Repertoire and Standards - Community Choirs

August 2010

During the Summer Conference at Penn State, a group of us gathered together to discuss our Community Choir programs. Our panel included Lou Ann Shaffer (Nittany Valley Children's Chorus), Linda Tedford (Susquehanna Chorale) and Donna Knott (York County Junior Honors Choir). All three directors have taken their choirs to ACDA Eastern Division conferences and Lou Ann Shaffer's "Concordia" group will perform at their second ACDA National convention in Chicago next March. We were joined by several other conference attendees and spent about an hour together.

Each member of the panel took a few minutes to talk about the history, organization, schedule, recruitment, repertoire and finances for their individual choir. As we discussed community groups at the children's, junior high, senior high and adult/professional level, we learned that each group was organized to fulfill a specific need in its community and developed a program that is unique.

A highlight of this conversation was our discussion of the importance of a good advisory board for a community choir. A strong, diverse board allows the musical director to concentrate on the music, freeing them from worrying about fund-raising, public relations and financial concerns. While all of us are grateful for our association with ACDA, a community chorus can also benefit greatly from an association with Chorus America, which provides choral organizations with information, research, leadership development and professional training.

Singing brings people together and choral groups are an essential part of our society. It can be challenging to organize, fund and sustain a community chorus, but the efforts are well worth the work involved.

We're here to help you with your community choir in any way we can. What do you need from us? How can we help you? We look forward to hearing from you at rdy1949@hotmail.com.

Randy Yoder, Community Choirs R&S Chair