How To "Unchoir Your Choir"

"The way to be successful in the software world is to come up with breakthrough software. New ideas, surprising the marketplace... so good engineering and good business are one in the same."
                                                                                   -Bill Gates

Some of our readers have asked where the title "Unchoir Your Choir" came from. In conceiving this blog, we wanted to challenge the status quo of choral vision and leadership, which we have generally found to be lacking, even in professional organizations. Some of you may be familiar with the following traits, typical to many choirs:

• starting/ending rehearsal late
• lack of rehearsal planning
• failing to rehearse concert logistics
• indecisive direction, especially in musical details
• poor quality marketing/advertising
• last-minute communication
• self-imposed limitations

Obviously, there are choirs where these issues have been addressed and eradicated, and we applaud those organizations. But even in our successful choruses, we still struggle with some of these pernicious issues.

So in undertaking this blog, we decided to focus less on the artistic aspects of choral music, and to focus instead on the leadership skills that choral conductors need to learn (but that, sadly, are almost never taught).

Because so many choirs embody these undesirable traits, choral conductors often get a bad rap in the larger classical musical world. Often, we're seen as musical lightweights who contribute little more than floofy platitudes; certainly, it's easier to get by as a choral conductor with poor (or nonexistent) training than it is to do the same in the orchestral field (this can be seen as an extension of the paradigm that many of us encounter in some opera singers, where vocal technique is emphasized to the exclusion of basic musicianship).

The approach of "unchoiring" your choir, then, can be seen as a thorough reexamination of the values that govern your organization. Our aim is to convince you to view your choir as you would any other entrepreneurial enterprise, being brutally honest with yourself about where you can afford to cut corners, where you're falling short, and where your greatest strengths are.

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KIRSTEN: In January, 2016, my friend Carey Shunskis and I founded the South Shore Children's Chorus. As we initiated this brand new venture in Massachusetts- a state with several established children's choruses already, though none located on the South Shore of Boston- the two of us had specific values that we wanted to portray to parents, students, and the general public. We aimed to send the message of professionalism and confidence through our marketing efforts, spending a hefty amount of budget and time on social media, website building, e-blast cultivation, and logo branding. I built our website to include online registration, where parents could easily register their student from a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Additionally, we gave each student that walked in the door several materials with our SSCC logo printed on it in our organization's color (a bright, recognizable teal) including bags, folders, water bottles, pencils, and lanyards. When we were invited to sing on local access television, we immediately rush-ordered matching t-shirts with our logo and slogan, and had them delivered the day before the filming.

These marketing efforts were not easy and not necessarily intuitive. There were several things that we needed to give up in our budget in order to afford all of these efforts. However, we found that these steps worked completely in our favor. We currently have over 65 students registered for our programming after being only established for 4 months. I have had several comments from parents, students, and fellow music teachers who have seen our website and couldn't believe that the organization is brand new.

This is the goal. The goal is to move beyond conformity and low expectations. As a brand new children's chorus organization, the public expects us to be disorganized, or to have specific difficulties (such as an amateurish website). Going against these preconceived limitations has won over several parents in the area, and we continue to grow with new registrations daily! I cannot over-emphasize the need to break out of "what people think" you will be as your chorus organization, and to move beyond that. Surprising people with the unexpected is the best way to get them to remember you.


KRISHAN: One of SACRA/PROFANA's altos and I share an obsession with the TV show LOST, which aired on ABC from 2004-2010. In 2012, the show's producer Carlton Cuse tweeted about how he was working on a project with the author Rob Bell, and they were looking for a band to play two songs during a live event they were producing at a warehouse space in L.A. The band would be a prominent part of the interactive show, which also featured interviews and audience Q & A. At my alto's behest, I sent SACRA/PROFANA's 2012 Payphone video to the production team. A few days later, I received a call from Carlton Cuse's assistant in L.A., and a conference call with Cuse and Rob Bell was quickly arranged. When I got on the conference call, I heard for the first time what was to become a repeated refrain during the next few years: "We're big fans of SACRA/PROFANA".

At the event in L.A., the singers of SACRA/PROFANA were specifically asked not to look like a choir, but rather to "dress like normal people". Given the general demographic of the audience (20s - 30s L.A. hipsters, including at least one LOST cast member), our singers fit right in. We "flash mobbed" an arrangement of "Bright Morning Stars", and then actually taught part of the arrangement to the audience. Conducting these folks (including Bell and Cuse) in a four-part a cappella arrangement was surreal to say the least. When we finished, Rob Bell looked at me and said, "Wow. You really are reinventing the choir."

Cuse and Bell were looking for a rock band to complement their show- not a choir (or, as I like to think, they didn't know they wanted a choir until they met us). But we had begun to position SACRA/PROFANA as a unique vocal ensemble that, while essentially choral-based, is distinctly not your typical choir (and yet, clearly is a choir in the way that groups like the Pentatonix aren't). Defying people's expectations about what a choir can be remains one of my great joys as a choral conductor.

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We want to hear your thoughts on how you can "unchoir your choir". Every conductor has his or her own strengths or weaknesses. Every organization does certain things well, while they could improve in other aspects. Where could your choir improve, and what is your plan of action to work against the status quo and surprise your audience and community? Please comment below and let us know - we can't wait to hear how you are going to change the choral community by "unchoiring your choir"!