Preaching to the Community choirs for practice used to be easy. Choir leaders would simply get out the songbooks and have them waiting for choir members when they arrived. Most of the songs practised were already familiar and it was just a matter of going over them to reinforce things like timing, intonation, and to make sure that all the parts were covered.
Those days are long gone! Today, running a choir is much like running a major musical production. In many cases, the music presented each worship service IS a major production and the expectations seem to get greater every year. But thanks to technology like WAV and MP3 files, as well as the increased bandwidth of internet connections.
List all the possible funders you can find
If you can’t find a single soul that is willing to support your musical endeavour, then you might try looking in the World Wide Web where everything has an answer. But no, you can’t go singing Hallelujah in G Major once you found one suitable grantor. The fact is that you will have a lot of competitors vying for the endowment. So, instead of just applying for one choir grant, go and target as many as you can. You may also ask for specific endowments like funds for musical instruments, or for costumes. In that way, you won’t put all your eggs in one basket and (knock on wood,) sob if one fund is not awarded to your group.
Keep your records impressive
Whether you like it or not, it is you who will be the face and voice of the future choir. Say, whose group is it anyway? So you have to make yourself marketable and credible to build a musical ensemble of your own. Get busy and compile all your certifications. Make yourself a great potential music leader. No, just being a member of one famous group won’t make your background enough to call yourself a director. If you’re just starting out, the best way to practice being a conductor is to find some expert who can teach you hands-on and recommend you.
Assemble prospective members of the vocal ensemble for a meeting
And find a musical piece that will suit your voices well. Why of course, how will the funder find out if he’s giving out to competitive vocals or just a troop that got no choice but to sing for Community choirs? You and your members altogether must establish the identity and purpose of your chorale, and tell it through a musical piece.
