Voice Spring 2022

Voice THE

Radical Creativity Caring for Ourselves and Our Organizations The Right Mix of Digital and In-Person

2022 Conference Issue

Vo l u m e 4 5 N u m b e r 2 Spring 2022

Voice T he

Editor Liza W. Beth

Publisher Catherine Dehoney Art Direction DLG Design, Inc. The Voice is published by Chorus America, Washington, DC. Copyright ©2022

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18 | Finding the Right Mix of Virtual and In-Person Performances

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Music Education Grants Program Officer Kim Theodore Sidey Membership and Grants Associate Vale Southard Communications Associate Eduardo Coyotzi Zarate

by Caitlin Patton

From the Chair

Taking Stock

by Brian Newhouse

D E P A R T ME N T S 4

Chorus Connections Member News, Events, & Announcements

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Insights

Associate Director of Development KellyAnn Nelson Associate Director of Communications Mike Rowan

What Does Caring for Ourselves and Our Organizations Look Like Now?

columns

Director of Finance and Operations Anne Grobstich Erps Executive Assistant Anthony Khong

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2022 C h o r u s A m e r i ca C o nf e r e nc e 33 35 38 40 43 44

Conference Schedule-at-aGlance 2022 Award Winners Sponsors and Exhibitors Annual Report Ad Index Board of Directors

Radical Creativity: An Interview with Alysia Lee

This publication is supported with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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On the Cover: Alysia Lee conducts the Honor Choir at the Choir School of Delaware’s Bent But Not Broken Conference in April 2022. Lee is a 2022 Chorus America Conference plenary speaker for both the Online and In-Person Conference Events. © Moonloop Photography

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Sing JOY CONNECTION INSPIRATION FUN with BCI again SUMMER 2022

Lenox

Saratoga

conducts The Silent Canon

conducts Handel

Sonoma

KATHERINE FITZGIBBON

Barcelona

conducts Vaughan Williams & Geter

conducts Mendelssohn & Poulenc

ANTHONY TRECEK-KING

GARY THOR WEDOW

GRANT GERSHON

ANNOUNCING

Summer 2023 in September A WORLD OF UNIQUE EXPERIENCES FOR SKILLED AMATEUR SINGERS

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from the chair

Taking Stock The past three years have been a challenging road for our field, but our love of choral music and our belief in its necessity carries us.

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’m getting ready to step down in June as Chorus America board chair, so the Voice asked me to take stock of what’s happened during my three-year term. I responded saying, “That’ll be a boring letter because nothing interesting at all has happened since 2019.”

OK, let me adjust the rearview and take a look. What I see most immediately reminds me of the challenging road we as a choral community have been on.

I see the corner of 38th and Chicago in south Minneapolis— six miles from my home—where George Floyd was murdered.

That horrific event impacted every organization locally, and rocked communities around the world.

I see panic-stricken faces onscreen at the May 2020 webinar presented by NATS, Chorus America, ACDA, and the Barbershop Harmony Society. Weeks earlier in Skagit County, Washington after one rehearsal, two singers died and nearly half the choir contracted the COVID-19 virus. Choruses around the world went silent overnight.

These two events alone and the loss of precious, precious lives loom largest. But of course the loss also of community, friendships, safety, and the magic gorgeous choral music makes—these are there, too.

Other images are sharpening in that mirror. For these I am incredibly grateful.

I see choruses taking this time to stop and examine “the way we’ve always done things.” They asked how much their devotion to the past benefits them going forward in a changed world. They held hard conversations about how they can be more relevant for more people. Their programming changed, with new commissions telling more welcoming stories than ever before. Choirs rewrote

After three of the bumpiest years for choral music in my lifetime, I have an even greater admiration than I had before for your fierceness to keep singing no matter what.

their mission statements and created metrics to diversify their boards, singers, and audiences.

I see innovation—and oh so many virtual choirs! Imagine: music majors turning themselves into media producers within weeks. “But it’s not in my job description!” was probably the thought bubble over many heads hunched over video-production sessions, but these folks did it anyway to keep making meaning for singers and audiences.

I see Chorus America stepping up in an absolutely fraught moment. Weeks after that 2020 webinar, CEO Catherine Dehoney led a cool-headed, fact-based conversation about “what we CAN do” as choral singers and leaders in this uncertain moment. This positioned Chorus America more than ever as a credible source of desperately needed information for the field. And the Chorus America website has become the go-to source for choruses to learn the latest from the CDC, research studies, and other sources.

Looking ahead, the road for choruses sometimes dodges and curves out of sight. There are patches of fog and who knows if a deer may jump in the road. But our love of and belief in choral music, its relevance, its vitality, even its necessity to give voice to where we are—this is what carries us. After three of the bumpiest years for choral music in my lifetime, I have an even greater admiration than I had before for your fierceness to keep singing no matter what; to make that singing more and more relevant; and to tap deeper wells of creativity to serve audiences. I am not one bit afraid for choral music’s future.

One more thing before I go. Have you ever heard of the Mars Team? It’s basically the people you would choose, among all others, to board a ship with you and go explore Mars. The ones who get stuff done. Who love and live the mission. Who treat each other well.

I want to assure you that if I had to go to Mars, I would take every member of the small-but-mighty Chorus America staff. As board chair, I’ve gotten to know each one, what they do, what they love about the work, what the challenges of their jobs are, and how they each grabbed hold of “other pandemic duties as assigned.” Those duties have been myriad and I have never seen a staff pull off what they’ve accomplished—all to help however, whenever, and wherever they can to keep choirs singing. They are Chorus America. With Catherine Dehoney at the head of the list, these are my heroes. It has been an incredible privilege to serve you and the choral field alongside them.

Brian Newhouse Chair, Chorus America

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The Voice, Spring 2022

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he National Lutheran Choir (pictured) premiered Lament of the Earth, a cross-cultural and intergenerational commissioned work with music by Steve Heitzeg and text by Susan Palo Cherwien, as part of The Earth Sings Beauty concert. The work, which was the recipient of the 2020 Dale Warland Singers Commission Award, explores the environment and the human relationship with the earth.

Out of the Ash premiered as part of Phoenix Chorale’s March re:BIRTH concert, highlighting themes of renewal, growth, and celebrating spring. The piece was written by Phoenix Chorale soprano Kira Zeeman Rugen, and is part of a new commitment by the chorale both to champion the work of female composers and support new works.

In December, Harmonium Choral Society presented the world premiere of composer-inresidence Martin Sedek’s Goodness and Light for chorus and harp.

Arizona Masterworks Chorale performed the world premiere of Darest Thou Now O Soul, written for the chorale by Phoenix composer Michael McCabe, on May 7.

In Stillness I Sing, a San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) commission by Theresa Wong featuring collaborator and pianist Sarah Cahill, premiered in March 2022. The piece incorporates words from SFGC members sharing their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world premiere of In A House Besieged by the Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop was performed by The Crossing as part of a series of March concerts by the same title. The piece fuses the writings of American short-story writer, novelist, and essayist Lydia Davis into a libretto that pieces together five stories highlighting various aspects of the aging process.

Denver ensemble Kantorei and the Guatemalan choir Vocalis commissioned Grammy-nominated composer Jake Runestad to create a new work for string quartet, choir, and marimba (the national instrument of Guatemala) using a poetry collection by Humberto Ak’abal. The commission titled El Último Hilo premiered in early March as part of the concert EXILE LAMENTATIONS. Nolan Williams’s “We are the ones to heal our land,” co-commissioned by Choral Arts Society of Washington and Washington Performing

Resources for Performing Ukrainian Music

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s Ukrainians defend themselves and their country’s distinct history, many American and Canadian choral organizations continue efforts to raise awareness of the war by featuring Ukrainian music in their performances.

Thoughtfulness, respect, and accuracy are critical in the efforts to uplift a culture other than one’s own.

As choirs, choruses, and singing ensembles stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, we share resources to assist the introduction of music from Ukraine into choral programs.

Identifying Ukrainian Repertoire Ukrainian Live Classic is working with Ukrainian musicians, composers, and cultural managers to share scores by Ukrainian composers as part of their Ukrainian Scores project. In addition to accessing the pieces freely, musicians and project managers assist the music selection process and advise on performance specifics.

Musica Russica, the second-largest publisher of Russian choral music outside of Russia, also offers recordings, sheet music, and research publications on Ukrainian choral music. The publisher also makes available consulting, diction coaching, and other support services to assist in the introduction of choral music from the European country into your programming.

of Ukraine throughout America and Europe. The choir, which recently performed “Prayer for Ukraine” on Saturday Night Live has compiled resources to find vocal, orchestral, and opera scores from Ukrainian composers.

Organizations Educating on Ukrainian Performance Practice Village Harmony is a Vermont-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the study, performance, and celebration of diverse styles of traditional choral music. The organization offers an online teaching resource library for choir directors looking to collaborate with expert teachers across the globe, including musician experts focused on Ukrainian traditions.

Ukraine’s choral music and its national instrument, the bandura, hold immense importance in Ukraine’s history.

Through performance, education, recordings, and more, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America shares the musical style of the people of Ukraine to preserve and fortify Ukrainian culture and history.

©Vincent Louis Carrella

Listening to those affected by tragedy is crucial to understanding a movement. Kurbasy Ensemble, DakhaBrakha, Bozhychi, and Drevo Ensemble are ensembles from Lviv and Kyiv in Ukraine that are sharing their traditions and music even through troubling times.

The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, for 65 years, has shared and preserved the musical heritage

Arts, premiered on April 10 as part of the annual Living the Dream…Singing the Dream choral tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. The Washington Chorus joined the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale, the Howard University Chorale, and soloists J’Nai Bridges, Norman Shankle, and Kenneth Overton in the premiere of composer Adolphus Hailstork and librettist Herbert Martin’s requiem cantata A Knee on the Neck. The composition pays tribute to George Floyd and details the experience of Black Americans.

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horus America president and CEO Catherine Dehoney attended the inaugural Bent But Not Broken conference and co-presented a session alongside ACDA executive director Robyn Hilger. Bent But Not Broken is a new conference amplifying the musical contributions and accomplishments of Black artists across time and genres. The inaugural event was hosted April 27–30 in Wilmington, Delaware.

Ukrainian Village Voices, based in New York City is a collective of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian singers working to preserve and share the polyphonic singing style of Ukraine’s villages. The organization puts together virtual and in-person workshops led by singers, musicians, and scholars with knowledge of the traditions of Ukraine.

Voices in Ukraine

Kitka (pictured), an American women’s vocal ensemble that utilizes Eastern European and Eurasian songs and musical techniques, has transcribed pieces in their Wintersongs and Cradle Songs songbooks that are available for purchase.

I nau g u r al B ent Bu t N ot B roken C onfe r ence

We give thanks to our colleagues Shira Cion and Nadia Tarnawsky for guiding our research of the above information and vetted resources.

If you know of more resources not listed here, please feel encouraged to share them by emailing voice@ chorusamerica.org. We will continue to pay close attention to the latest developments in Ukraine and explore ways to amplify more resources.

As part of its season-long celebration of influential African American composer Margaret Bonds, The Dessoff Choirs gave the New York premiere of two of Bonds’s cantatas: Credo, inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1904 essay, and Simon Bore the Cross, a collaboration with Langston Hughes based on the spiritual “He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word.” The ensemble was joined by Grammy-winning baritone soloist and Chorus America board member Dashon Burton and soprano soloist Janinah Burnett. u

C incinnati C once rt H onor s Ysaÿ e Ba r nwell’ s L egacy

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ight choirs from across Southwest Ohio joined forces to celebrate and honor composer, arranger, author, singer, and actress Ysaÿe M. Barnwell through song.

Barnwell is a former member of the world-renowned African American a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock and produced over 100 published works that range from short unaccompanied pieces to larger works scored for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Barnwell is also the recipient of Chorus America’s 2022 Distinguished Service Award. The concert to honor Barnwell’s legacy was organized by Catherine Roma, one of the early founders of the women’s choral movement in the United States and a longtime collaborator and friend of Barnwell, and hosted by Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, vice-mayor of Cincinnati.

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Season of Chorus America Programs Ahead

chorus connections

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horus America has an exciting season of programs ahead for 2022–23, including the return of in-person programs, new formats for existing online programs, and the debut of a program.

The 2023 Conducting Academy returns to California State University, Fullerton, July 1–9, 2023. This week-long choral-orchestral workshop will focus on Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, Ralph Vaughan William’s Dona Nobis Pacem, and Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Movement 4. Applications will open in Fall 2022.

In Fall 2022, the Online Chorus Management Institute will relaunch as a fully on-demand program. Covering the same essential chorus management fundamentals as previous Institutes, participants will be able to complete the Online Institute at their own pace and fit their coursework around their own schedule. Stay tuned for more information in Summer 2022.

Also in Fall 2022, the popular ADEI Learning Lab will run once again. The Learning Lab is specifically designed for White choral leaders seeking to address structural racism in their organizations and become better allies and accomplices to their BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) colleagues.

Registration for the four-week experiential online learning program will open in Summer 2022.

In Summer 2023, we look forward to launching a program that will serve administrative leaders who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) or as people of the global majority. This program, supported in partnership with Cathedral Choral Society, will be a hybrid learning experience, with participants gathering virtually and in person.

The program is designed to engage chorus professionals, singers, board members, and staff on key management topics which will prepare them to take on leadership roles with chorus organizations. More information will be shared by early 2023.

We will continue to share more information on these programs, as well as our 2023 Conference plans, as details are confirmed.

In the meantime, please reach out to us at membership@chorusamerica.org with any questions.

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The Voice, Spring 2022

Praise Song for Tulsa (pictured), composed

by Charles Griffin with words by Christina Springer to commemorate the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, premiered at the inaugural performance of 21V Choir, a new professional treble ensemble in the San Francisco Bay Area founded by Martín Benvenuto. The piece also represented the choir’s first commissioned work.

The Susquehanna Chorale performed the world premiere of Dan Forrest’s, Let the Stable Still Astonish. The work for choir,

piano, and cello, was set to text by Leslie Leyland Fields and commissioned in honor of the chorale’s 40th anniversary season.

True Concord Voices & Orchestra gave the world premiere of Earth Symphony (“Choral”), commissioned from composer Jake Runestad and librettist Todd Boss.

The five-movement piece for chorus and orchestra is a narrative from the perspective of Mother Earth telling the history of her children, humankind. n

Releases

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ovember of 2021 saw the release of Benedict Sheehan’s Vespers, an album from the Cappella Records label performed in English by the Grammynominated Saint Tikhon Choir based in South Canaan, Pennsylvania and led by Grammy-nominated composer and conductor Benedict Sheehan. The project is composed of hymns and psalms that project hope, light, and a full range of human emotions.

FETTER & AIR, composed and directed

by Dominick DiOrio and performed by the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, was originally created as an immersive outdoor sound installation that premiered in May 2021.

The January 2022 audio release combines 562 spoken and singing audio files by 61 chorus members into a single expressive and intimate piece.

Un milagro de fe (A Miracle of Faith), the debut album from Border CrosSing,

premiered in April 2022.

The recording by the Twin Cities-based ensemble led by conductor Ahmed Anzaldúa presents vibrant readings of works of faith by Beatriz Bilbao, Ariel Ramirez’s Misa Criolla, Mary Lou Williams’s St. Martin de Porres, and selections from Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos.

FROM WILDERNESS: A Meditation on the Pacific Crest Trail, a recording from California’s Choral Arts Initiative and conductor Brandon Elliott, admires three landscapes from the Pacific Crest Trail that covers thousands of miles spanning from Mexico to Canada. The nature-focused concertlength project featured on Spotify’s New Classical Release and ranked number one on New Releases in Amazon charts.

The Choir and Conductor, a documentary film by Oscar-winning director Freida Lee Mock, tells the story of conductor Anne Tomlinson, former director of the

Dale Wa r land at 9 0 : A L egacy C eleb r ation

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he Singers celebrated the 90th birthday of Dale Warland (pictured with Chorus America’s Catherine Dehoney) and paid homage to the choral icon with the concert Dale Warland at 90: A Legacy Celebration. The Singers, led by artistic director Matthew Culloton, performed works from Warland’s acclaimed career, including Dominick Argento’s I Hate and I Love. The program also featured the world premiere of Timothy Takach’s Changed by Beauty, with libretto by Chorus America board chair Brian Newhouse, to “...celebrate this artist [Dale Warland] who has created so much beauty in this world.”

Warland has had a close relationship with Chorus America: He served on the board of directors and was given the Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art in 1995. The ensemble that he founded, the Dale Warland Singers, won the inaugural Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence in 1992.

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), and celebrates music and its importance during unsettling times. The film features Billie Eilish, an alum of LACC.

OREGON BACH FESTIVAL June 17 - July 5, 2022

Author Cheryl Frazes Hill tells the story of her longtime collaborator and associate Margaret Hillis, a groundbreaking conductor and influential figure in the early years of Chorus America, in the new biography Margaret Hillis: Unsung Pioneer. The first woman to regularly conduct a major symphony orchestra, she was the founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and served for thirty-seven years as its first director, u

Paul Jacobs • Monica Huggett • Tyler Duncan Simone Dinnerstein • Matt Haimovitz • Lara Downes David Shifrin • Mass in B Minor • St. John Passion St. Matthew Passion • Viano String Quartet

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©Todd Rosenberg Photography

Celebrating Duain Wolfe’s Tenure with the Chicago Symphony Chorus

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oncluding a decorated 28-year tenure, Duain Wolfe prepared the Chicago Symphony Chorus for a series of performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of CSO music director Riccardo Muti.

The concerts, held February 24–27 in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, marked Wolfe’s final engagement with the chorus before he retired from his position as director and conductor in March. According to the CSO, the famous “Ode to Joy” choral finale represented “a symbolic celebration of Wolfe’s career and extraordinary artistic leadership, for which the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association family will be ever grateful.”

At the final concert on February 27, in front of the audience and musicians of the Symphony and Chorus, Muti and Chicago Symphony Orchestra president Jeff Alexander presented Wolfe with the Theodore Thomas Medallion to honor his years of distinguished service.

Only the second director in the chorus’s history, Wolfe succeeded the groundbreaking conductor Margaret Hillis in the position, preparing the Chorus for more than 150 programs and three Grammy Award-winning recordings over the course of his tenure.

Wolfe is also a current Chorus America board member who was instrumental in the founding of Chorus America’s ChoralOrchestral Conducting Academy, and also founded the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Colorado Children’s Chorale.

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The Voice, Spring 2022

winning nine Grammy Awards. Hillis’ journey, challenges, and triumphs in choral conducting are detailed in the May release.

Mark Clague’s book O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is a study of America’s national anthem. Clague walks the reader through the evolution of the song by Francis Scott Key, analyzes the lyrics, details noteworthy performances, and discusses its connection to social justice movements of today. The new publication continues Clague’s scholarship on the anthem, which was highlighted in a 2014 issue of the Voice when he released a two-disc recording illuminating the anthem’s history.

Neuroscientist and past Chorus America Conference speaker Nina Kraus released Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs

a Meaningful Sonic World late in the fall of 2021, examining sound and its connection to the brain’s core functions. Kraus chronicles the healing powers of music, the destructive elements of noise on the nervous system, and the varying ways sound leaves its mark on people.

October Project premieres the video of their worldwide virtual choir of Return To Me, one of the group’s most popular songs from its 1993 debut album, on June 20, World Refugee Day. Conducted by Ryan Heller, artistic director of Chorus Austin, 130 performers from 17 countries unite in an effort to bring comfort and healing to a wounded world amid the war in Ukraine.

Following the YouTube premiere, an audio single will be released on all major streaming and download services on June 24. n

Awards

non-profit organization championing the dignity and potential of older people features dynamic, older Americans who are inspiring others and making significant contributions to society at the local, national, and international levels.

The documentary Alice: At Home with Alice Parker, a collaboration between choral music composer, teacher, and conductor Alice Parker and director Eduardo MontesBradley highlighting Parker’s life, art, and achievements, received the Grand Jury Prize at the fourth annual 2021 Mystic Film Festival. Chorus America hosted the online premiere of the film on October 8, 2020. n

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resident of Classical Movements Neeta Helms (pictured) was honored as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of 2021. The list consists of leaders “whose heroic efforts have helped to sustain the performing arts during one of the most difficult and often tragic times in modern history—the pandemic. Their creativity, leadership, and hard work are worthy not only of high praise but of our collective gratitude.”

Encore Creativity for Older Adults founder Jeanne Kelly (pictured) joins Dr. Anthony Fauci, Jane Fonda, and United States House Representative Nancy Pelosi in HelpAge USA’s “60 Over 60” list. The first-ever list by the Maryland

Appointments and Retirements

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he City Choir of Washington (TCCW) in Washington DC announced Erin Freeman (pictured) as its new artistic director, beginning with the choir’s 20222023 season. After a 15-year role with

©Sarah Ferguson

chorus connections

Richmond Symphony Chorus and stepping down from the role of director of choral activities at Virginia Commonwealth University, Freeman will succeed Grammy-winning conductor Robert

©Jill Bochicchio

Shafer (pictured), whose retirement was celebrated at an opento-the-public April 9 reception.

Freeman’s first concert as Artistic Director of TCCW will be in the fall of 2022.

Drew Smith (pictured) joined Chicago Children’s Choir as the director of school programs after over nine years with Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BCYF) selected Alysia Lee (pictured) as the organization’s first president. The Baltimore native and Chorus America board member joins BCYF from the Maryland State Department of Education. Lee will continue as artistic director of Sister Cities Girlchoir.

Angela Goldberg (pictured) was appointed to the newly created shared executive director position for Pittsburgh Girls Choir and Pittsburgh Camerata, part of an administrative affiliation under which the two organizations will share a full-time executive director and other administrative services.

Goldberg comes to the new position from the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, where she served as managing director since 2017.

After serving since 2002, artistic director David Cherwien (pictured) will retire from his position with the Twin Citiesbased National Lutheran Choir at the end of the 2022-23 concert season.

Cherwien’s final season with the choir will feature his musical favorites and works that he has always wanted to program with the NLC. Cherwien’s tenure brought the commission of 21 new works, 20 recording releases, and 25 compositions to the choir and its audience, as well as digital programming and dynamic new programming including The Choir TuneUp. The Hartford Chorale announced that Jack Anthony Pott (pictured), the chorale’s assistant music director, has stepped into the role of interim music director for the 2022-23 season. Pott takes over for music director and former Chorus America board member Richard Coffey (pictured), who is retiring after 17 seasons. Both Pott and Coffey conducted a May 20 concert celebrating the chorale’s 50th anniversary, which included the world premiere of Alive Poems: Stories of Our American Heritage, u

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chorus connections commissioned from Connecticut native Scott Perkins for the occasion.

Hilton Head Choral Society will commemorate 20 years with Tim Reynolds (pictured) and the artistic director’s retirement with the concerts 45 Seasons and

Twenty with Tim on May 13 and America Sings on May 29.

Reynold’s tenure saw two European concert tours, a choral festival with choirs from across the USA, commissioned new works by composers Randall Stroope, Georgia Stitt, and Craig Hella Johnson, and the

expansion of programming to include a Chamber Singers ensemble and the HHCS Youth Choir.

Edward Maclary (pictured) retired as the University of Maryland’s director of choral activities after over 20 years on the choral faculty. Maclary is

In Memoriam Sigrid Johnson Conductor, clinician, and mother of two Sigrid Nelson Johnson passed away on March 11, 2022.

Chair Elect of Chorus America Anton Armstrong, who worked alongside Johnson at St. Olaf College, recalls her illustrious career and the gifts that made her a unique teacher and conductor.

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igrid Johnson was a woman who lived life to bring beauty, joy, and love in the world. She was a highly sought-after guest conductor and clinician who for 32 years served as artist-in-residence at St. Olaf College where she conducted the first-year SSAA 100-voice ensemble, the Manitou Singers. For over 25 years, Sigrid also served as the associate conductor of VocalEssence in Minneapolis, where she worked closely with founding artistic director Philip Brunelle. Prior to that she was a singer and associate conductor of the Dale Warland Singers.

For those of us who worked with Sigrid in the world of choral music, we would all agree that she most likely had one of the best set of ears in the business. It was not just her perfect pitch, but her innate musicianship which helped her mold the vocal tone of any ensemble with which she worked. She could literally shape the sound of the singers she led with the beautiful artistry of her hands. Sigrid was a loving nurturer, caring and selfless who fervently believed that ALL people, everywhere, mattered! She will be deeply missed, but her legacy of beautiful music and loving relationships will last forever.

Louise Greenberg At the age of 89, former Chorus America board member Louise Greenberg passed away on January 14, 2022. The winner of Chorus America’s 2016 Distinguished Service Award, Greenberg was an active founder, board member, and singer for several choruses, earning the nickname the “Johnny Appleseed” of choruses. Greenberg’s friend and former Chorus America board chair Arlene Williams shares Greenberg’s legacy and passion for the choral field.

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hroughout her lifetime of dedication to choral music, Louise was a singer, organizer, and board member for several choirs in Pennsylvania and Florida. She served in every aspect of the choral art. Respected by the greatest of conductors, Louise endowed the field with her passion and knowledge.

One of Robert Page’s connections from Temple, she became a valued Chorus America board member with a passion for the organization. Serving in many capacities, she is known for her choral survey work determining the number of singers in our country. Its major importance was to influence the National Endowment for the Arts for increased funding of the choral art. This contribution, along with many others, was a major accomplishment that had a great impact on the future of Chorus America and its member choral organizations.

Her love and passion for Chorus America and its members, plus her kind manner and support whenever it was needed, helped to develop Chorus America into the successful organization it is today.

Michael McCarthy On April 15, 2022, Chorus America Director Laureate Michael McCarthy passed away at the age of 80. Chorus America president and CEO Catherine Dehoney reflects on her friendship with the longtime board member, treasurer, and music lover.

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n July of 2000, I started a new job as the development director for Chorus America, working as part of a small team whom president Ann Meier Baker brought in to help stabilize the organization during a rocky time. We were blessed to have a one-of-a-kind partner in this hard work: board treasurer and de facto chief financial officer Mike McCarthy. I don’t know how Chorus America would have been able to regain its footing back then and stay on a steady course over the next two decades without him.

Imagine a nonprofit superhero, whose powers were a combination of extensive financial knowledge, deep appreciation for choral music, and classic Midwestern traits of integrity, hard work, helpfulness, and steadiness. Ann shares that

“Mike had so many superpowers, and he eagerly shared them with Chorus America. He was wise, always kind, a great listener, unfailingly generous, and never one to take himself too seriously. What else could you wish for in a trusted board member, treasurer, and friend?”

For 21 years—through grants found and lost, membership numbers up and down, recessions, national crises—he never wavered in his kindbut-firm guidance, practical operations wisdom, and frequent cash flow and budget-balancing magic. He established internal financial practices and controls to ensure that every dollar we spend is being put to good use to advance the field.

Mike never let the numbers get to him. He was always pleasant, funny, and positive—and always determined to protect the bottom line.

One of his phrases (that I hear in my head even now when I am wrestling with a budget) was a wry, “Now, now; let’s not get ahead ourselves,” which he’d say whenever Ann or I strayed into financial wishful thinking.

He became a dear friend and taught me everything I know about scotch (for good and for ill!).

Upon hearing of his passing, his board colleagues remember him as “one of the kindest and funniest people I had the privilege of knowing,” and “an invaluable advisor, resource, and friend.”

Mike’s commitment to a vibrant choral field and keeping us financially sound(!) extended beyond Chorus America. He served as treasurer for VocalEssence and for the International Federation of Choral Music. He was also a board chair of the Dale Warland Singers and the American Composers Forum. Above all, he loved choral music: He and his wife Kay have commissioned at least eight choral works by leading composers, such as The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass by Carol Barnett; The Day is Done by Stephen Paulus, and, most recently, Quilt Songs, featuring pieces by Alice Parker, Libby Larsen, Gabriela Lena Frank, Ysaÿe Barnwell, and Carol Barnett.

Chorus America is honored to be part of Mike’s extraordinary legacy to the field. I’m deeply grateful for his support and friendship. Mike, I’m lifting “a wee dram” in your honor!

succeeded by Jason Max Ferdinand (pictured), who received his DMA from the University of Maryland as a former student of Maclary’s.

Ferdinand joins the UMD faculty after serving as director of choral activities at another of his alma maters, Oakwood University, since 2008.

Jacob Stensberg (pictured) was appointed as artistic director of San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC).

Stensberg joins SFGMC from Purdue University, where he directed and assisted with numerous vocal ensembles.

He succeeds Tim Seelig, who will retire at the conclusion of SFGMC’s season in July after 10 years with the organization and 35 years directing LGBTQ+ choruses.

Elizabeth Núñez (pictured), who joined the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) in 2004, was announced as the organization’s creative director. With YPC, Núñez has led choruses in highly acclaimed and widely viewed performances, including appearances on

the Today Show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Good Morning America.

Jace Kaholokula Saplan (pictured) will join the faculty at Arizona State University’s School of Music, Dance and Theatre in the fall of 2022 as Associate Professor of Choral Conducting/ Music Teaching & Learning, serving as codirector of choral activities for the coming academic year, and then director of choral activities thereafter. Saplan departs the University of Hawai’i, where he was director of choral activities, and will continue as artistic director of Nā Wai Chamber Choir and Nā Mamo Vocal Ensemble.

After a 39-year tenure with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Greg Funfgeld (pictured) retires as artistic director at the end of June. Funfgeld expanded the Bach Choir’s programming beyond the Bach Festival to a year-round season and championed the organization’s education and community engagement offerings. His final performances took place during the 114th Bethlehem Bach Festival in May. n

2 0 2 2 G r ammy Awa r ds

A

t the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, the combined forces of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus, and Pacific Chorale took home the award for Best Choral Performance. Chorus masters (pictured) Robert Istad, Grant Gershon, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, and Luke McEndarfer accepted the award, representing all singers and staff who participated in the performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8.

At “music’s biggest night,” Chanticleer and Caroline Shaw also celebrated wins in the Best Engineered Album (Classical) and Best Contemporary Classical Composition categories, respectively. Other nominees for Best Choral Performance included The Saint Tikhon Choir (the first Grammy nomination for Cappella Records), Conspirare, The Crossing, and Skylark.

Get Noticed!

Storytelling and Advertising Opportunities with Chorus America Contact us: We’re here to help you draw the attention of choral leaders and share the story of your impact on our dynamic field. Let’s connect to explore the options that could work best for you!

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KellyAnn Nelson Associate Director of Development kellyann@chorusamerica.org Mike Rowan Associate Director of Communications mike@chorusamerica.org Eduardo Coyotzi Zarate Communications Associate eduardo@chorusamerica.org

See more: chorusamerica.org/advertising | chorusamerica.org/support/corporate-support www.chorusamerica.org

11

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insights

Radical Creativity: An Interview with Alysia Lee An artist, arts educator, teaching artist, policymaker, and philanthropist, Alysia Lee has a broad perspective on the arts ecosystem. As the founder and artistic director of Sister Cities Girlchoir and as the inaugural president for the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (a position she began in early 2022), she works to advance access, equity, and decolonization—always with a focus on youth, anti-racism, creativity, and justice.

L

ee is a 2022 Chorus America Conference plenary speaker for both the Online and In-Person Conference Events. In advance of her plenaries, she spoke with Chorus America president and CEO Catherine Dehoney about how the creative process leads to social change, the benefits of both virtual and in-person spaces, and how her choral background primed her to do work that is all about community, collectivism, and empowering people’s voices.

Catherine Dehoney: Your plenary description includes Lucille Clifton’s incredible quote: “We cannot create what we cannot imagine.” Can you share a little bit about that quote and what it means to you?

Alysia Lee: Lucille Clifton is a hero of mine from a list of AL: heros. She is part of a lineage of Black poets and storytellers and Black women who have centered creativity as a part of their lifestyle and practice. They create as a way to advance the world that they want to see. Growing up as a kid, those were the women that I really connected to artistically.

This idea of radical creativity comes from the Black arts movement of the 60s and 70s. Sometimes we forget that artists really do drive the cultural narrative for people. We understand and can envision a world that is better than the current world we see in the CD:

Sometimes we forget that artists really do drive the cultural narrative for people.

We understand and can envision a world that is better than the current world we see in the present.

present. We can really see it—it’s a 3D model for us. And we’re able to telegraph that to everyone else to help them to start to see it too.

I think people should make art for lots of different reasons, but for me it’s about the things that I care about most. It’s about engaging community to work together across differences and center empathy and humanity. It’s about really centering the voices of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian people and pushing us towards a world that is better than the one we have. I think that’s what Lucille Clifton’s quote speaks to. It reminds us of our role as artists in that struggle. We are at the front of it, not the back.

When you think about how radical creativity and the creative process leads to social change, what does that path look like to you? I know it’s not a smooth and linear process.

I think history moves in a cycle. It’s an emergent cycle and AL: the rings get bigger, but we’re constantly returning. There’s a lot of similarity and connection to what’s happening presently and what’s happened in the past. James Baldwin has a great quote: “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”

We can’t move beyond what’s come before us, but we can circulate that history and make it vibrate higher on the next go round.

The road to justice—well, we have no idea what justice looks like, or even racial equity. What Black people considered to be a kind of racial equity three years ago—we have a whole new vision for that now, because things have changed and shifted.

Look at the #MeToo movement. People have been dealing with folks in power just treating women any kind of way for decades.

Then there was a switch when Tarana Burke, a lone voice, stood up. People were able to attach to that and feel empowered to look differently at the world. People who felt that they weren’t being harassed or oppressed suddenly realized, “Wait a minute. I don’t have to live like this, I didn’t even know.”

We really have no idea what liberation looks like. We just have to be open to hearing new viewpoints and realizing, “Oh, I thought that was normal but I didn’t see that there was another possibility.

Now somebody showed me something different.” And I think it keeps us all humble and hungry. That is my hope, because that’s the only way we’re going to make it to this new place.

Human beings by nature don’t like change, but they do like better. Human beings are good at saying, “Well, this place sucks and I would rather get there, even if I don’t know how.”

We, the artists—we share the vision. We are the ones that have the vision for what the next plateau can look like, so that’s how we move things along.

CD:

I love the idea of it being a cycle. We’re continuing to go around, but we’re going to higher ground.

AL: We’re just trying to vibrate higher each time. u

CD:

www.chorusamerica.org 13

insights So the arts and artists have an important place within that cycle and that movement towards social justice.

Do you see singing together and choruses as playing a special role there? Can singing together help people tap into their radical creativity?

I think the most powerful part of AL: group singing is the struggle of creating something together. The choral space is not just a space to learn about singing—this is a space for me to communicate to you that your voice matters and that you participating and putting your all into something will pay off.

[At the beginning of a creative process] we look around the room and we have nothing. But in three months from now, we’re going to have a visceral experience.

We’re going to have a product to share with people that matter to us. We have nothing today, right? But in three months, we’re going to have an actual product that we created together and everyone has to contribute in order to make it.

What I’m trying to tell young people is you can change the world. You want something to happen in the future? Let’s plan for it today and then we’ll see it happen. I’m going to help you, yes, but it’s going to be your energy that makes that happen. Our collective energy together is going to create something that does not exist and that without us will not exist.

That is so powerful, because you can take that and run for city council with that.

Take that and write policy for folks.

And a choir person who becomes a policymaker has a good understanding that the best way to solve problems is together.

They wouldn’t write policies in isolation up in some ivory tower. They would engage with people and say, “Hey, we’re writing some policy about accessibility requirements for buildings. I’m an able-bodied person.

Can I meet up with your advocacy group?

Can you help me to draft these policies?”

That’s how a choir person shows up in the world.

The power of choir is how it changes our mindset so that we are engaging around community. Communal decision making.

The power of the collective. When we know that those mindset shifts are there and we lean into them outside of the choir space, I think we really do tap into our power.

CD:

14 The Voice, Spring 2022

Lee is the founder and artistic director of Sister Cities Girlchoir, a choral program empowering girls and communities in Philadelphia, Camden, and Baltimore.

We are so excited that you are presenting at both our online and in-person Conference events. How do you feel about co-existing in both of these worlds? Is there anything that excites you about that?

Oh, yeah. I’m probably the only AL: choral person that likes learning online. I love online rehearsal. I mean, I love in-person rehearsal too, but I’m hoping we can go forward with a choir world where we do both.

The ways choir folks have been connecting online and the relationships that have been built show how much power therea is in the online space. I’ve had some transformative artistic experiences online during COVID. So there are still humanistic ways to connect.

And what I find as one of the major benefits is that learning online really does allow folks to have an individual learning space. It’s almost like if you were in a choir room and you got to put a shield over yourself and focus just on “What am I bringing to the table? Do I have the part?

How does my voice sound?” in isolation.

And then you joined the collective.

Next year, Sister Cities Girlchoir is planning on moving into an intentional hybrid model that anticipates interruptions that CD:

we know we will have due to COVID and that really tries to elevate the students’ understanding of the online space. Right now for a lot of our students, it feels like we’re forced to be online because we can’t be together. But instead let’s think of online as the space with intention to build up some of the independence that you need in order to be a part of the choir experience and to have some private moments in the learning space. Then, when we come together, there’s another kind of intentionality.

I’m glad the conference is doing this kind of double dip. I’m thinking of the virtual keynote as an opportunity to feel a sense of connection, but also for people to have some more reflective moments. We’re together but we’re also alone at the same time. How do we build upon that when we come back to the in-person space? To me, it represents what choir probably looks like for at least the present moment for everybody. When we’re in person, what shifts?

Since we’re speaking about Sister Cities, I know you have a goal that half of the repertoire that Sister Cities performs will be original works from the singers. Can you talk about how that became a central strategic goal for you?

CD:

Hopefully one thing people know about me is I’m not going to tell you something to do I wouldn’t do myself. When I started working at the State Department of Education, our policy required me to show up and inform teachers that we had new standards. Maryland adopted these in 2018. And the new standards really centralized the impact of creativity.

Our theater people and our dance people were like “Got it.” Our visual art people needed a little lift to get there. Our music people had a total meltdown—and this is nationwide. Musicians tried to basically say, “We don’t create. We are performing. That’s what we’re focusing on.”

But an educational experience is an experience that allows students to perform music or present music, yes, but also to connect to music and understand historical and presentday relevance. Also to respond to music and to analyze it. And also to share their own feelings about musical work and to create original work. That is what we are doing in music class: We’re allowing students to share their ideas and to respond musically to those ideas. We need to embrace the fact that everyone can respond musically. That is our human right.

So, in order for me to roll out these new standards with teachers empathetically, in a way that didn’t just sound like I was telling them they were doing it wrong, I had to do it myself too. And that’s the work that we went about at Sister Cities Girlchoir. We did a sixyear plan to take ourselves from where we were as a primarily performing arts organization and to expand ourselves to be what I call an arts education organization that utilizes all four pillars from the national core arts standards.

And we met the goal early. By 2020, we had nine original songs.

Our goal is that the repertoire is written by students, staff, or families. So our next phase is engaging families. We actually have a new Ambassador program where we’re training students to lead collaborative songwriting circles for community members, and of course we’ll start those workshops with our own families.

It’s very exciting to think about that—the possibilities of building less transactional relationships with our audience members. Of really being able to utilize the creative process as a way to get to know them as well and to offer them something in return for listening to us that feels more transformational and deeply engaging. This is the moment to dream big and we’re going to use the power of the creative process to do that. u AL:

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insights I know your work with Sister Cities continues. But you’ve also recently taken on a new role: President of the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BYCF). What does this new opportunity mean for you? Does your background in choral music inform the way you approach your work with the Fund?

You know, a lot of people comment AL: to me “Oh, it seems like you do a lot of things.” But I do the same thing all day.

I don’t change hats. When I’m working in philanthropy, I’m saying the same things as when I’m talking about Sister Cities, or when I’m talking about composition, or when I’m writing arts education policy.

And it’s because of my choral background. I believe in collectivism. I believe in community. I believe in empowering the voices of the people that are most impacted by the work we’re doing.

At BYCF, we’re able to use community participatory practices. We have a racial equity framework that everyone at the organization is on board with. We’re able CD:

to really be unapologetic about centering Black liberation as a part of the way we view the work.

The money is public funds. In 2016, 80% of Baltimore voters voted to create this fund so that Baltimore children have access to resources so that they can thrive in their communities. And we’re using these funds—almost 12 million dollars annually—to resource the organizations and folks that are there working beside young people with the most potent solutions for youth development.

Again, it’s the same thing: What do the young people have to say? So we have young people on our board and young people as a part of the panel review process. And the young people are trained so that they are showing up with the skills they need instead of just being kind of a token. I can tell you, every time I have a meeting with them, they ask the most tough questions.

BYCF was looking for a new kind of philanthropic leader. They were looking for a person who actually had experience working in grassroots organizations. So that you can look people in the eye and say, “Okay, I understand what you’re saying,

and I can empathize with where you are, and these are the ways we can help you to get where you want to be.” So that approach is really exciting and I’m excited to be the organization’s first president.

They are so lucky, because you bring so much energy and creativity to your work. So what I want to know is what are your top sources for feeding your own creativity?

Spending time with friends and family.

AL: Learning about my grandparents and my great-grandparents and wrapping myself up in stories about my ancestors. Seeing my niece and my nephew—the future leaders in our family and how they’re growing.

Spending time with my closest friends.

People do ask me a lot, “Aren’t you tired?” No, because I sleep! Making time to sleep for eight hours a day and also just to be is really important. We need to make sure we are encouraging our arts leaders to have space just to be and not be on demand all the time. Those real authentic moments with humans and just living and being in the world—that’s what sustains me. n CD:

CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Susan McMane on her retirement

SAN FRANCISCO

Photo: J osep h Fan vu

She has served the choral field with imagination, skill and much joy for 50 years. Thank you, Susan, for being an inspiration to so many.

May you always have a song in your heart!

Photo: Joseph Fanvu

16 The Voice, Spring 2022

EVENTS 2023 Choir Competitions and Festivals

04 04 04 05 06 07 07 09 10 11

7TH VIETNAM INTERNATIONAL CHOIR COMPETITION April 2-6, 2023 | Hoi An, Vietnam SING ALONG CONCERT “ON TOUR“ MILAN April 20-23, 2023 | Milan, Italy HULL INTERNATIONAL CHOIR COMPETITION April 27 - May 1, 2023 | Hull, United Kingdom VOX LUCENSIS May 17-21, 2023 | Lucca, Italy SOUND WAVES LINZ June 7-11, 2023 | Linz, Austria 12TH WORLD CHOIR GAMES July 3-13, 2023 | Gangneung/Gangwon, Republic of Korea 12TH INTERNATIONAL JOHANNES BRAHMS CHOIR FESTIVAL AND COMPETITION July 5-9, 2023 | Wernigerode, Germany 4TH VOICES FOR PEACE September 27 - October 1, 2023 | Perugia/Assisi, Italy 10TH CANTA AL MAR – FESTIVAL CORAL INTERNACIONAL October 19-23, 2023 | Calella/Barcelona, Spain LISBON SINGS November 9-13, 2023 | Lisbon, Portugal

interkultur.com as of May 2022

/interkultur

/interkultur

Finding the Right Mix of Virtual and In-Person Performances At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many choruses scrambled to create new virtual connections in an effort to stay engaged with their singers and supporters.

Two years on, as singing in-person returns, choral organizations are making the time to reflect on what they’ve learned and to envision a virtual presence that makes sense for their long-term future.

BY DON LEE

T

ina Meckel and Patrick Owens do not claim to have seen the digital future of choral music performance, but they feel pretty sure it will not look like the intro to the early ‘70s TV show The Brady Bunch. A video screen full of little boxes, each populated with a singing face, seemed to be the only place for choristers to harmonize early in the pandemic. Members of the Twin Cities-based National Lutheran Choir (NLC), where Meckel is executive director, may at first have been willing to record their parts solo and then upload their performances for a virtual choir production, 18 The Voice, Spring 2022

but at the prospect of doing it again, “there’s definitely some PTSD,” she says. The New York Choral Society (NYCS) decided not to go there at all, says Owens, the executive director, because the organization’s leadership felt virtual choirs do not deliver an “artistically rich” experience.

Other online models, however, have convinced Meckel, Owens, and many of their colleagues that choruses can add lasting beauty and meaning to the digital landscape—even as the pandemic wanes (we hope) and the choral world channels its enthusiasm in the direction of bricks-andmortar concert halls and real, live audiences.

Connection, Instruction, Production: Virtual Experiments with Staying Power When the pandemic took hold in the spring of 2020, choruses with experience in video production, web streaming, and video conferencing could claim a significant advantage. Perhaps as far back as seven years ago, the NLC began to experiment with live streaming some of its concerts, says Meckel, “with the hope of seeing how this is going to work in this brave new digital era.” At about the same time, the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus (JCC) “began to record pretty much everything we did,” says executive and artistic director Darren Dailey. “We have a YouTube channel now that’s got over 300 videos.” With a library like that, he notes, it became “a little bit easier for us to maneuver initially.”

For other choruses, reconnecting turned into a months-long process. The 30-member North Fork Community Choir (NFCC) in Paonia, Colorado, didn’t have “the wherewithal to do it” in March 2020, explains director Stephanie Helleckson. “We have an older demographic, often less familiar with technology,” she says, so “we just shut every-

The Jacksonville Children’s Chorus performing “Hamilton: A Choral Medley”

thing down.” But pandemic-imposed isolation motivated her singers to learn new skills. “Being able to Zoom with grandbabies is a great thing,” she says. By the fall of 2020, the choir began to meet online.

Whether it took days or months to go virtual, choruses both large and small tended to focus first on video conferencing to engage their communities—rehearsing in some fashion, teaching, or simply socializing. The NYCS introduced Zoom “listening parties” on its normal rehearsal nights, playing audio of past performances accompanied by concert photos and graphics created by some of the singers. The ICC held a cabaret night, open to anything except singing, says Pedde.

The experiences have led both organizations to continue holding online social events, even as in-person programming resumes. Pedde has found that ICC alumni have enjoyed connecting in this way, and the NYCS listening parties inspired virtual master classes with guest conductors, says Owens—an offering the chorus aims to carry forward.

Pedde continued teaching much as he normally would. “Maybe I couldn’t hear the students all the time, but I was still giving instruction, I was still talking about technique.” The ICC went on to help develop a music-friendly conferencing platform.

Thanks to a choir parent’s introduction, Pedde says the ICC began working with WebEx in the design of its “music mode,” intended to avoid some of the limitations Zoom presented at the time.

Because Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the lower 48 states and many chorus members must travel long distances for in-person gatherings, the JCC had instituted online music theory instruction years ago, says Dailey, and emphasized it during the pandemic because online singing lessons presented too many challenges. Some adult choruses made a similar shift, among them the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale, where founding artistic director J. Donald Dumpson used his time online with choristers as a way of “undergirding” their overall experience, delivering lessons on technique and performance practice via video “in a

way that you just couldn’t at a live rehearsal” and setting up breakout rooms for singers to discuss these ideas.

Lessons learned in online instruction have “opened up some new opportunities,” says Pedde. Positive experiences have enabled the ICC to reduce the number of in-person sessions and “if a singer is not feeling well,” he adds, “they can stay home now but still be part of our rehearsal.”

That’s one reason the NFCC will continue to stream its rehearsals, says Helleckson.

Another is that they’re available later, on demand, as a benefit “not just for those who miss, but for those who are there and would like to review something that they weren’t quite sure they caught.”

As it became clear a return to in-person performances would be months, not mere weeks, away, choruses began to explore ways to represent the concert experience online. Like the NLC, many decided once was enough for virtual choir experiments.

Helleckson says her singers found the effort to be “a lot of just being in a basement by u www.chorusamerica.org

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© A d am F i el d so n

During the pandemic, the National Lutheran Choir recorded in large spaces, including an airplane hangar.

Finding the Right Mix of Virtual and In-Person Performances yourself—very intensive and not all that rewarding for everyone involved.” When its singers began to meet in person again, the ICC moved on from virtual choir cyberspace to a natural setting, in and around a church, to record a selection of songs that were assembled into a program for online viewing. For the 2020 holiday season, the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale collaborated with the Bucks County Choral Society in a video featuring familiar carols recorded outdoors in various locations. It was broadcast on Philadelphia’s PBS station, WHYY. In late 2021, the NFCC recorded an in-person performance of Messiah for on-demand viewing by people who were quarantining or chose to avoid mountain roads in winter.

20 The Voice, Spring 2022

The NLC planned an entirely virtual season with the vision, says Meckel, that each program would “reproduce the intent of the concert in a completely virtual sense.”

The choir used a variety of source material: recordings of previous live-streamed performances, new virtual choir productions, and on-location recordings, including one featuring “a small group in an airplane hangar, masked, fully spread out. It was kind of dramatic,” Meckel says. In line with a vision that embraces underrepresented voices and collaboration with other art forms, NYCS music director David Hayes decided to focus online music programming on a cappella works by contemporary composers and collaboration with choreographers, inviting them “to simply respond to the music,” Owens says. The result was Our Voices, a series launched in 2020–21 with five films that Owens feels “really expanded

on the notion of what choral performance was, expanded the repertoire, and also created something that was visually interesting and compelling.”

New experience with live streaming creates new options for collaboration, Dailey has realized. In the past, when inviting choirs from historically Black colleges to sing in the JCC’s annual Martin Luther King concerts, “we’ve been restricted to who’s available regionally.” But now, he notes, “we’re going to have the ability to have even greater participation from a virtual perspective.”

The NLC is still trying to find “the sweet spots” between live streams and more highlyproduced programs, Meckel says, whereas the New York Choral Society has landed firmly in the latter camp. “What we began to learn,” Owens says, “is that this is such an interesting way to complement in-person

performance. They were an opportunity for experimentation.” The pandemic created the opportunity, he says. Without that challenge, “I think it probably would have taken us multiple years to get to the point where we are now in terms of having a facility with this medium and where it fits going forward.”

Gauging the Response “Over the last two years, millions of Americans have discovered some world of digital programs,” observes consultant Alan Brown, and he’s found a sizeable share of the performing arts audience is among them. During the pandemic, Brown has been tracking that audience’s behavior and attitudes for the Audience Outlook Monitor, a research initiative of his firm, Wolf/Brown. About 44 percent of the patrons surveyed in February by performing arts organizations participating in his studies have engaged with online cultural programs.

Choruses report a wide range of success attracting audiences for virtual programming.

Owens says Our Voices reached thousands of viewers—”significantly more than we would do in terms of butts in seats in a normal season.” At the time the series launched, in September 2020, the chorus saw an uptick in email subscriptions, “so we know that we are reaching people that we never would have before,” Owens says. Part of the reason, he suspects, is that press coverage for the series was not always music-centered: “A lot of it was focused on the social engagement aspect of our work or the world of dance,” he says, “so we were able to penetrate different market sectors in a way that we hadn’t before.” As a small, non-auditioned community chorus in the Colorado Rockies, the NFCC has more modest audience goals. Helleckson says about 30 viewers tuned into its first live-streamed concert, although for perspective she notes that was double the size of the in-person audience.

“We’re not looking to be on a grandiose worldwide stage,” she says. “We just want to service our community, our friends, our family.”

Helleckson realizes, though, that friends and family elsewhere in the world create a global community, and so does Pedde: “We have that ability now for Grandma and Grandpa who live in Florida to see Sally singing,” he says. For Dailey, it used to be a setback when corporate CEOs who were good friends of the JCC would move away from Jacksonville “and take their resources with them.” But now, he says, “some continue to follow us because we have a video presence.” u

Music Education Partnership Grants Announcing the 2022-23 Grant Partners Grant awards support collaborations between community organizations and schools during the 2022–23 school year For a full list of grant partners and more information, visit chorusamerica.org/music-ed-grants

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Ample podium time. Abundant musical and interdisciplinary opportunities.

Office of Admissions Yale Institute of Sacred Music, 406 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 tel 203.432.9753 ism.yale.edu · ism.admissions@yale.edu

www.chorusamerica.org 21

Queen City Children's Choir Festival NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATION June 22-25, 2023

Robyn Lana - Artistic Director Jim Papoulis - Guest Artist Hosted by the award-wining Cincinnati Youth Choir Ensemble-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

For full details log onto WWW.CINCINNATICHOIR.ORG

icchoir.org/publishing-house

2022

Chorus AmericA Conference

ONLINE | April 7–8 Baltimore, MD June 15–17

22 The Voice, Spring 2022

DETA ILS On P. 32 !

Finding the Right Mix of Virtual and In-Person Performances The NLC has long faced the challenge of staying connected to people who discover the group at tour stops. Now, with a growing virtual presence, “we have some ways that we can do that,” says Meckel.

Getting Strategic About Virtual Programming At the beginning of the pandemic, many performing arts organizations “just lurched into digital content as a stopgap measure to keep the audiences engaged,” says Brown. Two years later, a significant number of choruses remain in the game.

After a January survey of 900 North American choral organizations, the chorus management software company Chorus Connection reported these key findings: • 72.9 percent of choruses planned to perform live in 2022.

• 12.3 percent planned to continue live-streaming.

• 10.8 percent planned to record performances for on-demand viewing.

• 28 percent planned a hybrid model of live and live-streamed/on-demand.

It’s time now to be looking further ahead, says Brown, “to do the difficult work of connecting digital programming to strategy. Why would we create digital content? What role does it play in our mission? And how are we going to finance it?”

The answer to Brown’s last question begins with audience engagement. How can choruses more deeply engage the viewers who have only recently discovered them on YouTube or Facebook? The New York Choral Society is investing “a significant amount of time” in segmenting its email list, says Owens, so it can invite new Tri-State Area virtual subscribers to its in-person concerts. The JCC is using email to deepen connections with people joining its social media platforms—”the majority of our growth that I can absolutely pinpoint,” Dailey says. The chorus regularly sends out links to its YouTube videos, a reminder that “you don’t have to go to a full choral concert to experience the beauty of choral music. It can be just a taste of it at the beginning of your day.”

The big challenge, says Meckel, is getting to know the people in the virtual audience.

“The best window we ever had” into that, she says, was a YouTube chat with viewers following an online performance by the NLC early in the pandemic. “We could really hear their stories, why they were tuning in,” she says. At that time, many seemed to be looking for comfort and connection through music, but Meckel suspects viewers’ motivations may be different now. “I’m not sure we have those answers yet,” she says.

Throughout the pandemic, Brown’s research has demonstrated that performing arts patrons are not very willing to buy tickets for virtual performances.

While 44 percent of the respondents in his February surveys said they had engaged in virtual performances, only 18 percent had paid for them.

Experiences reported by these choruses are consistent with that finding. The NLC’s experiment with a paywall for a concert last fall was disappointing, says Meckel. Dailey reports mixed results for the JCC’s ticketed virtual concerts. He is hoping the growth of the chorus’s YouTube channel, now claiming more than 1,000 followers, will lead to meaningful revenue, although he acknowledges “these are uncharted waters.” The NFCC has considered trying a paywall, according to Helleckson, but experience tells her that appeals for donations will be more successful. “When we ask people to support us, we end up getting more support than if we actually ticket a concert,” she says. Meckel has witnessed similar audience behavior: “During the worst of the pandemic, we just took our work and put it out there without charge, and that actually, I believe, was a hugely effective public awareness campaign. We saw certain indicators really change, just in terms of numbers of views and numbers of donations coming into the organization.”

Several choruses are also finding that virtual performances can be attractive options for donor/sponsors who want to encourage that kind of activity or appreciate the subscriber and social media metrics it can generate. Dailey says he has heard that message directly from JCC supporters. The NYCS has several donors that it brings in as co-producers, says Owens, “very much as we would try and raise funding for a specific concert. From a budget perspective, we look at it probably primarily as the cost of staying visible

The overall message, according to Meckel, is that the main payoff for virtual programming will arrive in the form of contributed income. “I think just by virtue of the greater reach there are more prospects for contributed revenue,” she says.

© A n t h o n y Sh e lt o n

Looking Ahead, Finding a New Balance

A recording session for the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale’s 2020 holiday program, Christmas in a Time of Isolation.

and staying relevant.” When your work and your brand are visible around the globe, funders respond, adds Dailey. That kind of virtual presence “raises your cachet locally.

The benefit is just extraordinary.”

All of these choruses are planning to adopt a hybrid approach that combines virtual and in-person programming. Several are using this year to test ways of achieving a reasonable balance.

“Budgets will be a deciding factor” in taking on any virtual venture, “not the desire to do it or have it,” argues Dumpson.

The choruses most active in audiencefocused projects will be the ones that can afford to document the choral art in the manner it deserves and to share it widely with others, he says. Pedde agrees “there is a level of excellence being put out there by other groups that we need to be looking at.”

The question then becomes, can we produce programs that are both excellent and

cost-effective? After breaking even with its most recent virtual efforts, Pedde says the ICC will likely cut back a bit next season, streaming two of its five concerts. Meckel expects the NLC will also create two new virtual programs, scaling down from four, “along with reusing some of the amazing content we did produce over the pandemic.”

The NYCS plans just one Our Voices production next season, down from the current three and from five in 2020–21. “That was a lot,” says Owens. Concerns over COVID-19 also factored into the chorus’s plans, he says. The specter of a variant yet to come may argue against a winter concert next year, which he thinks might make January or February a good time to release a virtual production.

Even on a smaller budget, Helleckson believes the NFCC should continue with a hybrid virtual/in-person model. “The technology has shown us some tools that we can continue to use,” she says, knowing that an active online presence can play an important role in community-building, “but we recognize that it’s not a replacement for the sense of community that inperson singing gives us.” u

www.chorusamerica.org 23

Finding the Right Mix of Virtual and In-Person Performances At the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, plans for a digital future begin with the word “more.” “There’ll be obviously more YouTube videos because that’s something we were committed to before,” says Dailey, and he adds that every concert is going to be live-streamed. “I see this as an investment,” he says, “and if you look at this as a long-term investment, the returns are exceptional.”

Facing a future that is far from clear, Dumpson plans to stay alert for lessons he can glean from these colleagues and others whose experience with virtual performance is more firmly established. One thing is clear now, he says: “I need to remain fluid.

I need to allow myself to be responsive in real time.”

Brown urges choruses not only to learn from each other, but to band together.

“The only way that we’re going to get really high-quality digital content is by collaborating and asking funders to support work that benefits the entire sector,” he says. He

envisions “a product line of well-produced video programs featuring different choruses that is produced every year and is available to everyone at a very low cost.” He thinks of it as “a consolidated audience development effort,” a digital concert, possibly streamed live, for at-home viewing or even theatrical presentation, á la Metropolitan Opera Live in HD. “I just want to encourage people to think about this as a collaborative challenge that requires collaborative solutions,” he says, “because that that’s about the only way we’re going to come out of this with some really fantastic, sustainable digital programming that actually builds public interest in choral music.”

As the pandemic stretched on and choruses increasingly realized the advantages a virtual presence can bring, the prediction “this isn’t going away” became a kind of refrain. But as restrictions have been relaxed, a different sentiment seems to prevail. Tina Meckel puts it this way: “Nothing will ever replace live performance, and live performance has to stay at the center of everything we do.” Now that we’re returning to in-person singing, Pedde sometimes notices people “shying away from technology,” and

he gets it. Still, much-improved virtual connections with his singers and easy access to the work of far-flung colleagues are among the reasons he is bullish on a digital future for choral music.

No one is saying this is an either-or proposition. As Dumpson puts it, “there’s a pull, there’s a desire to be live,” and alongside that, there’s an enticing new frontier, the virtual world. “How do we have them co-exist?” Meckel is guessing that the audience for virtual performances will shrink a bit as choruses get back to singing in person, and that will cause a “correction” in their priorities. For the next couple of years, she expects attention will be focused on “reknitting human connections.” So where does that leave virtual activity? “I wouldn’t want to push it to the back burner,” she says. “But turn the heat down so it can simmer for a while.” n Don Lee is a media producer, editor, writer, and amateur choral singer who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. At NPR in Washington DC, he was the executive producer of Performance Today.

CAMINANTE: Journey Through 40 Years Join Us for Our 40th Anniversary!

Joshua Habermann Artistic Director

2022 Summer Festival July 13 - August 5 Sponsored by Mary and Phil Delk in Memory of Joel Brauer

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Photo: Tira Howard Photography

24 The Voice, Spring 2022

TICKETS ON SALE NOW (505) 988-2282 desertchorale.org

To belong is to be heard, understood, seen, and valued—to be a thriving and vital member of the chorus of humanity. Join us in Cincinnati (in person!) to celebrate our diversity and our affinities, while we inspire each other to create a greater Place of Belonging.

HONOR CHOIRS Children Fernando Malvar-Ruiz MS/JH Mixed Andrea Ramsey HS SATB Eugene Rogers

HEADLINE CHOIRS The May Festival Chorus & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Juanjo Mena, conductor featuring a world premiere

by James Lee III The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers The Crossing Donald Nally, conductor featuring the premiere of the Brock Commission by Jennifer Higdon

CONFERENCE ATTENDEE IMMERSION CHOIRS Latinoamérica Immersion Choir Maria Guinand, conductor Black Diaspora Immersion Choir Donald Dumpson, conductor Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir Jace Saplan, conductor Jazz Immersion Choir Matt Falker, conductor

HS SSAA Pearl Shangkuan AMAZING VENUES Cincinnati Music Hall Aronoff Center Theaters Isaac M. Wise Temple Duke Energy Convention Center for all interest sessions, exhibits, and publisher showcases

What Does

Caring for Ourselves and Our Organizations Look Like Now?

The Arlington Chorale is led by artistic director Ingrid Lestrud.

This is a uniquely challenging time for the choral field, full of both hope and fatigue. For two years the ground has shifted constantly beneath our feet, leaving many feeling drained and apprehensive about the future.

Yet this has also been a time of extraordinary creativity and innovation, and the reaffirmation of the value of choral music. We asked seven choral leaders to share how they are caring for their organizations, their singers, and themselves right now.

B y C aitlin P atton

26 The Voice, Spring 2022

Have you implemented new practices to support the wellness of singers, volunteers, or staff?

Caron Daley, Director of Choral Activities, Duquesne University: I’ve tried to make the choral experience more qualitative. I’ve taken the focus away from performance and toward process. We’ll take time at the beginning and end of a rehearsal to have a discussion about a range of things: How are you thinking about this music? What about this music resonates with your experience? Very open-ended kinds of qualitative questions. I don’t believe I took the time to do that before, and it has had a profound effect on the level of social bonding in the ensemble.

I am more cognizant of the individuals in the ensemble, each with such unique perspectives and needs. As a conductor, how can I preserve and protect and enjoy those individuals? How can they feel valued? Of course that was the case before, but I was so focused on the musical product, and now I’m more focused on the experience. I don’t think that will change— in fact, it makes the music better.

Zanaida Robles, composer, vocalist, and teacher: There’s so much in the area of mental health that we weren’t paying attention to before now. Some of the things we’ve put in place include regular check-ins and more intentional warm-ups designed to facilitate breathing; everything we do has to

O u r pa n e l

contribute to our mental and emotional health. It’s being more heart-centered and sensation-centered rather than cerebral.

One thing I’ve been contemplating with my high school students is testing; during the pandemic we had to rethink how we do grades, and it hasn’t felt right to go back.

From a health standpoint, I think there are more students who would benefit from not having that kind of pressure, and I haven’t experienced a significant lessening of our excellence outcomes. So if it hasn’t resulted in less excellence, and it has resulted in less stress, I want to stay in that mode.

Christopher Eanes, executive director, Cathedral Choral Society: I don’t want staff worrying about how much time they can take off. We have changed our policy to what is technically called non-tracked PTO, but is essentially unlimited paid vacation.

The fact is, none of the staff take that much, I have to make them step away. Like everybody else, we’ve readjusted our working from home versus working in the office policy. We’re not a five-day-in-the-office organization, and we never will be again. The most important thing is that we operate with the understanding that people need grace to do what they need to do for themselves. We’re all being very flexible with each other.

Robyn Lana, managing artistic director, Cincinnati Youth Choir: We have a Zoom option for singers to use if they are exposed or sick. I appreciate that they are self-monitoring their exposure. They’re very thoughtful about that and we’re finding that we can trust people. In January, when Omicron was on the rise, most of our singers were coming [to rehearsal] but there were a couple of families who were really worried about it, so they came to Zoom. If they communicate with us, we’d rather have them there in that capacity so that they can rejoin, rather than stop and hope they can find their way back in. We respect family decisions.

Christopher Eanes is the executive director of the Cathedral Choral Society, the oldest symphonic chorus in Washington DC. He is a musician and arts leader who has engaged with communities of students, singers, and supporters throughout the world. Before joining CCS, he served as the artistic director and CEO of the Cincinnati Boychoir for 10 years.

Maria A. Ellis is a conductor, passionate educator, and owner of Girl Conductor LLC, a company that creates diverse music education resources.

She teaches at Sumner High School in St. Louis, the oldest Black high school west of the Mississippi River. She is the host of Bach and Beyoncé on the St. Louis radio station Classic 107.3.

©J ames Gould

What organizational practices are you rethinking? Have you changed the way you plan or execute programming to relieve pressure and stress?

Craig Hella Johnson, artistic director, Conspirare: We’re trying to ask ourselves more consistently, do we have the bandwidth to do this? Certainly financial bandwidth, but also staff energy, staff time, and trying to be mindful of the fact that things seem to be taking more time and more space. We’ve been open to contemplating larger paradigm shifts too. I hate to use the p-word, but u

Caron Daley serves as Director of Choral Activities at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. She frequently lectures on the applications of Dalcroze Eurhythmics to choral practice and is widely published on embodied teaching and learning.

Caron serves as Past-President of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) of Pennsylvania and Collegiate Repertoire and Resources Chair for ACDA National.

Craig Hella Johnson is a conductor, composer, arranger, and educator known for crafting musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. He is the founder and artistic director of Conspirare and is also music

director of the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Chorus America.

Robyn Reeves Lana is the founder, managing artistic director and conductor of the Cincinnati Youth Choir, Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music. When not leading the Cincinnati Youth Choir, over the last quarter of a century she has served as a conductor and clinician across the United States and internationally. She is a member of Chorus America’s Board of Directors.

Ingrid Lestrud is the artistic director of the Arlington Chorale, an auditioned community chorus in the Washington DC metro area.

Empowering students to serve their community through choral music, she also leads the Chorale’s Youth Community Council. She conducts two choruses for Encore Creativity, and she has formerly served as faculty for the National Children’s Chorus, as well as several colleges in the midwest and on the east coast, leading both choral and orchestral programs.

Zanaida Stewart Robles is an award-winning composer, vocalist, and teacher. She is a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion in music education and performance. Born, raised, and educated in Southern California, she is in demand as a composer, vocalist, clinician and adjudicator for competitions, festivals, and conferences related to choral and solo vocal music.

www.chorusamerica.org 27

What Does Caring for Ourselves and Our Organizations Look Like Now? we’ve learned all this pivoting. How far in advance do we want to plan? We still believe in long-range planning in a big way, but is that nine-month season framework still serving us in the best way, or not?

Ingrid Lestrud, artistic director, Arlington Chorale: Last fall I intentionally planned a long rehearsal cycle so that we could have shorter rehearsals without a break. I didn’t plan that way for the spring; last summer we all thought that by January things would be normal. Most of the groups here did not rehearse during the surge in January, but we decided to keep rehearsing and have our members test. We met with half the group at a time.

We’ve been using more practice tracks this year than we did before the pandemic.

It’s worth the time and expense and helps people feel more comfortable.

We also got a technical assistance grant to hire a consultant to help us with strategic planning. We’ve just met with him once, but he had a lot of great ideas about the future of our group. It was helpful to talk to someone else, because it’s been hard to do any long-term planning not knowing what the world will be like.

Maria A. Ellis, teacher, owner of Girl Conductor LLC: Pre-pandemic I held [my singers] to a ridiculously high level. This year, I’ve chosen easier repertoire that they can master. This is where we are, so let’s rock where we are. There’s nothing exciting about coming to choir rehearsal and feeling like everything is over your head.

I’ve always given space for us to do wellness checks. I tell my students up front, just let me know where we are today. If today is not your day, let me know. I try to keep that line of communication open.

Daley: I have programmed fewer concerts this year to balance out singer fatigue.

And I did less repertoire—fewer pieces, shorter concerts.

How are you making space for thoughtful leadership while still taking steps to move your organization forward?

Johnson: It’s as simple for me as the airplane guidance of putting your oxygen mask on before you help your neighbor. I need to ground myself every day in meditation and quiet space. For me it’s 30 minutes a day, in the morning. I need to take that time to 28 The Voice, Spring 2022

Ellis working with students in the Cincinnati Youth Choir’s Cincinnati Choral Academy program

reflect on purpose and ask those larger questions of myself on a regular basis. Why am I doing this? What was I called to do?

What is my work here? And then to try to stay with that larger sense of purpose when I go about the many challenges and tasks.

Then I feel like I can be balanced and available to that sense of leadership.

Eanes: We start every staff meeting with a look at the long-range calendar. I don’t need to focus my staff members on the execution of tasks, it’s my job to pull them back out and say, what’s the overall goal of what we’re trying to do here and what do we need to be doing for six months, or even a couple of years, out.

Ellis: I’m not full-time anywhere, so that gives me space to really think things through and try to calculate how I’m going to move next.

A lot of us are empty—so what do we do in those moments when we’re empty and we’ve got students who are also empty but you’ve got to figure out a way to make it work? On days when I know I’m running low, those are days when I tell my kids, today we’re going to have a meditation day and I’m going to play some soothing music and we’re going to just chill out—and be ok with that. Whatever’s going to happen that day will happen, but in this moment, for these 90 minutes, we’ve got each other.

Lana: I’m trying to support the team as much as possible and find ways that I can take on more so they don’t feel as burdened and we can keep moving as we rebuild.

There is a lot more burden on my shoulders than there has ever been, and that’s not healthy. I need to find people that want to join the team and help bring this program into the future.

Robles: The emphasis of self-care can’t be overstated. I actually have to schedule days that say “do not schedule.” That’s what facilitates the time for creative leadership refueling to happen. We have to be really disciplined as leaders to create space for ourselves to recover. It’s frustrating because we’re so tired, and part of what we’re tired of is being disciplined. In addition, I’m intentionally going to see other people making art. I‘m realizing how much I grow as an artist by watching other artists.

What are your current pain points?

Lana: One of my personal biggest pain points is seeing the emotional health of our singers deteriorate. It’s taken a whole different level of nurturing and guidance and self-esteem building because they’ve been isolated. We’re seeing, every day, new mental health challenges with our kids.

It’s heartbreaking.

Robles: The pain point for me is the frustration with having had the building

process put on hold for a while and now feeling like you have to start from scratch.

Lestrud: I have to think about my body a little more while conducting. Something I’ve noticed, I’m leaving my music everywhere. I can’t tell you how many times I have left my music at rehearsal. I never used to do that. I’ve read that forgetting things is a sign of trauma.

Everybody is under so much underlying stress. Sometimes the emails I get from singers are unusually sharp. I’m trying not to take it personally, because I think we’re all near our breaking points. A lot of us are making mistakes that we wouldn’t normally make, just because our brains are so overloaded.

Daley: My own health and wellness has come to the fore, and it’s been utterly essential that I address those things. Given the context of the pandemic and the stress I’ve been under, those things have to be addressed in order for me to have longevity in this field.

Eanes: For us, it’s reminding ourselves of how to throw a concert. We’re redeveloping our entire operations manual. We have to teach ourselves how to do this again.

Everything is taking longer right now.

Johnson: For every single pain point, there is a door we can walk through if we stay present to it. There is an opportunity in it. The challenge of keeping that sense of ensemble unity is something I’ve observed. I worried that might happen, that we might grow apart. The opportunity there was how can we communicate with each other more?

How does choral music play a role in your own wellness? Do you see it contributing to the wellness of communities that you are working with?

Lestrud: For so many musicians, music is part of our identity. When we’re not doing it, it feels like we are shadows of ourselves.

Going back to rehearsals, I had to get used to being back in the world. For our March concert, everybody had tested twice so we allowed people to take off their masks.

Most of them did choose to take them off and it felt so amazing to see their faces.

It feels good to be with everybody in person again.

Ellis: Teaching is my superpower. I always feel better after I teach. Choir is a place of joy and happiness, choir is fun, a

place of love and caring. That’s the world that we have as choir directors. I don’t take that for granted, that I get to stand in front of these students and be a part of their lives.

I’m so honored, and I want to make sure that [their] experience with me is one of the best experiences [they] have. Our singing can transform somebody else’s life. I don’t take that for granted, and I try to make sure I pour that love and heart into my teaching.

Daley: One of the most painful things about the pandemic is that choral singing has always been celebrated as a way of bringing people together, and then it became a mode of disease transmission.

No one is taking choral singing for granted these days. It contributes strongly to communities. I see that in my students, I see how much they love singing now more than ever. It seems to play a healing function.

In my own wellness, I have returned to my own love of choral music through listening. I’ve taken more time to be with the score and to listen for enjoyment. Certainly choral music has played a role in my own convalescence through this experience.

Robles: Singing is a way that we connect with our bodies, with our spirits; singing u

www.chorusamerica.org 29

in community is such a holistic experience that can relieve stress. There is a spirituality from singing, not just sacred music, but the concept of voices and hearts mingling in space together.

Lana: Being around the energy and the sound in the room (especially after doing it for a year and a half on Zoom), it really does soothe the singer and anybody in the room listening or working with them as I am. Singing in the choir really helps their mental health. Now that we are singing with no masks, it’s been amazing to see the joy.

Johnson: It feels like an essential engagement right now, because it’s one of the few things that I can see culturally that gives us some sense of the universal in this very divided world. I believe that this music has the power to transform us, to change our perspective. It can remind us and show us what we have in common.

For my own wellness, it has been really meaningful, in my role as a conductor, to be even more present to the gift that is coming in my direction from a singer who

© Cassandra Weyandt

What Does Caring for Ourselves and Our Organizations Look Like Now?

Johnson conducts Conspirare’s 2021 holiday program, Conspirare Christmas

is singing in an ensemble that I’m working with. The gift of an individual’s voice. I’ve been finding myself more and more refreshed that we get to do this and that we get to share this. We’ve come out of this thing where it was taken away from us; to be returning to it, my cup is filled up by this gift of engagement with each other. It’s

just an extraordinary way to be with other people in this life. n Caitlin Patton is a Standards for Excellent Licensed Consultant and the Executive Director of the National Music Festival. She lives on a small farm in Maryland and is a violinist, choral singer, and former board chair of the Chester River Chorale.

GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAM Bard Conservatory of Music

All students receive ample podium time working with community, collegiate, and professional ensembles including: Bard Conservatory Orchestra Bard College Community Orchestra Bard Chamber Singers

information

Bard Conductor’s Chorale Bard Symphonic Chorus Conductor’s Ensemble

845-752-2409 bard.edu/conservatory conservatoryadmission@bard.edu

30 The Voice, Spring 2022

co-directors

James Bagwell and Leon Botstein

Congratulations, Grant gERSHON

2022 Korn Founders Award Winner Your dedication to advancing the art of choral singing continues to inspire us all.

Thank you.

LAMASTERCHORALE.ORG

2022

Chorus AmericA Conference ONLINE | April 7–8

©iSTockphoto / Denis Tangney J r

Baltimore, MD | June 15–17

2022 C h orus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

SCHEDULE-AT-A-Glance In addition to In-Person Event programming, all sessions from our Online Event this past April are recorded and available to attendees in the Conference platform until August 1. Replays include captioning.

Wednesday, June 15

THURsday, June 16

9:00 a.m.

Plenary Workshop: Beyond Covid-19: Immersed in the Future Speaker: Alan Brown Annual Meeting 9:30 am–12:00 pm

2:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

Exhibit Hours (Holiday) 1:00–6:00 pm

1:00 p.m.

Registration Open (Blake) 10:00 am–5:30 pm

12:00 p.m.

Plenary Workshop: Radical Creativity Speaker: Alysia Lee 3:00–5:30 pm

Exhibit Hours (Holiday) 9:00 am–5:00 pm

Registration Open (Blake) 9:00 am–5:00 pm

11:00 a.m.

Leadership Development Forum (Calloway) 12:00– 2:00 pm

8:00 p.m.

9:00 p.m.

10:00 p.m.

3:15– 3:45 pm

9:00– 9:30 am

Plenary Workshop: Connecting and Communicating in a New Normal Speaker: Celeste Headlee 9:30 am–12:00 pm Former Board & Continuo Society Lunch (The Center Club, 100 Light Street) 12:30-2:00 pm Composer Showcase 2:00–3:00 pm Peer Forums 3:00–4:00 pm

Roundtables 4:00–5:00 pm

6:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m.

1:45– 2:00 pm

Peer Forums 2:00–3:00 pm Exhibitor Showcase 3:00–4:00 pm

One-on-Ones Movement Break

FRIday, June 17 9:00– 9:30 am

10:00 a.m.

Key n Conference Programming n Public Event n By Invitation n Ticketed Event

Exhibit Hours (Holiday) 9:00 am–4:00 pm

Our Conference hotel is the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor at 401 West Pratt Street.

All Conference programming will take place in the Holiday rooms on the second floor unless otherwise noted.

On Demand Content

Registration Open (Blake) 9:00 am–12:00 pm

Accessing Conference Programming and Events

Gala Celebration and Auction 6:00–9:30 pm

Opening Night Concert: Singing Sensations Youth Choir, Handel Choir of Baltimore, and Maryland State Boychoir (Christ Lutheran Church, 701 South Charles Street) 7:30–9:00 pm

Additional ticket purchases available at Registration.

Opening Night Reception (Ballroom Foyer) 9:30–11:00 pm

Gala Celebration Afterparty 9:30–11:00 pm

Closing Concert: Baltimore Choral Arts Society (Westminster Hall, 519 West Fayette Street) 5:30–7:30 pm

11:00 p.m.

*Note: All events are listed in Eastern Daylight Time.

www.chorusamerica.org 33

Faculty

Chorus America presents the

2023 Choral-Orchestral

Conducting ACADEMY July 3–9, 2023 Build choral-orchestral skills and advance your career in a supportive learning environment with world-class, accessible teachers.

Rob Istad

Conducting Academy Dean Director of Choral Studies, California State University Fullerton; Artistic Director, Pacific Chorale

Lucinda Carver

Interim Executive Director, Boston Conservatory at Berklee

David Hayes

Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies, Mannes School of Music; Staff Conductor, Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Duain Wolfe

Former Director and Conductor, Chicago Symphony Chorus; Conductor, Colorado Symphony

Eugene Rogers

Director of Choral Activities, University of Michigan; Artistic Director, The Washington Chorus

Beth Willer

Director of Choral Studies, Peabody Institute; Artistic Director, Lorelei Ensemble Participating conductors will work on choral-orchestral repertoire including Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, 4th Movement.

Funding support provided by Chorus America’s John Alexander Conducting Faculty Chair endowment, The Colburn Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Popplestone Foundation.

In partnership with

Applications will be open November 1–December 1.

d Ava etails i choru lable sam at eri ca20 ca.org/ 23

2022 C h o rus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

Chorus America Honors

2022 Award Winners Chorus America’s Awards Program recognizes remarkable individuals and choruses for their meaningful contributions to the choral community.

Our 2022 awards were presented at the online Awards Celebration on June 9 and recognized during the In-Person Conference Event in Baltimore.

Visit youtube.com/chorusamerica to watch the Awards Celebration and view video tributes to many of the award winners.

Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art Chorus America established this award in 1978 to recognize an individual with a lifetime of significant contributions to the professional choral art. The award’s name honors Michael Korn, one of the founders of Chorus America and the organization’s first president.

• 2022 Recipient: Grant Gershon (below)

Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal This award was established in memory of Louis Botto for his artistry, selfless service to the choral art, and entrepreneurial spirit in founding the men’s vocal ensemble Chanticleer. The award is given periodically to a mid-career choral leader who has demonstrated these characteristics in developing a professional or professionalcore choral ensemble.

• 2022 Recipient: Brandon Elliott (above) Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award This award honors the life and achievements of educator, conductor, and arranger u

Chorus America Distinguished Service Award

©Jamie P ham

This award is given by Chorus America to a member whose long-term service to the choral field significantly furthers Chorus America’s mission “to empower singing ensembles to create vibrant communities and effect meaningful change.”

• 2022 Recipient: Ysaÿe M. Barnwell (above)

www.chorusamerica.org 35

2022 C h orus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

$10,000, $7,500 of which supports the commissioning fee and $2,500 of which supports engagement with the project composer, and production and promotion costs to present the project.

• 2022 Recipient: EXIGENCE, a Sphinx Organization vocal ensemble, (below) and Carlos Simon, composer (inset) Michael Korn Founders Award for Philanthropic Contribution to the Arts

Brazeal Dennard by recognizing individuals or organizations whose work builds upon his commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and furthering African American and other diverse choral traditions through performance, research, or the creation of new compositions of significance.

• 2022 Recipient: Cantare (above) Alice Parker Fund Award

New this year, the Alice Parker Fund Award supports the composition and thoughtful presentation of choral music based in the traditions of Black and Latinx communities. This award recognizes the exemplary work of a Black or Latinx composer or an ensemble that respectfully and authentically presents works incorporating these traditions and experiences.

• 2022 Recipient: Rollo Dilworth (above)

36 The Voice, Spring 2022

Dale Warland Singers Commission Award Chorus America and the American Composers Forum partner to present this award in honor of Dale Warland’s lifelong commitment to new music as embodied through his work with the Dale Warland Singers. The award is made possible by the Dale Warland Singers Fund for New Choral Music, a permanently restricted endowment fund established in 2004. The winning chorus receives a cash award of

This award is given to an individual, corporation, or foundation whose financial support of Chorus America and the choral art has been especially significant and generous.

• 2022 Recipient: The Charter Members of Continuo Society Knowing the impact legacy giving would have on Chorus America’s future, devoted members and staff came together in the last decade to form Continuo Society, Chorus America’s planned giving community. In Continuo Society’s first formative years, over 30 generous charter members pledged their commitment to the choral field through planned giving. We honor their legacy of leadership and support that will resonate for years to come. n

Faculty

Chorus America presents the

2023 Choral-Orchestral

Conducting ACADEMY July 3–9, 2023 Build choral-orchestral skills and advance your career in a supportive learning environment with world-class, accessible teachers.

Rob Istad

Conducting Academy Dean Director of Choral Studies, California State University Fullerton; Artistic Director, Pacific Chorale

Lucinda Carver

Interim Executive Director, Boston Conservatory at Berklee

David Hayes

Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies, Mannes School of Music; Staff Conductor, Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Duain Wolfe

Former Director and Conductor, Chicago Symphony Chorus; Conductor, Colorado Symphony

Eugene Rogers

Director of Choral Activities, University of Michigan; Artistic Director, The Washington Chorus

Beth Willer

Director of Choral Studies, Peabody Institute; Artistic Director, Lorelei Ensemble Participating conductors will work on choral-orchestral repertoire including Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, 4th Movement.

Funding support provided by Chorus America’s John Alexander Conducting Faculty Chair endowment, The Colburn Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Popplestone Foundation.

In partnership with

Applications will be open November 1–December 1.

d Ava etails i choru lable sam at eri ca20 ca.org/ 23

2022 C h orus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

Thank You Chorus America gratefully acknowledges these businesses and organizations for their support of the 2022 Chorus America Conference.

Major Conference Sponsor

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors General Sponsors

38 The Voice, Spring 2022

special Underwriting

Conference Exhibitors

Chorus America is deeply grateful to the following funders for their generous support of the Conference:

ACFEA Tour Consultants

John C. Griswold Family Foundation

Classical Movements

C4 Network Chorus Connection DCINY ECS Publishing Group Edition Peters Kaleidoscope Adventures MatchMySound

This event is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org)

Popplestone Foundation

Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, composer MUSICFOLDER.com Oxford University Press Pro Musica International Choral Festival Walton Music/GIA Publications Listing current as of May 25, 2022.

CONGRATULATIONS

to EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble and Carlos Simon on their 2022 Chorus America Award

The Sphinx Organization is the Detroitbased, nationally focused social justice organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. www.SphinxMusic.org Aaron P. Dworkin

Founder

www.chorusamerica.org 39

2022 C h orus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

Chorus America

Annual Report September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022

Membership & Programs Membership

C

horus America currently has 1,169 members and serves over 8,406 individuals through their affiliations with choruses, industry-wide businesses, and other member organizations. Similar to other member organizations during the pandemic, Chorus America’s membership has been challenged by the economic impact of the pandemic on group singing organizations.

We have prioritized keeping our community connected through pay-what-you-can pricing, which 22% of our members have taken advantage of to renew or join during the current fiscal year.

This spring and summer, Chorus America is launching the Chorus America Online Community, a new member benefit. The Chorus America Online Community is a secure online space where members can connect, ask questions, share ideas, lend expertise, and have conversations with their peers. It features a discussion forum as well as a library for sharing documents, resources, and links.

Implemented through the Higher Logic platform, this tool facilitates increased direct, peer-to-peer engagement and integrates the resources already available on 40 The Voice, Spring 2022

Chorus America Membership | April 2022

n Individual (40.42%) n Student (3.7%) n Business/Affiliate (3.98%) n Choruses up to $87,499 (27.89%) n Choruses $87,500–$999,999 (20.02%) n Choruses $1 milion+ (3.98%)

our site with new materials shared by our members for an increased brain trust.

We are excited about this and other new opportunities to serve the field through our services and evolving programs, many of which are detailed in the following program highlights.

Programs

T

he 2022 Conference met the field’s need as a two-part event in 2022: a two-day Online Conference Event on April 7–8 that focused on professional development sessions, and an In-Person Conference Event

in Baltimore on June 15-17, focusing on networking and peer-to-peer engagement.

Both events addressed mental and emotional wellbeing in the choral field (recognizing the unique struggle our field has gone through since March 2020 and the impacts on arts workers and the community’s reduced access to music-making during a sustained period), repairing and restoring the field, and access, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI).

Chorus America is deeply committed to advancing ADEI, and our members consistently request more information on implementing ADEI principles and strategies. This year we continued the ADEI Learning Lab, a four-week workshop. The Learning Lab is specifically designed for White choral leaders seeking to address structural racism in their organizations and become better allies and accomplices to their BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) colleagues. Participants learned about their own identities and the ways these identities position them within

FINANCIALS September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022

the choral field, as well as how concepts of ADEI can be used to create change within their organizations.

This year marked an exciting new direction for Chorus America, which has positioned us to be a valuable resource for sustaining and supporting choral music education. We are thrilled to have launched our first regranting program: the Music Education Partnership Grants. Made possible through a new funding partnership Chorus America distributed $950,000 in grants ranging from $25,000–$50,000 to support projects during the 2022–23 school year. The grants will support collaborations between nonprofit choruses and schools to increase access to choral music education with a focus on the core values of the grants program: co-creation, cultural exchange, and dismantling historic and systemic racism.

This year we also launched the #RediscoverHarmony campaign (rediscoverharmony.com) to raise public awareness about the value that singing groups bring to their communities. It offers

Fiscal Year Revenue FY19 Expenses FY20 FY21 FY22

all choral organizations a platform and social media toolkit to amplify their work and community impact. This project began as an initiative of Chorus America’s Leadership Development Forum, a peer learning group for leaders of large budget choruses. #RediscoverHarmony helps choruses connect with new audiences, patrons, and potential members in their communities.

We are encouraging all choruses, choirs, and singing groups to take advantage of this free tool—not just Chorus America members.

The Voice magazine is Chorus America’s award-winning quarterly magazine, featuring in-depth interviews and profiles, chorus news, and opinion and commentary on important topics such as board leadership strategies, successful fundraising and marketing techniques, and advice on artistic issues.

Chorus America published relevant articles such as “Navigating New Rights Challenges with Online Concerts,” “Feeling Safer in the Concert Hall: What’s Bringing Audiences Back to Choral Performances,” and “What Strategic Planning Looks Like Now.” n

Revenue Expense 1413878 1410059 1225808 1203211 1439700 1325466 2372387 2368209

Revenue and Expenses by Fiscal year

Revenue & Expense by Fiscal Year

2600000 2200000 1800000 1400000 1000000

FY19 n Revenue

FY20 n Expense Revenue

FY21

FY22

Expense

In FY22, Chorus America received a significant grant to launch the Music Education Partnership Grant Program

In FY22, Chorus America received a significant grant to launch the Music Education P www.chorusamerica.org 41

tising

4%

92,000.00 2,372,387.00

2022 C h orus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

Y22 Budget Income by Source FY22 Budget Income By Source

4%

2%

9%

9% 216,448.00 42% 1,005,150.00 1% 17,750.00 1% 19,700.00 1% 22,790.00 3% 67,882.00 3% 64,750.00 30% 703,472.00 8% 183,850.00 3% 66,417.00 2,368,209.00

1%

9%

26%

n Interest/Dividends (1%) n Development (26%) n Grants Released (50%) n Assets Released (2%) n Membership (9%)

50%

/Dividends

n Programs (9%) n Communications/ Advertising (4%) Total: $2,372,387.00

Development

FY22 Budget Expenses by Department

Released

Assets Released

rship

Programs

nications/Advertising n Admin (9%) n Payroll (42%) n Board (1%) n Strategic Alliances (1%) n Development (1%) n Technology (3%) n Membership (3%) n Projects (30%) n Programs (8%) n Communications (3%) Total: $2,368,209.00

42 The Voice, Spring 2022

New Members of the Chorus America Board as of June 2022 Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt

Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt is Professor Emerita of Choral Studies at the University of Toronto where she held the Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting and received the inaugural Teaching Excellence Award in 2013.

From 2013–2018, she was also artistic director of Exultate Chamber Singers, a semi-professional ensemble in Toronto.

Previously she taught at the Ohio State University and the University of NC-Greensboro, after receiving her doctorate from the University of WisconsinMadison. Her teaching experiences range from public school to community ensembles to church choirs.

A native Canadian, she has led her university choirs in performances at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and at Podium, the national professional conference of Choral Canada. She has guest conducted honors choruses and festivals through the U.S. and Canada, including more than 35 all-state high school choirs.

She directed the 2014 National Youth Choir of Canada and has conducted choral festivals internationally.

A prolific author, she has published numerous articles and book chapters. Her book on the life and work of Canadian composer Ruth Watson Henderson, I Didn’t Want It To be Boring (Toronto: Prism Publishers) won Choral Canada’s award for Outstanding Choral Publication in 2018.

Long active in ACDA, Dr. Apfelstadt served as National President from 2007–

2009 and as Interim Executive Director from 2020–2021. She has been honored with leadership awards from the NC-ACDA, Ohio Choral Directors Association, ACDA Central Region, and Choirs Ontario. She is also a member of NCCO and Chorus America.

Eric V. Oliver

Eric V. Oliver recently retired as Regional Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board’s Cincinnati Office (NLRB). Mr. Oliver began his career with the Agency in 1984 as a Field Attorney in the Fort Worth, Texas office.

The NLRB is an independent federal agency enforcing the National Labor Relations Act; it acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.

Mr. Oliver is the Minister of Music at Zion Baptist Church, Avondale, the founder of the Loretta C. Manggrum Chorale, and serves on the Board of the Cincinnati Youth Chorus. He was a Board Member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, serving a 6-year term ending in 2019. Mr. Oliver received the 2014 Spirit Award from the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Wendell P. Dabney award for Diversity for his work with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Classical Roots Community Mass Choir.

He served as a Legal Consultant and Musician for the Heritage Music Foundation (Los Angeles, CA) and a member of the American Negro Spiritual Festival Competition Criteria Committee.

Mr. Oliver graduated from Oberlin College in 1980 with a degree in Government and Music. He received his J.D. from Case Western Reserve School of Law in 1983.

tion, artistic planning and collaboration, and enrollment marketing. Previously, Steve served as Executive Director of Seattle Men’s Chorus/Seattle Women’s Chorus, leading an artistic and financial turnaround for one of North America’s largest community choral organizations.

Accomplishments included managing a successful artistic transition, rebranding, renewed focus on social justice work, and retirement of debt with four consecutive budget surpluses.

As Executive Director for Revels in Cambridge, MA, he returned the organization to financial health, rebuilding attendance and expanding educational programming. Earlier in his career, he led the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus through a fifteen year expansion, managed concert operations for the Pittsburgh Symphony residency at the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts, and supported an international roster of concert organists and English cathedral choirs for Karen McFarlane Artists Management.

He has a degree in Music/Arts Management from Baldwin-Wallace University and participated in an Executive Leadership Program for cultural organizations at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Steve has consulted with many small and mid-sized nonprofits and his expertise includes strategic planning, branding, audience development, fundraising, and governance. As a volunteer and advocate, he served on the boards of GALA Choruses (clerk, vice president, president); ArtsBoston (vice president); and Greater Boston Choral Consortium (president). n

Advertising Index ACDA........................................................... 25 ACFEA Tour Consultants............................... 9 Bard College Conservatory of Music.......... 30 Berkshire Choral International...................... 2 Cincinnati Youth Choir................................. 22 Chorus America.................. 11, 21, 22, 34, 37 Hal Leonard Corporation............................. 12 Houston Chamber Choir................................ 9 Indianapolis Children’s Choir...................... 22 instant Encore..............................................C2 interkultur.................................................... 17 LA Master Chorale...................................... 31 Messiah University.....................................C4 MUSICFOLDER.com..................................... 15 MyMusicFolders.com.................................. 23 Oregon Bach Festival.................................... 7 Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir........... 29 Res Facta LLC.............................................. 15 Santa Fe Desert Chorale............................. 24 Sphinx Organization.................................... 39 The Washington Chorus..............................C3 Yale Institute of Sacred Music................... 21 Young Women’s Choral Projects................. 16

Steven F. Smith

Steven F. Smith leads transformative change for performing arts organizations. As President of Berkshire Choral International, he is overseeing a strategic revitalization of the organization with particular focus on program innova-

www.chorusamerica.org 43

2022 C h orus A m e ric a Co n ferenc e

Board of Directors Board Officers Brian Newhouse Chair Vice President, Individual Giving, Minnesota Orchestra Board Office as of June 2022: Immediate Past Chair Marie Bucoy-Calavan Secretary Director of Choral Studies, University of Akron John Earls Treasurer Board Member, May Festival Chorus Board Chair, Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati Anton Armstrong Chair-Elect Tosdal Professor of Music, St. Olaf College Board Office as of June 2022: Chair

Members of the Board Jeffrey Barnett+ Partner and CFO, Dorsal Capital Management LLC Charles Berardesco Former Senior VP and General Counsel, North American Electric Reliability Corporation Dashon Burton+ Professional Singer Iris Derke+ Co-Founder and General Director, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Rollo Dilworth Professor of Choral Music Education & Vice Dean, Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts, Temple University Morna Edmundson* Founder, Elektra Women’s Choir Todd Estabrook Immediate Past Chair, Handel and Haydn Society Miguel Ángel Felipe* Conductor and Choral Music Educator 44 The Voice, Spring 2022

Corty Fengler* Board Chair/CEO, Capella San Francisco Singer, San Francisco Symphony Chorus

John Nuechterlein+ Community Leader and Former President/ CEO, American Composers Forum

David Hayes+ Music Director, New York Choral Society

Elizabeth Núñez Creative Director, Young People’s Chorus of New York City; Founding Artistic Director, SoHarmoniums Women’s Choir

Elfrieda Heinrichs* Co-Founder and Director, The Heinrichs Foundation Robert Istad Artistic Director, Pacific Chorale Director of Choral Studies, CSU Fullerton Craig Jessop* Professor of Music, Utah State University Craig Hella Johnson Founder and Artistic Director, Conspirare Artistic Director, Vocal Arts Ensemble Anne B. Keiser Former Board Chair, The Choral Arts Society of Washington Robyn Reeves Lana Artistic Director, Cincinnati Youth Choir Mark Lawson President, ECS Publishing Group Alysia Lee President, Baltimore Children & Youth Fund; Founder & Artistic Director, Sister Cities Girlchoir Mary Doughty Mauch Conductor and Grassroots Organizer & Leader Marcela Molina Director, Tucson Girls Chorus David Morrow Professor and Director of the Morehouse Glee Club, Morehouse College Linda Moxley Executive Director, Sarasota Concert Association Steven Neiffer Chief Financial Officer, Los Angeles Master Chorale

Dianne Peterson Executive Director Emerita, The Washington Chorus Molly Buzick Pontin+ Vice President and Director of Education & Community Programs, Pacific Chorale Andrea Ramsey+ Composer, Conductor, and Music Educator Eugene Rogers Director of Choral Activities, University of Michigan; Artistic Director, The Washington Chorus Diana Sáez Director of Choral Activities, Towson University Pearl Shangkuan Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Choral Music, Calvin University Chorus Director, Grand Rapids Symphony Karen P. Thomas Artistic Director and Conductor, Seattle Pro Musica Anthony Trecek-King+ Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Activities, The Hartt School – University of Hartford Resident Conductor, Handel and Haydn Society Chorus Duain Wolfe+ Former Director and Conductor, Chicago Symphony Chorus; Director and Conductor, Colorado Symphony Chorus

+ Denotes board members re-elected to another three-year term. * Denotes board members concluding their board tenure in June 2022.

EUGENE ROGERS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Delight in the joy of discovery Join us for transformational live and digital choral experiences

2022-23 season highlights: “JOyfUlly TOGEThER!”

community-powered singing celebration sunday, september 18, Wolf trap

“A CANDlElIGhT ChRISTmAS”

December 16-23, Kennedy Center Concert hall and Music Center at strathmore

“SCENES fROm ThE lIfE Of A mARTyR” (Undine smith Moore) and DURUflé REqUIEm tuesday, april 4, 2023, Kennedy Center Concert hall

VERDI REqUIEm

with the Baltimore symphony orchestra January 19-21, 2023, Meyerhoff symphony hall and Music Center at strathmore

BEEThOVEN SymphONy no. 9

with the National Symphony Orchestra June 1-3 2023, Kennedy Center Concert hall

...and much more!

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