How Choir Directors are becoming fearless MacGyvers
From cozy, walking concerts to large-scale immersive performances, we discover how choirs are finding new ways to attract - and delight - audiences, while a new focus on diversity and inclusion is connecting choirs to receptive new audiences.
In this episode of ChoirSuccess, we sit down with Catherine Dehoney, President and CEO at Chorus America. For over 45 years, Chorus America has provided advocacy, research and leadership in the development of choirs and choruses across the United States and Canada.
In an environment of falling revenue and stay-at-home audiences, Ms. Dehoney highlights the vitality and resilience of the choral community. From cozy, walking concerts to large-scale immersive performances, choirs are finding new ways to attract - and delight - audiences. Also, a focus on diversity and inclusion means forward-looking choirs are discovering receptive new audiences.
About Catherine
“We did some survey questions around tolerance and found that choral singers, compared to the general population, tend to be more tolerant and more embracing of diversity. And like the other studies that we’ve done, this report confirms that they’re just incredibly civic-minded as compared to the general population. They tend to vote at a higher rate and volunteer. They are part of the solution.”
Catherine Dehoney is President and CEO at Chorus America. She is a member of the Performing Arts Alliance Board and the Development Advisory Committee for SMU-DataArts. Dehoney received her BA in music from the College of William and Mary and continues to be an avid singer, having sung professionally in church choirs and with a jazz band.
About Chorus America
Chorus America is the advocacy, research, and leadership development organization that advances the choral field. We support and serve choral conductors, administrators, board members, and singers with tools, training, peer networking, and access so that choruses are better able to contribute to their communities.
Chorus America serves more than 6,000 choruses, individuals, businesses, and organizations with a wide array of programs, publications, research, and professional services. These services strengthen their ability to build strong organizations that foster quality choral performances and community connections.
Video Transcript Highlights
Chorus America is a service association. We are the advocacy, research and Leadership Development Organization for Persons across the United States and Canada. And we were founded about 45 years ago.
Every choir, besides being a music-generating organization, is also a business. It's very important that the choral organizations of the world learn business skills and know how to stay viable.
Community choirs make more of their money from memberships than from ticket sales. And the ticket sales definitely took a big hit in the last few years.
How do we grow our audiences? The wisdom out there for audiences that haven't come back probably not going to. Audiences have gotten used to watching things online
Choral directors are innovative! There's an entrepreneurial spirit. MacGuyver will fix anything using Band-Aid and the paperclip. So what we're seeing is all sorts of interesting ideas for making concerts, more engaging, immersive concert experiences that don't have to cost a ton of money like the Van Gogh experience.
Choral music is amazing and healing and sports community activists. It's time to make sure everybody's included. Choruses can help solve some of the ills facing our communities. I always felt like if more people were involved in group singing, then a lot of these cultural issues that seem to be on the forefront of many people's minds today would be greatly alleviated.
We have an online community where it's sort of an online town square, if you will. Folks can post questions or really good ideas and respond, and that becomes a repository right there of some interesting things.
The opinions expressed in this program are those of the guests and contributors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ChoirGenius Inc.