Project Grant

Students from schools in the St Cloud area are encouraged to attend through their administrators and teachers. As a result, more young people and parents attend the concert. At the post-concert reception, all audience members have an opportunity to speak to members of a nationally recognized boysÆ choir. First Responders attend a multigenerational choral concert, perhaps for the first time. The audience reflects on the consequences of 9/11 and how peace among cultures can be achieved. They express their thoughts about the concert at the reception. They feel honored by their special recognition within the concert. Projected number of ticket sales will be met or exceeded. All participants are exposed to hopes of greater peace through the therapeutic nature of music. This modern form of African American story telling will give our students the chance to hear the stories of others while sharing stories of their own. Audience members experience the blend of young and mature voices, hear new repertoire, and gain insight into the healing process of music. They express their thoughts and feelings about the concertÆs recognition of 9/11 through a written survey. Minnesota Center Chorale and Land of Lakes Choirboys learn what the audiences felt and thought about the concert and use the information in future planning. The audience learns more about the Land of Lakes Choirboys and its programs. Young people in attendance recognize the joy and satisfaction of their peers who are engaged in choral singing. Some will think about or decide to join a choir while they are in school. Minnesota Center Chorale members are musically enriched by singing with a talented and well trained boysÆ choir. They learn new music that is not only contemporary and topical, but that encourages peace among cultures. The boys, ages 8 through 14, learn more about an event they were too young to remember but shapes their world. They sing with mature male voices that provide models for lifelong choral participation. They share their musical experiences with other children of the St Cloud area.QUALITATIVE MEASUREMENTS Audience members will find a survey inserted into their programs. A sampling of survey questions will include the following: Has the music performed contributed to your sense of healing in light of the events that took place on 9/11/01? Does the repertoire performed provide you with the hope of peace? Are there specific phrases from a song that you find especially striking? Their responses will help determine the effectiveness of Minnesota Center Chorale's programming and assist in future planning. During the reception, members will be encouraged to seek out audience feelings/reflections prompted by the concert's theme of peace as well as how the Nordic Choir may have impacted those responses. Results will be shared with the Minnesota Center Chorale Director and Board. After the concert, the Nordic Choir Director will speak with the young singers to assess what they may have learned about 9/11 and in what ways the music was meaningful to them. Their input will be shared with the Minnesota Center Chorale Director and Board to better understand how the young singers specifically benefited from this historical and intergenerational performance. The information will be especially useful when planning another concert with elementary to junior high aged children. QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS: To determine the multigenerational ratios, attendance figures will be calculated by keeping track of the number of tickets sold to adults, seniors, and students. To determine how many First Responders are in attendance, their numbers will be indicated through ticket sales and by how many stand for recognition at the concert. The following time table for these measures will help us meet our goals. First week of October: Provide concert information to elementary, junior and senior high schools in the St Cloud area via email with PDF flyer attachment that includes an invitation to attend the concert free of charge. Bring flyers to Stearns County Emergency Medical Services administrative office for distribution among Emergency Medical Services providers. Send special invitations via email to heads of First Responder administrative offices and follow up with phone calls as needed. November 5th. Offer ╜ priced tickets to First Responders at the door. Students through grade 12 receive free tickets at door. Perform the concert in a multigenerational setting. Before the intermission, the audience is directed to fill out the survey that is in their program. They are told how the surveys will be used and where to place them when finished. Minnesota Center Chorale members and the two Directors seek casual but informative responses from general patrons/performers/parents/First Responders at a post-concert reception. Members of the Nordic Choir interact with audience members. Week of November 7th: Calculate the ticket sales by age groups. Week of November 14th: Organize the results of the audience survey into a Word document. November 22nd: Share audience input at Minnesota Center ChoraleÆs rehearsal to review the concertÆs effectiveness and to gage the audienceÆs levels of enjoyment. Next Nordic Choir rehearsal: Director seeks responses from boys about the concert to gauge their levels of enjoyment and what they may have learned from the music and about 9/11. Their Director is asked to report back to Minnesota Center Chorale with his findings. By 3rd Tuesday in December (Minnesota Center Chorale's Board Meeting) organize feedback from all sources into a written report. December Board meeting: Discuss findings with members of the Board. January 5th: End of project.