2014-104 Arts - Women's Voices Chorus - Fall 2013 Arts Grant Agreement

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P.O. Box 2854 Chapel Hill NC 27515 contactgwomensvoiceschorus.org www.womensvoiceschorus.org ORANGE COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION APPLICATION NARRATIVE— November 2013 ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE Mission:Women's Voices Chorus celebrates diverse and outstanding choral repertoire for women. We are an auditioned, community-based chorus of 65 sopranos and altos. Our mission is to provide a welcoming place in the Triangle for women to share the joy of singing together, promote choral works by and for women, and strive to achieve the highest standards of musical excellence. History: Women's Voices Chorus was founded in September 1993 by Mary Lycan as an unincorporated project of the Orange County Women's Center. Over its first decade the chorus grew in membership, budget, and musical reputation. In 1996 we became a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. In 2007 Lycan retired from the chorus and we began the search for a dynamic new director who could take us in fresh directions while maintaining a deep connection to our roots. We selected Allan Friedman, DMA, and have flourished under his leadership. In 2012 we traveled to Europe as ambassadors of women's choral music. We performed concerts in Budapest, Hungary; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Venice, Italy, including a concert at San Marco Basilica. Our programs featured music from the strong women's choral traditions of our host countries, along with music by American composers. We brought a major choral history lesson home to share with our community, performing Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria locally in January 2013 as the composer intended it: with all female voices and a baroque orchestra. Over the last 20 years, our primary activities have been the rehearsal and performance of concerts in January and May. Our audience has grown to about 1,200 people per concert season, and we have broadened our community impact through summer benefits and other free performances. CURRENT PROGRAMS AND SERVICES On average we sing six concerts each year. Since the majority of choral literature is for mixed (male and female) voices, we frequently introduce the singers, audience, and reviewers of Women's Voices Chorus to music they have never heard before. Our repertoire features songs from around the world; we have sung in more than 30 languages. 1. Concert Season. The chorus performs ticketed programs in January and May. Most vocal soloists are drawn from the chorus, but we hire professional vocalists and instrumentalists to accompany us as needed. 2. Benefit Concerts. Since 2009 our summer program has been a benefit concert: No tickets are sold, but all donations are awarded to a local charity. Recipients have been Paws4Ever in Orange County, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, CASTLE (part of the Carolina Children's Communicative Disorders Program), the Durham chapter of Arts for Life, and the Arthritis Foundation. Women's Voices Chorus Inc.is a private,non-profit organization, tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3)of the Internal Revenue Code