2020-826-E Arts Commission-Community Chorus NCCARES grant

Browse Search

Piv oting to a v irtual model has taken time, dedication, and determination—but it paid off: our test ev ents worked. W e’re ready to launch, but we can’t do so without funding. W e’v e heard it from our participants, and we know it ourselv es: people need the arts, and we need this grant to help make that possible. W e are so close! Please explain the impact of your organization on the Orange County community in a typical year. Community Chorus Project’s programs hav e impact in a number of ways in our county. PopUp Chorus brings well ov er a thousand people to our ev ents at The ArtsCenter where our av erage attendance per ev ent is 175. (W e hav e had up to 325 singers.) Not all attendees liv e in Orange County, but the majority do. The program has receiv ed accolades from artists ranging from Dav id Bowie to Duran Duran, with press cov erage in state, local, and national media (see our media page that includes a USA Today piece: http://www.popupchorus.com/locations). PopUp Chorus’ location is a selling point for the county! Realtors hav e mentioned it in their articles about cultural opportunities in the area, and the Chapel Hill Orange County Visitors Bureau e-newsletter, Orange Slices, dev oted an entire issue to this unique program. Community Chorus Project is also an employer. In a typical year, we employ a team of teaching artists and other staff for our three weeks of summer programs at UNC, which includes: eight chorus/v oice teachers, four accompanists, one choreographer, one filmmaker, a studio engineer, and program assistants. Teaching artists are paid an av erage of $32 per hour and the total contracted summer fees payable to teachers for 2018 was $12,708. Sev eral of these contractors work in both programs and are employed twice. (Independent contractor agreements are av ailable for v erification of these fees.) In addition to the summer youth programs, PopUp Chorus employs a conductor, a four-piece band, a filmmaker, and an audio engineer for monthly ev ents. Fees to this team v ary depending on if it is a priv ate hire or public ev ent but av erage a total of $775 per occasion. W e additionally employ a Chapel Hill-based graphic designer to do all of our ev ent art, as well as an accountant for bookkeeping and tax filings. The heart of our impact, howev er, is with the people we serv e. In an av erage summer (2018), we worked with 51 middle school students (of whom 11 receiv ed full or partial scholarships) and 36 high school singers (of whom 12 receiv ed full or partial scholarships). W e know from feedback how much these programs mean to our young students. They are seen and accepted for who they are, and where they are musically. Admission is by audition for older students, but younger students take part regardless of v ocal dev elopment. W e are capped only by numbers and don’t turn young people away. Students experience building confidence, knowledge, and v ocal skills with like-minded peers, all of whom lov e the performing arts as much DocuSign Envelope ID: 7736305B-2D6A-4CB4-A76E-69F4B076DA90