Articles

The past decade seems to have had more than its fair share of natural disasters and tragedies. In the aftermath of a major event, how should your chorus approach its fundraising activities? What do you say to those who challenge the idea of funding the arts at a time of great social need? 

Vance George, former director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, reflects on a lifetime of musicmaking.

Meditation and choral singing hold many commonalities.  Find out how choruses can use the practice of "being quiet" to enhance rehearsals, singing and even performances.

All the accountability checks in the world won't prevent lousy decisions if board members, managers, and artistic leaders lack teamwork and communications chemistry. Cultivate a healthy culture that brings out the best group traits of your board.

In contemporary society, it can sometimes feel like we are constantly multitasking. But does music still offer a space for meditation and contemplation?

Inner-city choruses are serving diverse populations in large urban areas where kids often do not have access or the means to participate in quality musicmaking. These "urban youth choruses" are uniting neighborhoods across differences of race, religion, ethnicity, and economic status to inspire and energize communities with messages of hope and healing.

As organizations of every type struggle to get back on their feet after natural disasters in the recent past, we are all reminded that it could happen to anyone. A business continuity expert shares steps you can take to mitigate the effects of a crisis.

In the 2005 study, Choral Conductors Today, Chorus America learned that as many as one-third of choruses are conducted by their founders, and furthermore that a majority of these choruses were founded a generation or more ago. This data suggests that a large number of choruses will be facing significant leadership transitions and indeed, experience in the intervening years has borne out this assertion.

Alice Parker, one of America's most beloved and respected composers, conductors, and educators in choral music, reflects on her long and productive life in music—one decade at a time.

Clearly the concept of subscribing is not dead, just look at the sports world! To make headway against the challenges to build a robust subscription base, we must work smart, be students of our surroundings, and ask fundamental questions. 

Thanks to a residency program, one composer spends time with three high school choirs, creating new music, new singers, and audiences for the future.

Choruses looking for new sources of corporate support might do well to investigate small businesses, which, according to a survey by the Business Committee for the Arts, represent a largely untapped resource.