Community Arts

Project artistic goals: Goal 1. Produce a concert that engages our community singers and our audience in music that expresses women’s voices and promotes social change through song. Response: Audience response to the concert was overwhelmingly positive. In our audience survey, 100% of respondents stated that the performance was an engaging experience, and that the performance achieved Calliope's artistic goals. Our Chorus member survey also revealed a high degree of satisfaction. 100% of respondents said that the experience of preparing for and performing in the concert developed their artistic skills, and that the performance achieved our thematic goals. Goal 2. Use music and other media (stories, photos, personal accounts and lobby display) to help our audience experience how Calliope has helped give voice to the community of women, especially LGBT and other unheard voices, over the past 40 years. Response: This was one of this project's great strengths. The combination of music from the past and present, with personal stories from current and former participants, created a powerful, moving and inspiring experience that showcased the Chorus's impact on many lives. In advance of the concert we reached out to past members and recorded many video interviews. Excerpts from the interviews were played on a 10 x 15 foot screen on stage in between each piece of music, creating a visual and sound tapestry of Calliope participation over the years. At the end of the concert, about 20 former members spontaneously came up on stage to join the Chorus in singing "Deep Peace", a long time Calliope anthem. Audience members described the experience as joyous, uplifting, fulfilling, exhilarating, inspiring and delightful, and commented on the beautiful singing and that the performance acknowledged Calliope's role in "radical social change." Goal 3. Premiere a new commissioned piece by a female Minnesota composer, and reprise other commissions written for Calliope Women’s Chorus. Response: This was another project highlight. Linda Kachelmeier wrote a setting of the poem "Everyone Sang" for us and it received its world premiere at this concert. Linda rehearsed the piece with us extensively. The premiere was incredibly moving. The piece includes the repeated phrase: "The singing will never be done," and the audience is invited to join in with this part of the piece. The whole auditorium chanting together for several minutes with Linda's beautiful melody was an amazing moment of community in music. Many survey respondents commented on this. Recapping other Calliope favorites was appreciated by many former Chorus members who attended and was a powerful chronological review of our musical history. Our main challenge was the sheer scale of this undertaking. Making all the elements work together required planning, coordination and hundreds of volunteer hours. The project succeeded through encouragement by our leaders and our volunteers' persistence and commitment. Did you successfully reach your intended community (i.e. audience, participants, artists, etc.), If not, why? Yes. Concert attendance was 280, which exceeded our projection of 270. Sundin Hall was almost full. Ticket sales were overall equally balanced between full price and reduced price admissions (offered to seniors, students and low income persons). We also provided free admission for approximately 30 persons. We met our participation goals for the chorus. We had projected participation by 48 chorus members. In fact 51 chorus members made the performance happen, including handling logistics, publicity, music selection, program design, rehearsal planning and preparing audiovisual materials, as well as making the music on the night of the show. We also had wonderful participation from other artists. Five former directors of the chorus - Maren Amdal (2006-12), Michele Edwards (2000-06), Jane Ramseyer Miller (1997-2000), Mary Preus (1985-1995) and Nancy Cox (founding director, 1976 on), were part of the project. Each former director conducted a piece during the performance, as well as sharing personal statements during the evening about Calliope's impact and significance in the women's choral movement. Collaborating composer Linda Kachelmeier took part in the premiere of her piece "Everyone Sang." Collaborating pianist Jessica Schroeder provided piano accompaniment throughout. Did your outreach efforts result in community diversity? If not, what would you do differently in the future? Our audience survey revealed that the audience embodied diversity in several respects. The survey showed that audience was composed of persons from all age groups, from under 18 to over 65. Audience members who responded to the survey identified with a range of sexual orientations, including lesbian, bisexual, asexual and heterosexual. Income diversity was demonstrated through the mix of full price, reduced price and free admissions. Our survey of chorus members confirmed that the chorus embodies diversity in several respects. The chorus includes women in all age groups from 18 to 65 plus. Members identified as lesbian, bisexual, queer, asexual, other and heterosexual in orientation. In what ways did you meet your goals for making your project open and accessible to all who might wish to participate? We have steadily broadened chorus membership by outreach at Pride and other LGBT-friendly events. A variety of musical abilities are welcome in the chorus and we provided multiple ways of learning the repertoire for those unable to read music. Both our rehearsal and performance venues are physically accessible. We provided low-price and free admission for audience members. We also provided free or reduced chorus memberships to women unable to afford the regular dues. Nine of our 51 members received free membership this season and 24 members paid reduced dues. No audience member or chorus member was turned away because of inability to pay. Quantitative: 280 people attended the concert and 58 singers and other artists participated in the performance. Qualitative: Chorus survey of project participants showed that 100% of respondents found that the experience developed their artistic skills and also expressed the project's thematic goals.