Operating Support
ACHF Arts Access
Educational outreach: The Saint John’s Boys’ Choir will extend arts opportunities to underserved youth. This will be done through various avenues: after-school outreach programs in urban communities in which artistic opportunities are limited; targeted performances in areas with few artistic groups or resources; festivals and workshops throughout the fiscal year that engage young people of diverse socio-economic backgrounds (such as Sing in the Summer and KidSing). The above outcomes were evaluated quantitatively based on involvement in our outreach programs and number of youth served through performances, workshops, camps, etc. We compared fiscal year 2013 figures with fiscal year 2012 figures, as well as with the three-year average from fiscal year 2010-2012. 2: Offering advanced musical opportunities: The Saint John’s Boys’ Choir seeks to offer the highest quality of choral music education available in the United States to our targeted membership in Central Minnesota. This includes the hiring of exceptional staff who regularly work with the singers; collaborations with professional artists from across the state, country, and world who can offer extraordinary insight and mentorship; and the purchase of music that represents the highest national standards of musical excellence. The artistic quality of the program and repertoire was evaluated qualitatively based on the experience and judgment of our artistic staff, verbal and written feedback of audience members and other professional artists, and standards set forth by the American Choral Directors' Association. The quality of the staff is evaluated every 1-2 years by external reviewers who are renowned artists in the choral field. Quantitative assessment was also used in measuring the number of collaborations and professional artists with whom our choirboys worked during fiscal year 2013. Audience attendance and concert revenue were also used as indicators as to how well the artistic program was serving the community.
The Saint John's Boy's Choir sought to extend arts opportunities to underserved youth through after-school programs, targeted performances, workshops, festivals, and camps. While unable to successfully remount an after-school program, we increased our presence in schools, presenting concerts and workshops for students. We targeted urban schools with socio-economically diverse populations, schools which recently suffered financial cuts to their arts programs, and rural schools with limited opportunities to attend performances. The number of youth served through activities rose significantly this year, and the organization saw increased participation in its two major extra-curricular outreach programs, KidSing (up 12%) and Sing in the Summer (up 161%). Another goal was for a 20% increase in prospective members from diverse backgrounds. In fiscal year 2013 we experienced a 38% increase in auditions and our ensemble of new singers increased in racial diversity from 14% to 25%. 2: Saint John's Boys Choir seeks to offer one of the nation's foremost choral music education experiences for young people, a goal achieved through providing exceptionally-trained staff, the pursuit of challenging, high quality repertoire, collaborations with professional artists, and participation in festivals and conferences. The quality of our artistic program remained very strong in fiscal year 2013. Members of staff were awarded for their contributions to the choral community by the Minnesota chapter of the American Choral Director's Association. The choirs pursued repertoire well beyond the level typical for their age group and recorded several of those selections on a CD to be released during fiscal year 2014. The choir collaborated with several professional artists, including a jazz combo, a chamber orchestra, and two renowned harpists.
Other
local or private