Reconnecting Singing Communities through Participatory, Singer-Led, and Educational Performance Events

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels but specifically K-12 and community choirs. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/publications/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For more information, email  or visit acda.org/chorteach. Following is an excerpt from an article in the current Winter 2022 issue titled “Reconnecting Singing Communities through Participatory, Singer-Led, and Educational Performance Events” by Jennifer C. Hutton.
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For many choral musicians, the abrupt halt of live performances in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic revealed the power of collective musical performance. Without in-person connections among singers, between singers and audiences, and among community members who support the choral arts, many felt a profound sense of loss. Along with painful disconnection from musical communities, we experienced the collective trauma of the pandemic, oppressive racial and socioeconomic inequities that intensified in 2020, and significant declines in mental health.

As conditions have allowed choral groups to safely gather and to welcome audiences back to performance venues, choral leaders have reunited with individuals who are changed. Singers and community members are arriving at our choral doorsteps seeking reconnection and healing after an extremely challenging time.

As choral organizations return to regular, live performance, leaders might consider how performance events can facilitate reconnection. In this article, I aim to support leaders by drawing attention to performance events that have the potential to enhance human connection and communal life in choral organizations. I suggest that while traditional choral concerts offer significant benefits, participatory, singer-led, and educational performances can further deepen singers’ and community members’ interactions and help individuals heal and reconnect as they gather together again.
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Participatory, singer-led, and educational performances offer multiple possibilities for increasing engagement and building community in choral organizations. When reimagining the traditional concert schedule in school and community choir settings, I envision a series of events that include a traditional formal concert for all and a slate of other performance opportunities. Participatory, singer-led, and educational performance opportunities can empower singers and offer community members multiple ways to interact. By facilitating these events, choral educators can re-center choral ensembles as the connective tissue of their communities and promote healing as individuals reunite around the power of song.

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Read the full article in the Winter 2022 issue at acda.org/chorteach.