Operating Support
ACHF Arts Access
Weave choral singing deeply and rewardingly into the lives of diverse Minnesotans. The chief indicator of success in achieving Outcome 1 is the number of people reached by our singing, along with the number of performers engaged in the creation of the art. By those measures, 2012-13 was among the Chorale's most successful years ever: even with the loss of contracted work due to the lockout at the Minnesota Orchestra, more than 12,000 Minnesotans and visitors enjoyed our singing during fiscal year 2013. Additionally, our ability to raise funds from individuals is an indicator of the extent of the Chorale's impact in the community: in fiscal year 2013, the Chorale raised more money from more individuals than in any year in our history, with fully one third of our total income derived from this source. 2: Provide opportunities for enriching, cradle-to-grave choral music-making to as many Minnesotans as possible. For the Minneapolis Youth Chorus, success is measurable by the level of interest among eligible participants; the ensemble was filled to capacity for the entire school year. Attendance at weekly rehearsals is another indicator: this exceeded 95% each week throughout the year, significantly higher than average attendance rates for the school-day in the district. For the sing-alongs, participation numbers are the most telling evaluation of success: for the Minneapolis sing-along, a near-capacity crowd of over 800 filled Saint Olaf Catholic Church, and in St Paul, our first-ever sing-along at the Landmark Center was completely filled, and the stage crew ran out of chairs!
To weave chorale singing deeply and rewardingly into the lives of diverse Minnesotans. This was achieved in several ways, chief among them via concert performances by the Chorale's family of choirs throughout the metro area and in Mankato. Along with mainstage performances by the Chorale and its artistic partners, the Chorale's Minneapolis Youth Chorus sang extensively for children and adults, and our Voices of Experience choir for older singers (offered in partnership with MacPhail Center for Music) presented concerts in fall, winter and spring. The Chorale's Bridges program brought singers into the memory care units of four assisted living facilities in Minneapolis and St Paul, with weekly visits over the course of a month. Getting the residents to sing along with old favorites was among the most moving experiences Chorale singers have ever experienced. Our informal Holiday Heralds program, which reached thousands of Minnesotans during the month of December, literally brought the music to the people, in shopping malls, parades, the Landscape Arboretum, and sports venues. 2: To provide opportunities for enriching multi-generational choral music-making to as many Minnesotans as possible. As noted above, our Minneapolis Youth Chorus and our Voices of Experience choir for older singers enabled more than 120 singers of all ages to raise their voices in song. The Chorale itself is a multi-generational ensemble, with 230 singers aged 19 to 81 as active performing participants. Beyond our own ensembles, the Chorale presented two sing-alongs, offered at no charge to participants. Messiah in Minneapolis and Mozart in St Paul (during the annual Winter Carnival festivities) brought more than 1,500 Minnesotans together to make music with us, and demonstrated the deep and abiding power of choral music to bring together people of diverse backgrounds.
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