“Let’s Be Each Other’s Audience” – an Advocacy & Collaboration Monthly Blog Post 

By: Emily Crowe Sobotko

What does it mean when we say, “Let’s be each other’s audiences?” To put it simply, it means that you show up for others and they show up for you. By building up our community, especially through collaboration and advocacy,  we broaden our perspectives and ultimately learn from and celebrate others and the work they are doing. We can all continue contributing to our vibrant choral music-making community by supporting other choirs and learning by listening to their performances, sharing their stories, and getting to know more about their mission and vision.

In honor of Music in Our Schools Month,  we want to challenge you to find ways to spread music advocacy in your community by telling the story of music in your community, and highlighting the impact singing has on your community! There are so many ways to share your stories: 

• Write a newsletter celebrating your student’s and program’s achievements thus far this year, and your plans for the remainder of the schools 
• Gather video content of rehearsals and concerts – cut the videos down to 30-45 seconds for social media sharing 
• If you use social media for your school, set a calendar to share 3-4 social media posts a week that highlights why choir matters in your school! 
• Create a bulletin board featuring pictures of singers and student-written blurbs on why singing and choir matters
• Ask for your singers to perform at a school event, board meeting, etc. 
• Have your students write letters of impact and appreciation and send them to your principal, superintendent, etc.

Each month the Advocacy & Collaboration Committee provides stories, tools, and ideas to enhance your advocacy and collaboration efforts. This month’s blog focuses on the stories told by attendees at the National Conference in Cincinnati. Storytelling is ultimately how we build advocacy. As you read these stories and experiences your colleagues had at ACDA, we’ve provided some reflection questions for you to connect to your individual circumstances. In this way, we hope the stories will further inspire you, give you ideas, or maybe even motivates you to find a collaborative way to attend the next conference!

Connection – Dr. Meredith Bowen and her students offered great perspectives on why they return to the national conference and what they are looking forward to in their first conference as students!  Attending a conference unlocks what the professional world of choral music looks like. 

Service – Margie Camp shared her wonderful perspective on why she supports ACDA by giving back by getting involved. This is one of the reasons we love advocacy and collaboration,  planning and supporting other people in their ventures continues to provide opportunities for the choral art to grow and touch more lives. There are so many ways to serve the community that has brought you up; and remember, you get out what you put in. State and local levels need you! 

Perspective – You never know who you will see and new people you will meet at ACDA national! Someone you sang with decades ago, old teachers and mentors, composers whose music you’ve fallen in love with…there are so many amazing people at ACDA! With each new connection you make, there is an opportunity to broaden your perspective in the conversations you have. Be willing to listen, be willing to share, ask questions, find connecting points, and share your stories and experiences. There are so many opportunities to introduce yourself – we have an automatic connection, we all love choir! These conferences are sparks that light fires and allow the opportunities and spaces to sort through what is actually going on in our worlds. 

Springboard – Admissions and administrative leaders at Vandercook in Chicago inspired us to think about the pathways singers have through which to turn this passion into a career. What did your springboard look like? What bridged you from being the singer to being the director? How did you find your career “calling” and where were you? For many of us, college is that place that bridges high school through college into the career. Mentorship, collaboration, connection, career development, and support is so important to continue these connections. We love seeing colleges at ACDA in the expo, hosting receptions, walking around together, and bringing current students! 

Revising Your “Why” – My dear Liana Salinas and I (Emily Sobotko) had a great chat about what we’ve learned from ACDA and what continues to inspire us and motivate us to grow in this field. One of the main reasons why we attend ACDA is to attend sessions to learn from choral leaders and see the amazing performances from choirs from around the world! What can you gain from hours of performances? How do the sessions appear in your teaching later? We attend ACDA because we love being in the audience. It reminds us why we fell in love with this career and motivates us to continue growing! 

In your advocacy work, use these reflection questions to continue writing your own internal statement of purpose. You never know when you might have a parent, principal, board member, audience member, or a random person on the street that asks you, “Why choir?” 

Learn more about the ACDA Advocacy and Collaboration Committee and its resources at ACDA.org/advocacy or follow A&C on Facebook and Instagram. 

Catch all the interviews LIVE at ACDA in Episode #148 on the “Music (ed) Matters” Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Emily Crowe Sobotko is a New York City based mezzo-soprano, music teacher, choir conductor, and administrator. She leads the K-12 music programs for Uncommon Schools and directs the choral program at Brooklyn New School.