Community Engagement

Civic Engagement and Community Outreach have been used so interchangeably in our tagging that we propose using one tag: "Community Engagement" instead

The December holidays are synonymous with choral music, and thousands of people in North America celebrate with singing in or attending concerts that feature timeless carols and familiar favorites. But some choruses are breaking away from the tried-and-true holiday concert formula. We spoke with several choral leaders whose ensembles are highlighting lesser-known traditions, or using holiday themes to explore more universal concepts or address timely social issues.

Alexander Lloyd Blake has plenty of jobs to keep himself busy.

Blake is the choir director for the LA County High School for the Arts, and principal assistant conductor of the National Children's Chorus’ Los Angeles ensemble. But that’s not all. “I'm an assistant conductor at First Congregational Church LA—that's a new one,” Blake recounts. “And I'm studying for my qualifying exams for my doctorate in choral conducting at USC.”

Educational partnerships that serve school-age children are a focus for teachers and community choir leaders alike. In this webinar, our panel of experts will explore the different types of partnerships, talk about potential program models, and discuss how to create the ideal program for your community. Participants will walk away with a range of program styles to use in the future and a first-hand account of how programs work in different settings.

Vijay Gupta is both a violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a dedicated advocate for the power of music to change lives and reconnect us to our shared humanity. In 2011, he founded Street Symphony, a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging musicians in performance and dialogue with marginalized communities of people experiencing poverty, homelessness and incarceration. 

A first-of-its-kind convening highlights some promising ideas for helping the choral field thrive

When you stop to think about the ways people sing together, the diversity is breathtaking. Just a partial list includes community, school, collegiate, and church choruses, as well as gospel choirs, barbershop groups, contemporary a cappella ensembles, men’s choruses, and special mission groups like threshold choirs.

To achieve patron engagement and loyalty, you need a core strategy by which to evaluate, understand, and serve your audiences. In this webinar, Matt Lehrman of Audience Avenue, LLC presents a framework that empowers a “whole-organization approach” to building, sorting, and targeting the different audiences your chorus wants to reach. He’ll focus on how to drive deep loyalty, how to inspire return attendance, how to pursue awareness and participation from entirely new population segments, and how to deliver extraordinary experiences that really matter

Apologies, but you don't have permission to view this page.

Thanks for your interest. You must be a Chorus America member (or derive membership benefits from your relationship to a member organization) to view this content.

If you are currently a member, please log in or create a site user account for access to members-only content. If you are not currently a member, We invite you to join to access all Chorus America’s resources and benefits.

After serving as a guest conductor with the Seattle Women's Chorus (SWC), Wendy Moy became friends with Dennis Coleman, who served as the artistic director for all of SWC's 14 years, as well as 35 years with the Seattle Men's Chorus. Now the director of choral activities and music education at Connecticut College and co-artistic director of Chorosynthesis Singers, Wendy spoke with the man she calls one of her mentors in the wake of his retirement about his career and the future of the choral field.

Get News