Staying Power: How Historic Choruses Keep Going Strong

During this era of economic turmoil, chorus leaders can learn a great deal from their "elders"—those stalwart independent choruses that were founded around the turn of the last century or before. Consider what massive changes these historic choruses have had to face since their founding in the 1800s—from the Civil War to World Wars, from the settling of the Great Plains to the industrialization of America, from the Great Depression to the rise of dot-com millionaires, from the first "platter" recordings to the iPod, from live radio broadcasts to Internet podcasts.

Why is one chorus able to adapt to changing times while another is mired in the way things have always been done? Leaders of some of the longest-running choral organizations credit a combination of factors for their longevity—beginning with a unique mission and strong leadership.

Mission and Leadership

What is your mission? What does your organization do that is different from all others? The answers to those questions can serve as a guide through all sorts of organizational challenges.

According to Todd Estabrook, former chairman of the board of governors of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, the Society has been characterized by "a strong sense of mission...balanced by an ability to adjust when necessary or desirable."

The group was formed in 1815 as a volunteer chorus with a hired orchestra. At that time, sheet music was scarce, so the Society acted as a music publisher. During the Civil War, they organized America's first great music festival in 1857, and in later years they gave benefit concerts to aid the Union Army.

Identify a niche need in your community or in your audience and then fill it better than anyone else can.

Fast-forward a century to the late 1960s when the Handel and Haydn Society became a professional chorus, and on to the 1980s, when the orchestra made a transition to period instruments with a new dedication to historically informed performance. "It helped differentiate us from the other band in town," Estabrook says, while noting that the 1980's U.S. economy was no help in supporting the switch, having been stalled by stagflation.

Today, the Handel and Haydn Society claims the title of "the oldest continuously performing musical organization" in the U.S., with the added distinction of introducing Handel's Messiah to America in 1818 and performing it now for 155 years in a row.

Estabrook's advice on finding an effective mission: "Identify a niche need in your community or in your audience and then fill it better than anyone else can."

Equally important as mission and the guidance of a musical visionary is the leadership provided by the staff and the board. All three levels of leadership must be functioning well in order for a chorus to thrive and to realize its mission in a way that has an impact.

Excellence

In marketing parlance, a good product is paramount to success. In music, that translates to excellence in performance—in the quality of the performers themselves, as well as in the quality of the music performed. Although historic choruses continue to present many of the same great works that have been fundamental to their repertoire since their founding, all recognize the importance of premiering and commissioning new works.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, founded in 1898 with the mission of performing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, claims to be the first in the U.S. to perform the Bach Christmas Oratorio and the Mass in B Minor, which has been the centerpiece of its annual Bach Festival in May. In 2009, the Bach Choir introduced two new works, both in honor of conductor Greg Funfgeld's 25th anniversary: a commission by Stephen Paulus, entitled "A Dream in Time," and a gift composition from Libby Larsen called "The Flower." According to executive director Bridget George, the commissioning of new works fits in with the Bach Choir's expanded mission to perform not only the works of Bach himself, but also of composers who influenced Bach or who have been influenced by him.

A corollary to the talent and training level of the singers is the level of professionalism of the accompanist and other musicians involved in performances.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but a chorus is only as good as its talent pool. When asked for the secret to the longevity of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, music director Stephen Alltop says, "Mostly it comes from always having a core of singers who have dedicated themselves to choral excellence." As the ninth conductor in Apollo's history, Alltop continually motivates the 140-plus volunteer members to exceed previous performances. "You can never stop getting better," he asserts.

Talk about starting at a tough time in history. The Apollo Chorus rose from the devastation of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The following year, after all musical organizations had been destroyed along with much of the city, a few businessmen banded together to form the Apollo Musical Club of Chicago, modeled after a Boston club. A few years after its founding, the all-male chorus welcomed female members, in large part to help boost membership fees, but not before a falling out among members and leaders on the contentious subject. In spite of that, the group continued on and has been invited to perform at most major events in Chicago's history.

Recruiting and keeping talented singers is a constant challenge, particularly for volunteer choruses, according to Robert Porco, director of choruses for the Cincinnati May Festival and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. He also notes that the higher the musical standards are set, the fewer people audition, although they also tend to be better prepared for the rigors of a symphony chorus. Founded in 1872, the May Festival Chorus is both its own independent organization with its own board and paid staff, as well as the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

A corollary to the talent and training level of the singers is, of course, the level of professionalism of the accompanist and other musicians involved in performances. "We haven't compromised on quality ever, even in hard times," says Estabrook of the Handel and Haydn Society. "We retain the best-available musicians and directors."

Support

A broad base of support is critical to any organization's long-term success, with money being the primary means. Many of the oldest choruses are fortunate to have significant endowments, although all have been hit by the turmoil in the financial markets. But chorus leaders agree that endowments are not enough. With ticket sales producing a smaller percentage of income, ongoing support from individual donors, community leaders, corporate sponsors, and foundations is essential.

The May Festival has developed an extremely loyal following, with the tradition of support handed down from one generation to another—including Chorus members, patrons, subscribers, and board members. One Chorus member has traced singers through four generations. The current board president is following in his father's footsteps. Corporate sponsors have been equally consistent in their support, with Scripps-Howard funding the May Festival Youth Chorus since its inception, Procter and Gamble underwriting the annual carol concert, and Macy's helping to sponsor the May Festival itself since 1996.

Not all historic organizations have been able to maintain such strong support. Earlier in the decade, the Apollo Chorus reached a crisis point when it began running operating losses as ticket sales declined. Martin Deppe, who was board president at the time, recalls, "It seemed that we were just bringing in our friends." He initiated a number of measures to build audiences and widen support through the efforts of members, including increasing the size of the board, forming a development committee, moving into new venues, increasing marketing, and initiating corporate sponsorships. While so much change so quickly can cause friction, Deppe says that Chorus members recognized the gravity of the situation and responded well.

In the 1800s, volunteers typically founded choruses on a shoestring, much like fledgling choruses today. While some, such as the Handel and Haydn Society, have grown into multimillion-dollar, fully professional organizations, others have continued to operate with limited paid resources. The Singers' Club of Cleveland, which gave its first concert in 1892, continues to operate as a singer-run organization, with its nine-member board comprised of singers, and its general manager taken from its membership and paid a modest stipend.

Although a financial crisis may not seem the best time to start something new, the Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix is evidence to the contrary. Their first season began in November 1929, days after the stock market crash, and they are now in their 80th continuous season of performing.

Outreach

When it comes to reaching new audiences, historic choruses can employ technologies that their predecessors simply could not imagine. Recordings, radio, television broadcasts, music downloads, and online social networking enable choruses to reach far beyond their hometowns. But raising awareness among local audiences and educating the next generation of musicmakers and concertgoers is certainly a priority.

"What makes an organization successful is how relevant they are to their communities, whether local, regional, or international," says Marie-Helene Bernard, executive director of the Handel and Haydn Society. In addition to creative concert programming, the Society conducts an educational outreach program that touches some 10,000 Boston-area students through such means as voice training, a youth chorus, and a young men's choral festival.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem instituted "Bach at Noon" to reach people closer to work, presenting free weekday concerts at a downtown church, which draw thousands of listeners. To educate students, small ensembles perform in a "Bach to School" program, and the Choir and orchestra present an annual family concert.

High-profile groups often draw a large percentage of their audience from afar. The Handel and Haydn Society is looking to expand its performance venues in areas of New England where period-instrument concerts are rare, in response to subscribers who now travel from Vermont and New Hampshire to hear performances in Boston. The Bach Choir and the May Festival work to attract visitors from coast to coast to their springtime festivals.

The Singers' Club of Cleveland has initiated a free "run-out" concert before each of their three regular concerts to new venues, with the hope of expanding their audience and recruiting more singers. At the free concerts, they offer certificates for two-for-one tickets and free tickets for completing a survey. Thanks to a special endowment, the Club holds a scholarship competition for college students in vocal performance. Participation has "mushroomed because of the internet," explains Tom Evans, business manager. In addition to receiving scholarship money, the winners may be invited to perform as guest soloists at future concerts.

Recordings, both audio and video, are also considered an important avenue for outreach. The Bach Choir recently raised donations to fund a new recording contract, despite the economic downturn that prompted cuts of $50,000 from this year's budget.

Perhaps the most expensive method of outreach is touring, but many choruses continue to participate in music festivals at home and abroad in order to raise their profiles. Closer to home, choruses often participate in special events in the community. And performing in new venues can also raise visibility, as Apollo found when it participated in the opening season of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago.

Collaboration, Innovation, and Imagination

The concept of working with other arts organizations on co-productions is nothing new, but it gets more attention as budgets are stretched. Not long after the first May Festival in Cincinnati in 1873, touring conductor Theodore Thomas brought May Festivals to New York and Chicago, where the Apollo Chorus performed the same program with the same orchestra and soloists. While that venture did not last, the notion of collaboration has characterized choruses throughout their histories.

These days, the Apollo Chorus is often invited to perform with orchestras and at music festivals such as the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The Singers' Club of Cleveland and the Cincinnati May Festival regularly invite guest choirs to participate in their concerts, which provide avenues to diverse new audiences. The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, founded in 1908, frequently performs with the Pittsburgh Symphony and counts among its artistic partners the Pittsburgh Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the River City Brass Band, the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, and the International Poetry Forum.

Multimedia and cross-disciplinary performances have grown much more popular. The Bach Festival has featured a dance troupe; the May Festival has presented concerts with projected artworks from the Cincinnati Art Museum. The Handel and Haydn Society staged a massive co-production with the English National Opera of Monteverdi's Orfeo, with direction by Chen Shi-Zheng, incorporating Asian dance, dramatic lighting, and special effects.

Although history may be the guide of long-lived choruses, innovation remains essential. "We really challenge ourselves to constantly innovate," says Bernard of the Handel and Haydn Society.

As Deppe from Apollo puts it, "One of the things you have to have, if you're going to make changes in an institution, is imagination."

The founders of the Apollo Chorus in 1871 imagined a city rising from the ashes with music to raise the spirits. Today, conductor Stephen Alltop envisions performances that connect with contemporary audiences, using techniques such as memorization of the climactic pieces of Handel's Messiah and choreography in the rowdier parts of Carmina Burana.

Bernard imagines a wired world in which people of all ages and backgrounds discover the timeless beauty of classical music. To those who question the relevance of classical music in pop culture, she disagrees. "A great moving piece by Mozart is still a great moving piece," she says. "The challenge is not so much the art form, but how it is delivered. If we are reaching out to a constituency that is not used to concert halls, we need to reach out to them where they live and work. If I could, I would allow people to hear a live concert in their homes."

No matter the size or the history of the chorus, each group recognizes that they must continue to kindle that creative spark to keep their music alive and appreciated in this century and beyond.

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This article is adapted from The Voice, Summer 2009.