with the kind permission of the site owner I just wanted to pop a couple of Paragraphs from the latest edition of 'The survival of your choir' book, this book has been around since 2002 and received excellent reviews from choirs and the music press, really it covers all the non music things that a choir should be thinking about and yet rarely do, - but finding audiences and singers, and keeping them! and funding and touring and even how to appoint a new conductor are all vital matters that should concern every choir
The survival books journey begins with the seven “W”s.
What you choose to perform and …..
Where you choose to perform will decide…..
Whether your concert will appeal and that will help explain …..
Who is likely to be your audience and that is.....
When you should start that publicity campaign thinking of.....
Which sort of publicity you should use that will entice and tell people..
Why your concert is unmissable.
This is so important that in my opinion it needs to be on the first page. I think in the first book I made a mistake of putting recruitment first, but believe me everything is linked.
Here is a different set of seven “W”s:
What your choir rehearses week by week will decide.....
Where new members can be found and.....
Whether your existing members will stay and.....
Who they will tell and sell tickets to and that will only happen.....
When you have looked at what you offer your audience and.....
Which sort of music your audience looks to you for and.....
Why, if you don’t do this…retaining members will be a problem.
So in this book recruitment takes its place as a second chapter - of course you could say that without recruiting the members you wouldn’t have a choir to sing! But assuming you have some members, keeping them interested and excited will encourage them to spread the word about the choir, not only to other singers, but also to the audience about the exciting music coming up.
And here is another set of seven “W”s:
When you start your publicity and.....
What you put on your publicity and.....
Where you put that publicity will decide.....
Whether enough people will see it and.....
Who actually sees it that is likely to be interested will decide.....
Which people will actually buy tickets and.....
Why some people will definitely not.
And here’s yet another set, this time for the concertgoers and enlarged to twelve “W”s as a result of asking an audience what was important to them. As this is not a music-based book, it goes without saying that they expect the performance to be good (though I can tell you that the Revival of Your Choir book is on its way!). A large proportion of what is in this book is aimed at getting you an audience so that you can share your love and enjoyment of singing with your listeners. Here then is a set of there “W”s – note that this set are not questions but – expectations!
We could be having a meal or going to the cinema that night but ...
We are coming because we like choral music, or to support our friend...
We want to know in advance what you will be singing...
We want to be able to see and hear the singers easily...
We expect to hear some wonderful music that we may not know much about...so
We would like a programme for each of us that is interesting to read and also easy to read in dim lighting! – and as we will be there for a while...
We would like a warm and comfortable venue with easy access and plenty of parking...
We hope there will be clean toilets...
We would like refreshments to be available and at a reasonable price...
We would like some idea of what time the event will end so we can plan transport...
We hope that it will be enjoyable so that …
We will be able to tell our friends and maybe bring them along next time!
And a very final set of – expanded from seven to nine “W”s – your choir’s answers to their expectations:
What we sing will excite you and delight you and because.....
Where we have chosen to sing is easily accessible so there will be no problem about.....
Whether you can park or get a bus or get a wheelchair in and.....
Why we have chosen this venue is because we know it to be warm, comfortable, and above all make it easy for you to see and hear us and...
When you get to the concert choir members will be there to look after you...
Who we have chosen as guests will be an added reason to come because.....
When you get to the concert you will hear some music you know and some.....
Which we are going to tempt you with that you don’t yet know and that is.....
Why we are confident you will have a good night and want to come again!
maybe these matters are all taken care of in your choir or maybe these points have set you thinking, if so the new edition of the choir survival book is now available to purchase and download as a PDF file until september from my website. www.timknightmusic.com after that the hard copy version will be available through all good Uk Music shops
