Cincinnati Boychoir
650 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
A Tempo ... Returning to Normal
Grant Application:
“A Tempo” is a musical term meaning to return to normal tempo after a deviation. We are now returning to our normal tempo after the deviation caused by the COVID pandemic. Our goal for this upcoming year is to resume in-person programming while maintaining virtual options and grow our program to ensure that our membership truly reflects the community we serve, As we return to more normal operations, , we now request support of $20,000 to support programming for boys with a passion for singing. The Charles H. Dater Foundation's past support has helped Cincinnati Boychoir reach the level of notoriety it is at now, with both national and international acclaim as well as developing an online presence, and your ongoing support of Cincinnati Boychoir will allow our staff to teach our vocalists while increasing membership and reaching more boys in the Cincinnati area.
Program goals:
• Help students attain personal growth and discipline by building confidence and character through participation in our high-quality music program
• Engage students in lesson activities that contribute to their development as a vocalist and artist.
• Provide opportunities and education for boys in the Cincinnati area to become more culturally and racially sensitive and aware.
• Provide opportunities for boys to deepen their awareness and relationship to communities around the greater Cincinnati region.
Grant Evaluation Report:
Following our virtual 2020-2021 season, we had a very successful in-person for the 2021-2022 season thanks to the assistance from your foundation. The goals of our “A Tempo” revitalization project were to restart in-person rehearsals and performances, launch a new iteration of our Festival Choir, and lower barriers to entry to increase our reach across a wider population of boys.
Hosting in-person rehearsals and performances was a big success. Thanks to our Covid safety practices, we avoided an outbreak among the choir and had all rehearsals and events in-person. We rehearsed 3 times per week in-person, and except for our December Showcase, all of our scheduled events and performances went as planned, including our Boychoir retreat, Library Tour, Festival Choir, Spring Showcase, Summer Tour, and more. Our December Showcase was filmed in-person at Memorial Hall and distributed electronically due to the Covid rate at the time of performance. While we still had successful and beneficial programming during our year of virtual instruction, it was so exciting, joyful, and impactful to rehearse and perform together in-person.
Due to a spike in Covid cases in early 2022, we moved our Festival Choir date from February to April. Aside from that switch, the Festival Choir went as planned and was a success. 35 of our singers hosted the festival and were joined by 27 boys from participating schools and community locations. Over the course of the day, the boys participated in group rehearsals and workshops. We had two incredible guest artists, Nicholas Rose-Stamey of Band in a Bus, and composer Sherry Blevins. Nicholas Rose-Stamey presented a bucket drumming workshop and the participants incorporated the drumming in the performance of “Clash and Bang,” a reimagining of “The Jazz-Man” from composer Benjamin Britten’s Friday Afternoons. With Sherry Blevins, the boys participated in a composition workshop. On the day of the festival, the boys wrote the lyrics and melody to a new piece of music, “Be Patient With Us,” which they then performed. Ms. Blevins then completed the piece and it was premiered at our Fall 2022 Boychoir Festival!
We were also successful in our goal to continue to increase our reach and participation. During our 2021-2022 season, we rehearsed and performed in 15 ZIP codes across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Our 2021-2022 enrollment was lower than the previous year, due largely to the return to our pre-pandemic tuition rate when in-person programming resumed, and hesitancy to attend in-person rehearsals and events. Fortunately, support from your foundation allowed us to continue offering the same caliber and scope of programming even with decreased enrollment. Thanks to community events and recruitment efforts we were able to present during the past season, we are already seeing increased enrollment for our upcoming season. These community events and recruitment efforts also allowed us to serve a new and continuously growing population of singers, bringing the benefits of singing and choral education to children across the region.
Website:
http://www.cincinnatiboychoir.org Amount: $25,000
Date: June 2022
