Many types of organizations are tackling issues of diversity. Patricia Moore Harbour, who has facilitated a number of these discussions in a process that she describes as the Transformative Learning Experience, believes arts organizations, especially choruses, may start out ahead of the game.

Cellists hang out with the other cellists, singers hang out with other singers, but conductors—who do they hang out with? Stephen Czarkowski and 31 other conductors hung out together for four days in May 2006 to share with each other, explore some of the great works in the choral-orchestral repertoire, and learn from some of the nation's finest choral conductors.

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.

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