Arts Tour Minnesota
ACHF Arts Access
Perform in communities not previously visited to engage audiences in the experience of creating music and provide outreach on GLBT issues. Involvement and participation by the local communities will be a measurement of engagement, both in rehearsal and performance. Pre- and post-rehearsal/concert surveys evaluate choral music as a tool to transform assumptions and challenge prejudice. 2: Perform in communities throughout greater Minnesota engaging audiences in the experience of creating music and provide outreach on GLBT issues. Touring to Duluth, Big Fork, and Little Falls that are in greater Minnesota with participation by the local communities will be a measurement of engagement, both in rehearsal and performance. Surveys will be used to evaluate effectiveness.
We performed for the first time in Bigfork and Little Falls. We worked with host organizations in each community to plan, organize, and promote the concerts. Community singers performed with us during each concert and our 75 singers met and interacted with members of the audience during post-concert receptions. In the words of one Bigfork resident, They are an amazingly warm group and were wonderful ambassadors for treating all people fairly. They swamped the two little restaurants in town at lunch, and the locals were SO HAPPY to welcome them all. A representative from The Edge Theater, our host organization in Bigfork, commented, The audience just loved it, rising immediately at the end, and lingering afterward to talk and hug and share stories. This was one of the highlights of the Edge's art experiences. In addition to Bigfork and Little Falls, the tour also included Bemidji. To stimulate and facilitate participation by local residents in each of the three cities, our artistic director sent rehearsal CDs and musical scores to the community singers in each city and they selected which songs they wanted to perform with our chorus. Our artistic director also traveled to each community for a live rehearsal with community singers before the concert tour. Because the concert repertoire was Minnesota Voices, we distributed Music on a Stick to audience members with the lyrics for several sing-along songs and invited them to join us in song. The Bemidji concert was filmed in its entirety by a local television station and broadcast throughout their viewing area. I personally felt as though I had been blessed, covered in the beauty of song. -Bemidji audience member.
Other, local or private