What to do
when your choral concert is cancelled
Y
ou’ve worked for months on a concert. Your singers have been practicing their music day and night. You’ve
spent money marketing the performance and countless hours trying to plan every last operational detail. Then something like COVID-19 forces you or your venue to cancel the performance. It’s easy in situations like this to rage and throw every object in sight. But take a moment. You have an opportunity here: to build trust with your audience and to show them that your organization is capable of handling crises. Once you’ve had a moment to gather yourself, what are some things you can do? Disclaimer: The information provided here does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials are for general informational purposes only.
Set Your Primary Goals Let’s start with a few primary goals you might have throughout this process. As you work through exactly what to do, stay focused on: • Building trust with your singers and ticket buyers. • Doing everything you can, within reason, to save the event and to also keep your singers, staff, volunteers, and ticket buyers safe. • Minimizing financial loss—saving as much money as you can or redirecting funds towards a future performance. • Keeping spirits high. Add any other goals you have to this list.
By Tori Cook
Leading the Way
Check Your Contracts Before you notify anyone about the cancellation, check your vendor contracts. Consider the following: • What is listed in the cancellation policy or force majeure clause? • Which parties are responsible for eating any deposits or pre-paid expenses? • Will the chorus be responsible for paying any additional fees? • Are there any clauses that discuss event postponement? And does the contract stipulate whether funds can be applied towards a future date? • Using this information, put a plan in place before contacting your vendors. • Be clear about the reason you are cancelling and have a specific ‘ask’ in mind. Are you asking the vendor to refund any money? Are you asking them to push funds to a future performance date? These preparations will help give you the upper-hand in your negotiations. Notify the Board The moment you are facing cancellation, as a result of your own decision or not, the first notification you should make is likely to your board. Let them know the scope of the situation and what you plan to do about it. Because you’ll need to move quickly, you’ll likely want to give them a heads-up that you will be working with vendors to either reschedule the concert or cancel the bookings. Provide an opportunity for board members to give feedback but let them know that time is of the essence and you have to move forward with your plans as soon as possible.
Cantate • Vol. 32, No. 2 • Winter 2020 • 15
