Ambassadors of Harmony® Using A Cappella Singing to Strengthen Community-St. Louis, Missouri

The Ambassadors of Harmony®, a 130 member men’s a cappella chorus, is making a transformative investment in the broader St. Louis community.  While the group has won dozens of national competitions and performed for audiences internationally, their commitment to enriching the lives of their local audiences and to cultivating an appreciation of choral singing among youth in the St. Louis metropolitan area is astonishing.  The chorus, founded in 1963 in St. Charles, MO as the Daniel Boone Chorus, is comprised of a diverse group of men ages 14-90 who “seek to change the lives of audiences worldwide through artistic and emotionally-driven a cappella performances,” according to their website. 

The choir is committed to building relationships among people of different racial, ethnic and socio-economic identities.  Each fall, AOH partners with University of Missouri-St. Louis, to sponsor Acappellooza Fall, an a cappella singing experience that attracts more than 1,000 high school students from the St. Louis area, and to sponsor a four-day Accappellooza Summer Camp.  They also sponsor “Project Harmony,” a year-long program in local schools, and AcaFest, a one-night festival co-sponsored by Missouri Baptist University.  In addition, AOH awards a $1,000 college scholarship to a high school senior annually.  

AOH has clearly demonstrated a strong commitment to musical excellence, while using the art of choral singing to build a stronger community.

Cherokee National Youth Choir Preserving Cherokee Language and Culture- Tahlequah, Oklahoma

The Cherokee Nation is the largest of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes comprised of over 315,000 citizens.  Today fewer than 8,000 people speak Cherokee fluently, so the Nation has recently taken a number of creative measures to revitalize the language.  The Cherokee National Youth Choir was founded in 2000 specifically to foster interest in Cherokee language and culture among youth.  The auditioned choir, comprised of 40 Cherokee tribal citizens in grades 7-12 from 14 northeastern Oklahoma counties, is dedicated to performing traditional songs in the Cherokee language.

According to their website, “The group is an important symbol to the world at large, demonstrating that Cherokee language and culture continues to thrive in modern society.  Choir members act as ambassadors, their beautiful and energetic voices uniting to show the strength of the Cherokee Nation and culture more than 160 years after a forced removal from our eastern homelands.”  The group has performed at the Kennedy Center, for former President George W. Bush at the White House, and for the opening ceremonies of the Smithsonian Institutions’ National Museum of the American Indian.  Funded solely by the Cherokee Nation, the choir continues to play a pivotal role in rekindling interest in the Cherokee language through their performances, outreach and recordings.

303 Choir Inspiring New Voices and Celebrating Diversity of Denver's Music Scene

In 2012, Travis Branam started a group that has redefined Denver’s dynamic choral scene.  The non-auditioned community choir comprised of 6th-12th grade students is part of the Colorado Children’s Chorale program.  The name of the choir incorporates Denver’s area code.  According to the group’s Facebook page, “303 Choir celebrates the Mile High City’s diverse musical community by providing students opportunities to collaborate with local artists along with other youth from the Denver Metro area. As youth meet, learn from, and perform with contemporary and community-minded musicians, they are inspired to connect with the world around them and empowered to find their own creative, artistic, and social voice through locally created songs and experiences.”

The group embraces the best of a variety of genres, including hip-hop, bluegrass, punk rock, classical and R&B, and performs in a variety of venues with local artists.  Travis has been successful in breaking down barriers to singing because his model relies on the connection that students have with the songs they sing.  When the choir collaborates with local songwriters, they rely on the expertise of the guest artists to inform their understanding of stylistic elements specific to the genre.  The choir attracts singers from the Colorado Children’s Chorale program that has served over 15,500 students since 1994 as well as singers who have never sung in an ensemble. 

The group continues to redefine the notion of what it means to sing in a chorus, to create an inclusive community of singers who are eager to experience music from different genres that are meaningful to them, and to collaborate with local Denver artists to enrich the cultural fabric of the Denver metro area.

Giving Voice Chorus Celebrates Full Potential of Those Living with Dementia-Minneapolis, MN

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are approximately 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s.  The statistics are staggering, particularly when combined with the number of individuals afflicted with other forms of dementia, and the challenges of the disease are enormous for those living with it, their caretakers and health care professionals. However, The Giving Voice Chorus in Minneapolis is using choral music “to celebrate the full potential of people living with dementia by Inspiring a community-building movement that connects music, people, and joyful purpose.”

The chorus was started in 2014 as a partnership between the MacPhail Center for Music, a non-profit community music school serving over 15,000 students weekly, and the Giving Voice Initiative, a non-profit formed to inspire and equip organizations around the world to build choruses that bring joy, well-being, purpose, and community understanding to people with Alzheimer’s and their care partners.  Teaching artist, Jeanie Brindley-Barnett conducts the weekly 90 minute rehearsals that consist of social time before and after the rehearsal.

From the group’s website- “Steve and Stephanie have been singing in the Giving Voice Chorus for more than a year. It’s their special weekly time together, a break for the dynamic and joyful father-daughter duo. ‘It makes us feel like better human beings,’ says Stephanie. ‘And we like working on something together.’  As Steve tells it, singing is therapeutic. ‘I was a little bitter and angry when I got the early onset diagnosis,’ he admits. ‘But singing is giving me something back. It picks me up. I get to come here and have a life!’ 

Learn how to start a similar chorus in your community by visiting the GVI website.  Twin Cities PBS feature on the group below.

Lesbian/Feminist Chorus, Amasong, Transforming Community of Champaign-Urbana, IL

The United States has a long tradition of feminist activism.  We’ve come a long way since the women’s suffrage movement began at the Seneca Falls Convention of 1868.  From its inception, the feminist movement has included a multiplicity of voices and individuals with intersecting social identities.  Audre Lorde famously said, "Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference -- those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older -- know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths.” (Sister Outsider:  Essays and Speeches)

That is exactly what Dr. Kristina Boerger decided to do when she created The Amasong Chorus in the small Illinois college town of Champaign-Urbana.  Amasong is a play on the words amazon and song.  Boerger said, “The word amazon conjures up images of strong women who make their own decisions. It was a way of coding our group in a certain way.”  She did not find a place to fit in when she, as a student pursuing a master’s degree in choral conducting, first moved to the town that bridges rural and urban identities.  She decided to use the art of choral singing to give voice to and create community for a diverse group of women who shared her passion for activism. 

The chorus has grown from a roomful of women who responded to a flyer posted around town to a nationally recognized choral ensemble comprised of women who are diverse in interest, age and experience.  Now in their 26th season, the group champions works by female composers, performs two annual concerts, hosts choral festivals and marches in the local C-U Pride Parade.  In 2002, Jay Rosenstein produced a PBS documentary that tells the story of Amasong called The Amasong Chorus:  Singing Out. Now under the direction of Jill Crandall, the chorus continues to welcome women and to give voice to lesbians and feminists in the Champaign-Urbana area and beyond.  

Florida State University Chorus and Gadsden Correctional Facility Chorus form FSU-MTC Glee Club-“Balm in Gilead”

The Gadsen Correctional Facility (Quincy, FL) is a privately owned women’s correctional facility that houses approximately 1,530 prisoners for the Florida Department of Corrections.  Florida State University (Tallahassee) is comprised of 16 separate colleges with nearly 42,000 students enrolled.  These institutions located 25 miles apart had nothing in common until Shelly Sonberg (Warden of Gadsen) invited Dr. Judy Bowers (Professor of Choral Music Education/FSU) to work with the women’s choir at the facility.  Hesitant at first, Dr. Bowers’ mind was changed after spending two hours working with the women.  Since her first visit in the spring of 2015, she has been taking a group of nearly twenty FSU College of Music student and faculty volunteers to Gadsen each week for a two-hour joint rehearsal. 

The program has shaped her students’ view of the world and has proven to be a powerful education tool, particularly when it comes to developing empathy and compassion for others. Sonberg says, “What she can do in an hour and a half with women who maybe have never taken a music class in their life or never thought they could sing — she teaches them how to read basic music, teaches them about theory, takes the time to talk about the origin of music.  It truly is a learning experience for the women. That’s just the beginning. They may be shy, but suddenly they are doing something that is deep, personal, intimate … and they’re sharing.“

"The students come and they love us because we're people just like they are. We made a mistake and we're learning from it," said glee club member Jenifer Lockwood.  Bowers says “I do know that what we are doing for the prisoners is good for them, but I’m going to tell you very selfishly that it is good for the FSU kids,” Bowers said.  The FSU-MTC Glee Club was invited to perform with the Tallahassee Community Choir, comprised on over 200 singers and conducted by Dr. Andre Thomas.  The MTC Glee Club recorded their performance in advance because they were not able to physically attend the performance.  The concert theme: “Praise & Redemption —the power of song.”  Learn more about how choral music is being used to build bridges in the greater Tallahassee community by watching the video below. 

Refugees in Tacoma Joining Their Voices in Song

Since 1975, the United States has welcomed over 3 million refugees according to the U.S. Department of State’s Refugee Processing Center.  Each year the President, in consultation with Congress, determines the numerical ceiling for refugee admissions. Washington state is one of the top ten resettlement states and since 2010, the state has brought in 16,504 refugees from 46 countries. In the city of Tacoma, the Tacoma Refugee Choir Project is embracing refugees with open arms.  

The choir is a non-auditioned group founded by Erin Guinup in 2016.  Erin partnered with the Tacoma Community House, a 107-year old organization committed to welcoming refugees and immigrants, on a pilot project in September 2016.  The project culminated in a performance for Citizenship Day at which nearly 100 new American citizens were sworn in.  In January of this year, she began weekly choir rehearsals at Tacoma Community College.  Erin says, “Music is powerful. It has the ability to reach across the lines that divide us and bring us together. When we sing, we are a multitude of voices coming together in harmony. The Tacoma Refugee Choir Project is more than a choir— it is a community of friends.”  The group strives to maintain a non-partisan stance and welcomes refugees, immigrants and those who wish to show solidarity. Many of the songs chosen for the chorus are translated and sung in a variety of languages including Kurdish, Arabic, Korean and Cambodian.  The choir is actively building relationships with other community organizations and will collaborate with a local middle school choir in June. 

Guinup says, “In this time where fear, helplessness and hopelessness are so pervasive, I have come to believe that our work as musicians is increasingly critical.  Musicians are uniquely equipped to build bridges and help people empathize and communicate about complex issues.  Music is often said to be the international language, and it has the potential to help us understand one another, stand with each other in times of need, and begin to resolve some of the conflicts facing our world today.”  Learn more about the project and the stories of the refugees by watching the recent news story and by visiting the group's website.  

ORPHEUS MALE CHORUS OF PHOENIX MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH VOICES AND ACTIONS

The Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix, organized in 1929, is the longest continuously performing arts group in the state of Arizona.  During World War II, the chorus performed with 21 singers because many of their other members, including the director, were serving in the military.  According to their website, men from all walks of life sing in the chorus including teachers, students, businessmen, ministers, attorneys, doctors, salesmen, law enforcement officers, and construction workers.  The group has performed in fourteen countries, as well as many cities in the United States. 

During its storied past, the group has managed to adapt to changing times in relevant ways.  In the past decade, the chorus has rebuilt its membership from 28 to over 75 members and bolstered its commitment to strengthening the broader community.  In addition to multiple music performances, the group sponsors Boys to Men, an annual music festival promoting community-wide access to choral training and development of young male singers.  Orpheus has performed for more than 1,000 students in three city elementary schools, annually sponsored a singer in the Phoenix Children’s Chorus, and performed outreach concerts in retirement communities and for the benefit of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Association, Hospice of the Valley, and Arizona Children’s Center among organizations.  Members also engage in community outreach by volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, Race for the Cure, local food pantries and Rosie’s House, a music academy for children.

The chorus continues to sustain its commitment to the art of choral singing while using its collective actions to make a difference in the Phoenix metro area.  

Central Dakota Children's Choir (Bismarck, ND)-Inspiring New Generation of Singers/Creating Community in Sparsely Populated State

North Dakota, with a population of approximately 758,000 (Census Bureau 2016), is the fourth least populated and fourth least densely populated state in the US.  It is in the capital city of Bismarck (metro population 130,000) that the Central Dakota Children’s Choir has created a thriving community of young singers who are enriching and strengthening the social fabric of the metro area and serving as cultural ambassadors for the state.  The choir program has grown to include six different choirs of over 300 singers in grades 2-12 from 47 schools around the region.

The choirs perform nearly 40 concerts in schools, churches and other venues annually for approximately 15,000 people and sponsor several music education programs throughout the year.  Their members come from a variety of backgrounds and attend private, public, and homeschools.  According to its website, “Central Dakota Children's Choir's mission is to provide a unique choral education and experience to the children of central North Dakota, to enrich the artistic community, and to serve as ambassadors for our state through music and education.”  The group offers tuition waivers to make the program financially accessible to students from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds.  Because the choir has been around for nearly twenty years, they have graduated a broad base of alumni who continue to return each spring to join forces with the other choristers.  

Learn more about the work of the Central Dakota Children’s Choir by watching the video below.

Creative Spirit Endures Regardless of Age with Golden Tones Chorus-Wayland, MA

According to the 2010 US census, the number of people 65 and older jumped 15.1 percent between 2000 and 2010. They now make up 13 percent (over 40 million) of the total population, compared with 12.4 percent in 2000 and 4.1 percent in 1900.  The quality of life for many seniors is enriched by participating in music activities, and the physical, psychological and social benefits have been documented in various studies.  There’s no need to look any further than the seventy member Golden Tones chorus in Wayland, Massachusetts to see this first hand.

The Golden Tones chorus performs nearly 50 concerts a year in senior citizen residences, schools, faith communities and public events reaching more than 2,000 people.  Now in their 29th year, their members come from 17 nearby towns to rehearse each week and to engage in community service projects.  In 2013, they collaborated with the Wayland Middle School Select Chorus and more recently with the Natick High School Advanced Choir to present intergenerational joint concerts.  “Some members have choral experience, and others are at a point in their lives where they want to try something new,” explained their conductor, Deborah Marion, in a recent interview. “In fact, we’re now singing a song from the musical ‘Mame.’  The lyrics are ‘Open a new window, open a new door. Travel a new highway that’s never been tried before.’ Everyone loves that song because it has such a positive message.”

The group was profiled by Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a 2009 story on CNN extolling the health benefits of singing into one’s 70s, 80s, and 90s.  

Dallas Street Choir: Homeless, Not Voiceless-Dallas, Texas

There are approximately 3,900 homeless people living on the streets of Dallas, Texas according to the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance’s 2016 count.  That number represents a 24% increase over 2015.  These statistics frame the magnitude of the problem, but the challenge of addressing it has as many solutions as there are homeless people.  In an effort to create change, Jonathan Palant, a highly esteemed choral conductor in the area, undauntedly founded the Dallas Street Choir in October 2014.

“The Dallas Street Choir strives to offer an otherwise marginalized community of people a place to experience art, and specifically choral music. Our members come from all walks of life: 68% stay in shelters while 23% live on the streets; nearly half are in their forties and fifties; two-thirds have high school diplomas, and 64% are African American. Thus the tagline for the Dallas Street Choir is Homeless, Not Voiceless.  Our model demonstrates that participation in a consistent, structured, safe, and creatively engaging environment better equips individuals experiencing homelessness to find a job, housing and improve their overall lifestyle. For our members, we aim to provide: practical musicianship training; an environment that promotes accountability; and a community that offers compassion and hope.”  -Website   

In 2015, the choir created a music video that captures the humanity of some of the 3,900 and gives voice to their struggles.  (See below)  The Dallas Street Choir is changing the face of homelessness in Dallas and using choral music to create community in the face of formidable odds.  If you live near New York City, mark your calendars for their June 14, 2017 performance in Carnegie Hall! 

After Election, San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Changes 40th Anniversary Tours Plans To Engage In Dialogue

This is going to be quite a week!  Tomorrow, we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and this coming Friday, our country swears in a new president.  Regardless of who one voted for, the election results surprised nearly everyone.  As someone who hails from Indiana and has lived in New York City for twenty years, I have witnessed first-hand the growing chasm between the "red states" and "blue states."  As the population has shifted to urban areas, the ideological divide has only deepened.  Our tendency is to surround ourselves with others who share our world view and eschew those whose views differ.  Our ability to listen (really listen) and to empathize with our neighbors has been replaced with online attacks on complete strangers.

After the election, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus made the decision to cancel their international tour in celebration of their 40th anniversary season and to replace it with a tour to Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee.  Their director Tim Seelig summed up their decision with these words.  "In response to the election, we decided we have as much work to do at home as we would do abroad.  We want to go to those places that are still strongholds of this kind of discrimination and bigotry.  And bring our voice.  And encourage people there with our music.  And also hopefully change some hearts and minds."  This is the work we all should commit ourselves to, whether our candidate won the election or not.  This is the power of choral music.  If we can listen to each other's song, maybe we'll be willing to listen to each other's words.  Here's the video the SFGMC released to announce the Lavender Pen Tour.  Learn more about the chorus and the tour at http://www.sfgmc.org/

Inmate-led Goose Creek Singers "Ultimate Light In A Dark Place." Wasilla, Alaska Goose Creek Correctional Facility

The Goose Creek Correctional Facility in Wasilla, Alaska is the last place one might expect to a find a community chorus.  It houses all of Alaska's approximately 1,050 prisoners.  There, community is formed by common circumstances.  In spite of those circumstances, inmate Chris More engaged his passion for choral conducting and created a choir comprised of fellow inmates.  His effort has strengthened the bonds of community and created a sense of hope in what would seem to many to be a hopeless situation.  

Loren Holmes' December 15, 2016 story for Alaska Dispatch News tells the story of this choir.  Their recent concert attracted a large audience.  "We never get this many people showing up for one thing, not even church," said choir member Chris Binkley.  "It's almost like you can see the convict come off of people in here."  "This place isn't the way society may see it," he continued.  "This place can be full of hope, full of joy, and we can have something to live for.  There's some people with good hearts in here, who've made mistakes, but they're on the road to recovery."  At the end of the story, Chris More says "we've all seen the studies that show how music can change lives, how it's great therapy, and that's no exception here.  In fact, it's doubly so here.  It's the ultimate light in a dark place."  I invite you to learn more about this story of hope and transformation by watching Loren Holmes' piece below.

Columbus, Ohio Harmony Project-Changing the tune. Changing the community.

Community arts organizations create spaces for musicians, visual artists, and dancers ages 5-105 to come together, work together, create together, and engage in a collaborative process that builds relationships across race, culture, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status and political affiliation.  Strong community arts programs create strong communities.

As someone who has dedicate much of my life to the art of choral singing, I have witnessed its formidable power in various communities.  During 2017, I will be highlighting community choruses around the country that bring people together to achieve something bigger than any individual can achieve.  I’ll be featuring one choir from each of the 50 states.

I’m kicking it off with the Harmony Project in Columbus, Ohio.  Jane Pauley profiled David Brown, the founder of the 225-member chorus that has 400 on a waiting list to join.  In the past seven years he has created a movement that changing lives and transforming the Columbus community one rehearsal at a time.  David’s compelling vision of what it means to create harmony comes together at the end of the story when choristers from the Ohio Reformatory for Women join forces with the larger choir in concert.  Learn more about the story by watching the video below.