just singers.' When we become so focused on who we are, doing the best, we become very self-centered. I remember what it was like when I was a kid, and great singers came to work with us, and you went away with the feeling, 'Wow - that's what it's like to be a professional singer.' You go away with that special feeling that singing is wonderful, that you can do it throughout your life."
Judy Brophy says that collaborating with the D.C. public schools has been an eye-opening experience. "I think it's sensitized the members of the chorus, the board, and the staff to the needs of the schools, and also shown them the great things that are going on there. The schools get lots of bad press, but we've found superstars there. It's gratifying to be there as a support system to some of these dedicated but overstressed teachers."
Whatever the project, one of the most important aspects of planning and maintaining it is to understand both the potential and the limitations of education programming. "You have to figure it out in a sustained way," says Tom Hall. "The in-school programs that the Baltimore Choral Arts Society did sometimes seemed like drive-by shootings. You'd go in and bludgeon them with serious music for a while and then leave. Ultimately, you'd wonder about the long-term effects. We'd get appreciative letters about how funny the conductor was, and then they'd show up in a concert hall, and find that the music wasn't funny at all and be turned off. It takes a sustained commitment to have an effect."
Mary Deissler also cautions that it can be tempting to allow education programs to overwhelm a group. "We could easily raise three times the amount of money we do for the Vocal Apprenticeship Program," she says. "But we have to keep in mind that our main purpose is to give concerts. Handling these kids is very labor-intensive. We have to watch the balance."
Heidi Waleson writes extensively on the arts for many publications including The Wall Street Journal, BBC Music magazine, Symphony, and Early Music America magazine.
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