The 2024 Conference in Photos

On June 6-8, the Chorus America community gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, for the 2024 Chorus America Conference. Over 400 choral leaders joined us for three days of inspiring plenary sessions, networking events, celebrations, and singing. 

As we share some highlights of the Atlanta Conference in photos, we’re already looking ahead to the 2025 Chorus America Conference, which will take place in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 4-7. 

Getting Started 

2024 Conference attendees arrived on June 6.  With Conference badges and affinity ribbons distributed and a copy of the latest Conference issue of the Voice magazine, the exhibit area open to visitors, and the Donor Table ready to raise funds, this year’s flagship event kicked off. 

Learning Opportunities Galore 

Chorus America Conferences are filled with professional development and training opportunities, and this year’s Conference programming offered an array of opportunities for growth. 

Plenaries are focal points of Conference filled with inspiring speakers, energized singing, and thought-provoking conversations. This year’s two plenaries featured a panel of rising choral leaders discussing the future of the choral field and a workshop with nonprofit technology thought leader Beth Kanter and Maggie Vo of AI company Anthropic exploring how AI technology can benefit choruses of all sizes and capacity levels. 

Breakout Sessions offer Conference attendees smaller learning environments to explore various relevant topics in the field. This year, session topics included succession planning, transitioning to a fully operative board, promoting socioeconomic equity in practice and performance, youth development programs, fundraising, finance for choral leaders, cross-cultural collaborations and much, much more. 

Roundtables were also part of this year’s Conference program. These collaborative, small-group discussions facilitated by peer leaders allowed attendees to discuss challenges and develop solutions with their peers in a flexible and interactive format.  

Showing Off Atlanta’s Choral Community 

Atlanta’s vibrant choral community shone brightly at the 2024 Conference.  

The Opening Night Concert featured four dynamic choruses: Atlanta Master Chorale, Atlanta Young Singers, Wendell P. Whalum Community Chorus, and the Morehouse College Glee Club.  

And the Conference finished in style with Saturday's Closing Concert, featuring Atlanta Music Project's Senior Youth Choir, Kinnara, and the Trey Clegg Singers. 

We Know How to Celebrate! 

The Opening Night Reception was an opportunity to connect with new and longtime friends and toast to the start of Conference. 

On Friday evening, we thanked the donors who support Chorus America so generously at the Chair’s Reception, at which choral advocate, singer, and Chorus America board member Anne B. Keiser received the Chorus America Philanthropy Award in recognition of her immense generosity to Chorus America and the choral field.  

The celebration continued at our Gala Celebration & Auction, which evoked our Conference host city with an “Evening on Peachtree” theme. Guests exchanged heartwarming moments over a delectable meal and raised their paddles to support Chorus America’s programs and resources. An auction highlight was a collection of priceless keepsakes from the library of beloved choral icon Alice Parker, which was introduced by Norman MacKenzie leading the room in singing Parker’s Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal. 

Honoring Our Award Winners and Annual Meeting 

The 2024 Chorus America Awards, announced in April, were presented at a special Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation event on Friday morning. The individuals and choruses honored for their meaningful contributions to the field shared moving remarks about their work.  

Highlights included VOX Femina Los Angeles receiving the Margaret Hillis Award for Organizational and Artistic Achievement and John Alexander receiving the Michael Korn Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his long-term service to Chorus America and to the field. A complete list of this year’s Awards Recipients can be found here. 

The Annual Meeting portion of the event welcomed Chorus America’s newest Board Members (Thomas Cooke, Brian Newhouse, Carrie Tennant, and Chris Verdugo) and thanked the Board Members completing their terms of service (Marie Bucoy-Calavan, John Earls, Robyn Reeves Lana, and Karen P. Thomas). It also included a special video tribute to Chorus America President and CEO Catherine Dehoney, who will leave the organization in October 2024, from Ann Meier Baker, Director of Music and Opera at the Nations Endowment for the Arts.  

Opportunities for Connection 

Opportunities to connect and learn from each other are crucial to a Chorus America Conference, and this year’s programming embedded those moments throughout the three days of the event. 

Peer Forums facilitated discussions between choral leaders about shared opportunities and challenges their choruses face. One-on-Ones gave attendees 25-minute consultations with leaders in the choral field, making them perfect for tapping into the expertise of colleagues. And attendees share lively discussions over a meal at Dine-Arounds.  

Exhibitors and composers are key partners to Chorus America. At this year’s Conference a new event premiered to spotlight them and their work, services, and products. The Exhibitor & Composer Showcase gave attendees an opportunity to connect with Conference exhibitors and composers and make long-lasting connections. 

Each day also included a Daily Sing to energize attendees and bring the Conference together in song. This year’s Daily Sings were led by area music educator Ladell Fortune, and director of choral activities at Georgia State University Deanna Joseph. Composers Kevin Phillip Johnson and Karen Marrolli also led a special daily sing that provided a preview of their uplifting pieces that are part of Chorus America’s 2024 Commission Consortiums.  

And … We Already Can’t Wait Until Next Year! 

Looking at these joyous memories fills us with excitement about making more at next year’s Conference in St. Louis (June 4-7)! Chorus America board members Maria A. Ellis and Mark Lawson showed their hometown pride as they gave us a taste of all St. Louis has to offer and shared the exciting news that Renée Fleming will be a 2025 Conference Plenary speaker.