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Making the Field Stronger, Together

Investing in Chorus America’s strategic alliances with like-minded organizations pays off for our members and the field.

At Chorus America, spring is a time for budget planning. The team has been working hard to prepare our FY24 budget, and it’s exciting to see our plans coming closer to life as we consider how best to use our members’ and donors’ investments in us to return the greatest benefit to the field. If there could be such a thing as a favorite budget line item, mine is strategic alliances—opportunities to improve the choral music ecosystem for our members and advance Chorus America’s Strategic Plan goals through partnerships and collaborations with like-minded organizations.

The importance of our budgetary investment in this work was highlighted for me recently when I traveled to New Orleans for a board meeting of the Performing Arts Alliance (PAA), the national policy advocate, leadership forum, and learning network for nonprofit performing arts organizations, artists, and allies in the U.S. Fellow members include leaders of arts service organizations such as Opera America, the League of American Orchestras, National Performance Network, Alternate Roots, Dance USA, and many others.

Chorus America’s membership in the PAA has given us—and by extension our constituents—access to skilled government affairs directors who implement the advocacy work of the coalition. We, in turn, share the PAA’s resources and “calls to action” with our members, offering the choral field a voice in issues that affect the performing arts at the federal level. Funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and arts education are some of the most prominent advocacy priorities, but the PAA also moves forward issues like incentives for charitable giving and reducing barriers for foreign artist visas.

More recently, the PAA is providing a valuable forum for leaders of arts organizations to discuss how the performing arts can advance racial justice and equity. In New Orleans, I was reminded of how much I value the opportunity to learn and develop strategies with others who lead organizations similar to Chorus America. (Our FY24 budget will include a membership renewal!)

Closer to home, Chorus America greatly values its ongoing partnerships with the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS), and the National Association of Teachers of Singing to help strengthen the ecosystem in which we all function. Investing in these strategic alliances has had an impact in many ways, including:

• Fueling research into the full breadth of the choral ecosystem

• Expanding and updating the ground-breaking Chorus Impact Study in 2019

• Providing consistent, coordinated COVID-19 information and safety guidance to help singing communities, organizations, and professionals navigate the pandemic ACDA and Chorus America are particularly complementary organizations in supporting the continuum of choral music activity. As Chorus America developed its goals in advancing ADEI in our work, as detailed in the new Strategic Plan, we were inspired by Executive Director Robyn Hilger’s and ACDA’s Diversity Initiatives Standing Committee’s action steps and commitment to ADEI. Robyn and I are having great discussions while making plans to collaborate more closely in the coming year to leverage our organizations’ strengths in supporting lifelong access to choral music.

As the national arts service organization for the choral and group singing arts sector and community in Canada, Choral Canada is our Canadian counterpart and another strong partner. We are strengthening the ties between our organizations and supporting Chorus America’s Canadian members by maintaining a Canadian presence on our board and planning to attend PODIUM, Canada’s national bilingual choral Conference and Festival, in 2024.

Chorus America also brings a lot of strengths to the table when it comes to partnerships. When organizations come to us to explore collaborations, they are eager to leverage our reach with choruses that are grounded in serving communities. They want to build on the fact that our constituent base comprises people who value social connection and civic responsibility (and we have the data to prove it!). We also bring to the table an influential group of choral leaders on our Board of Directors; a customer service mindset and a learning stance; and an experienced and committed staff who work hard, fast, and smart to reap the greatest value out of partnerships.

So, I’m excited about the possibilities represented by the strategic alliances budget line item and the work we’ll do, together.

Catherine Dehoney President & CEO, Chorus America

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