SPONSORED CONTENT FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER

Sometimes it takes a dramatic change in the environment for an innovation to take hold. That's the story of InsideGuide - a new platform for creating digital program books for concerts and events from arts technology company InstantEncore. Before COVID-19, there were several reasons that a digital program option could make sense for many arts organizations - including increased editing flexibility and lower shipping and printing costs, to name a couple. Then, adopting new safety measures and decreasing touch points became a priority for arts organizations, and this new driving force ultimately led InstantEncore to develop its new platform for digital programs.

David Dombrosky, InstantEncore's chief marketing officer, is right at home with choruses and the Chorus America community, just like he is with emerging technology platforms. A past Chorus America Conference speaker and former chorister himself, David has witnessed a great deal of evolution in technology over his career, and is knowledgeable about helping arts leaders overcome the challenges of adopting new tech - as well as realize the exciting upside of the benefits. David spoke with Chorus America about his own story with technology and the arts, and InstantEncore's new InsideGuide platform for creating digital programs.

Under the pandemic, the only way for choruses to share concert experiences with their audiences has been online. Learning the ins and outs of video production posed an obvious challenge, but another, less apparent, obstacle has proven to be almost as imposing: licensing the music.

The process is complicated even for a single piece featured in a virtual choir production, but clearing rights for five or ten pieces to create a concert video can be exponentially more difficult.  And although the end of the pandemic appears to be in sight, this challenge isn’t going away. For many choruses, a mix of online and in-person programming will become business as usual. We spoke with a cross-section of choral leaders, publishers, and music licensing specialists to create this primer for choruses planning to produce concert videos for online viewing.

BY KATHERINE CASTILLE

As it became clear the COVID-19 pandemic would wear on for months, many choruses launched digital initiatives to keep their music and their message in front of their audiences. Those with digital strategies already in place have stepped up their efforts. Others are just beginning to navigate this new frontier. All of them are learning valuable lessons about what digital content their audiences want and are willing to pay for.

With singers and concertgoers alike missing festive outings to beloved holiday concerts, this season’s online holiday choral events are giving us the chance to adapt our time-honored traditions. Chorus America is promoting these events to the public to help choruses connect with new audiences and choral fans discover good cheer from the safety of their homes.

SPONSORED CONTENT FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER

Choristers and directors know all too well the challenges of learning music while apart, as the majority of choruses are not meeting in person right now. But as Andrew Goren shares, the concept of taking the rehearsal room with you has been in the works from before the COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives in 2020. Goren, the founder of the digital rehearsal app Harmony Helper, talks with Chorus America about his singing background and the experiences that led him to develop new technology to help singers make the most of their practice time.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. With in-person performances and rehearsals abruptly taken away, dozens of choral organizations showed their creativity by quickly finding new ways to make music and serve their communities.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. With in-person performances and rehearsals abruptly taken away, dozens of choral organizations showed their creativity by quickly finding new ways to make music and serve their communities.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. With in-person performances and rehearsals abruptly taken away, dozens of choral organizations showed their creativity by quickly finding new ways to make music and serve their communities.

SPONSORED CONTENT FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER

There can be serendipity in the most challenging change of plans. The Master Chorale of South Florida was scheduled for a prime performance at the 2020 Chorus America Conference in Miami -- an ideal setting to premiere a commission from composer Jake Runestad. With a global coronavirus pandemic putting a halt to choral events and most of everyday life as we know it, this performance obviously did not come to fruition.

Instead, the Master Chorale and artistic director Brett Karlin discovered they possesed a brand new work that spoke with uncanny eloquence to our new reality -- and the opportunity to premiere it with the involvement of a wider community of audience members, renowned conductors, and singers than they ever imagined. Karlin and Runestad shared their stories with Chorus America on the journey of this new commission, As Long As We Are Here, which enters a new chapter this fall.