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How Do I Start A New Choir QuestionsDate: July 6, 2012 by Michael Albert  Views: 1310
Hello I'd like to know what the steps are for starting up a community choir?
Replies (10): Threaded | Chronological
Allen H Simon on July 6, 2012 8:44am
I guess the first step is you need a bunch of people who want to sing.
Beyond that, it depends on what the choir's purpose will be. Do you want to give fancy concerts with professional orchestra and soloists? Casual concerts for friends and family? Nursing home gigs? Or is the main purpose to get together and have fun singing, and performances are secondary? Any of these are perfectly legitimate options, but what "steps" you need to take depend on what you want to accomplish.
on July 6, 2012 8:53am
You might be interested in a series on my blog From the Front of the Choir: How to start your own community choir. There are 10 posts in the series. It's biased towards the UK, but I'm sure there will be something in there that works for you.
As Allen points out, before you even start you need to sit down and do some serious thinking about what kind of beast you want to create. It's much harder to change direction after the choir is set up. If you get it right at the start, it makes things much easier.
Good luck!
Chris
Suffolk, UK
on July 6, 2012 10:01am
Another consideration is how you plan on getting your funding. If you want to access grant funds, you will need to eventually become a 501(c)3, non-profit organization (which DOES NOT mean you don't make money...). Also, getting grants will be easier if you have some sort mission that can target particular funders. Just getting together for the sake of music doesn't really ring the funder's chimes (unless you are REALLY big). A particular outreach direction or cultural focus can help (most grants will not give to an organization that has a specific religious message)
I agree with both Allen and Chris - the more thought you put in BEFORE you start, the better off you will be. I also want to suggest that you find a collaborator or two - they don't have to be musicians, but should be supporters who can help you figure out what kind of organization you want to create, and also serve as the core of a board of directors (doing everything yourself can get REALLY old if your organization takes off...)
Good luck,
Leah
on July 6, 2012 3:11pm
Allen and Chris have great suggestions for you.
We are a newer community choir and we charge no fees. We have a marvellous accompanist who volunteers. We have a fabulous guitarist who comes as asked because he loves to play. We have senior student violinists who have also played with us.
We sing at community events and when invited to a church or other venue. We do not charge but ask for a donation if that is appropriate. Just last week our members baked lovely squares and cookies and we made coffee. We set up a table at the fire hall during the Embro Highland Games and people gave donations (or not) for goodies. We played our practice CD put together by one of our choir members from the recorder we purchased with our donations.
We do not plan to ever do a concert that we charge for. We have sung at a Red Cross event, Relay for Life - a fund raiser for cancer, 2 church anniversaries, 2 seniors' residences, the Embro Fair and events to raise money for Haiti and one for Japan. All that in our first 2 years.
We pracitice every 2 weeks and not during the summer. Our members need not read music as I am happy to teach and the choir members who do read are happy to help. We do memorize our music and CD's creatied at practices help with that.
Our motto is Song, Service, Fun. If it stops being fun then we will be no more. It is simple and as the director, very successful and more relaxed. It works for us and is our choice for sure. I wish you well as you share your music with others. Have fun!!
Kitty Babcock
on July 6, 2012 10:11pm
Kitty - it's very interesting reading how you don't charge your singers and don't plan to charge for concerts either.
How do you pay for the things which most of us find so expensive: public liability insurance; music licensing fees; music itself; hall or venue hire etc ?
Cheers
Jane
on July 7, 2012 8:10am
Hi Jane,
We started with an idea to start a choir and put a free ad in the community newsletter and talked to people who were musically inclined. We came together and started making music first and our first singing gig was the Hope for Haiti concert with a number of other performers just a couple of months later. We are a group of around 20 in all age ranges and abilities and we don't want to be much larger. We gain a tenor here and lose a soprano there as people get busy etc. but over all have maintained an amazing balance. I am happy to accomodate none-readers and the other singers are as well. We are happy to let people who really want to sing learn. We have not yet had anyone come who hasn't learned the basics and been an asset as they continue to grow their talent.
Because we do not charge membership our costs are very low. We don't pay any professional fees because the people who sing, play and accompany are all volunteers including me. We practice in a church and pay them back by singing for special services or events a couple of times a year.
We don't do any stand alone concerts so renting a hall or charging for tickets is not an issue. We started with borrowed music until we won our first money for 1st prize at a talent contest. Then we were give some donations for participation at concerts or entertainment for events. We have appeared at many fund raising events and of course we do that for free. We record our practices but until we do a recording we would sell, we don't have to pay royalites. Our members buy their own performance shirts for which my daugter designed the logo.
Being fully self-sufficient is a blessing in that we don't incur those expenses. Perhaps, some of the rules are different here in Canada but because our mandate is to be of service we particiapate at venues to which we have been invited. We are covered by the insurance of the places in which we practise and to which we are invited.
For us, the twice a month practices are perfect and the invitations to sing are decided upon collectively. Nothing is mandated except that we must be having fun while making exceptional music. It can be done on a shoestring as long as everyone is on the same page.
We are now just over 2 years along and this is the modus operandi that we have grown into and it works for all of us. I am sure that it could work for others but it takes a co-operative spirit and vision. Kitty
on July 7, 2012 11:51am
Hello -- I'm just starting the groundwork for a new chorus. At present, I'm lining up folks who support the idea and wish to see it happen. I have two non-singers who are quite supportive. I started by composing an Idea Sheet that laid out the rationale and projected workings of the group (it's rather specific in nature). Next, I'm having a meeting with several choral singers of various walks to solicit their suggestions. This is not to recruit them -- though it may lead to that -- but to help me come up with a specific plan that helps to attract the kind of singers I want. After that, I'd better find some funding and singers!
Tracey Edson
Portland, OR
on January 16, 2013 7:34am
Tracey,
I've shared this information elsewhere, but I think you might find it helpful.
I suggest big picture, strategic thinking, and a heavy dose of planning, built on sound strategies.
I direct a small, auditioned community chorus of 16 guys called the Nashville Singers. Our members range from 21 to 81 years of age. 15 of our 16 members attend meetings regularly. 60% of our membership prospects pass the audition. If they cannot, we refer them to a local voice teacher or another chorus in town where they might be a better fit. We perform in the community a dozen or so times per year and maintain a repertoire of 30 songs, rehearsing just 40 times a year. Member attendance at our rehearsals runs 85%. On average, we recruit five new singers per year and lose one for a net gain of four. We've increased our annual budget from $2,388 in 2009 to over $20,000 in 2012. Our revenue comes from a mix of special events (31%), performance fees (19%), member dues (18%), donations (14%), merchandising (7%), advertising (5%) and grants (.2%). We reduce expenses through in-kind sponsorships.
Here are 20 strategies I utilized in the creation and operation of the Nashville Singers for the past four years:
1) Model (study/gather) the best practices of other successful arts organizations you admire;
2) Plan - Have a dream and create a plan to make that dream a reality; the mission and vision of your organization must be clearly defined and communicated to all stakeholders;
3) Build your organization with the end in mind;
4) Surround yourself with talented, well-connected people;
5) Create opportunities for your singers to have fun;
6) Expect more, and get more - from your member singers and leaders;
7) Present/maintain a quality product and image;
8) Implement sound marketing/PR strategies;
9) Create/nurture a customer service culture that permeates all levels of the organization;
10) Educate, inspire, recognize, and monitor the effectiveness of your volunteer leaders;
11) Become known/recognized for service to your community; service beyond the singing;
12) Build alliances - seek partners that complement your mission, and leverage the talent within those alliances;
13) Make sure your organization is attractive to member singers AND funders/donors;
14) Secure funding to implement your plans and programs;
15) Focus resources where they are needed most;
16) Embrace technology and the internet;
17) Preserve the core/stimulate progress – keep clear the difference between your core values, which never change and the operating strategies and cultural practices which endlessly adapt to a changing world; Learn from and respond to change;
18) Make a commitment to analysis and feedback. You must must gather accurate information about your members and other customers (patrons) to make data-driven decisions to better meet their needs;
19) Be willing to explore and implement modifications to your governance and management structure to improve efficiency.
20) Resist the fear of failure;
To get a feel for the outcomes we're experiencing, I encourage you to visit the 2012 History page on our website.
http://nashvillesingers.org/2012_History.html
Todd Wilson
The Nashville Singers, Inc.
on July 12, 2012 6:08am
Hi, Michael:
Your question brings back memories. I started Vesper Chorale in 1993; it has grown into Musical Arts Indiana, with two adult choirs, a community children's choir, and an orchestra. In this as in any successful endeavor, there is a certain amount of mundaine grunt work required, that will pay off if you are committed enough to survive painful discouragement. My process was this:
1. develop my sense of what the choir was to be (repertoire, community face, size, level of professianlism, accompanied vs. a capella etc.) and write it out.
2. develop a "business plan" of sorts: budget, time line, from first phone call to first concert.
3. schedule an "exploratory meeting."
4. develop a list of preliminary contacts - everyone I knew who had ever sung, taught music at any level (elementary school teachers, private piano/trumpet/any instrument teachers), pastors of churches, church choir directors, church organists/pianists, college choir directors in my area, etc. I think I started with 25 names.
5. GET ON THE PHONE
- call everyone on the list and give them the story, invite them to the preliminary meeting, and asked them who they knew that I should also call. Voice teachers, music educators, and pastors were the best sources of leads.
- I called 250 people, and got twenty or so to the first meeting.
6. Send a notice to the newspaper (were I doing it today, knowing what I know now, I would have called the arts editor and invited him/her to coffee and try to get a story: this sort of idea catches and editor's attention and through this exercise I have gotten MANY exploratory newspaper stories over the years.)
7.Find repertoire for the first meeting.
- I borrowed music from a couple of church choir libraries: recommendatons from church choir directors I knew
- I purchased a couple of pieces that I thought represented my vision of the choir
- I composed one piece
8. Scout out a rehearsal/meeting location (if you are involved in a church, that is the best place to start such a conversation.) In fact many some choirs in the country began with a core group of church choir singers who wanted more than their church choir could give them. My group was one such. I presented my business plan to the pastor and chair of the congregation, who were immediately supportive. Twenty years later we still rehearse and give concerts at the same church.
9. Find and accompanist (this person was the organist at the church referenced above)
10. Plan the first meeting in detail - look organized, be organized. I had a written agenda copied to distribute . The more organized one can be at the first meeting, the more people seem to let their defenses down. I had a posted ending time, and stuck to it. I tried to keep the meeting moving, knowing that noone wants to get bogged down in details this early.
- the agenda included the following:
*mini rehearsal with warm-up
* discussions of the vision, potential schedule, professionalism, potential attire, budget, and an invitation to join as a singer and/or become a board member or volunteer
* the meeting ended with a form for people to list names of other singers who might find this idea valuable.
I started making phone calls in late November for a January meeting; we sang our opening concert on Good Friday.
Good luck: keep me posted on progress! Call or write if I can be of any assistance.
Wishart Bell, D.M.A. Artistic Director, Musical Arts Indiana: Vesper Chorale, Children's Choir of Michiana Director of Music, First United Methodist Church Conductor, Cantus Cathedralis, St. Matthew Cathedral ACDA R & S Chair for Community Choirs, Central Division 574-229-2247
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