Perth Choral Net - a proposal

The General Idea

Perth boasts a number of choirs, which work largely independently in the production of concerts of major works. There is currently no formal mechanism for preventing concert clashes, little sharing of knowledge and experience, and many choirs struggle to widely publicise concerts with limited resources.

The idea of 'Perth Choral Net' is to establish a more formal network of contacts across choirs in Perth, and aim to share resources and experiences to the benefit of all groups.

As a growing number of people in choral organisations have access to the internet, many of the ideas presented here involve the use of the internet for discussions and information dissemination. The internet is ideal both in terms of ease of information distribution and cost (most, if not all, services can be provided for free).

Already established in Perth is a group of mainly a capella community choirs "Voice Moves WA". While there is some overlap with this proposal, Perth choral net is intended primarily for choirs performing major choral works in Perth.

This is purely a rough idea of mine - I am particularly keen on people's input into how such a network might work. Nothing is set in concrete and if you see a problem please let me know ASAP.

Please read on and give me your feedback at the end.

What could Perth Choral Net provide?

1. A network for choral directors and administrators

This would put choral directors, conductors, presidents and administrators in contact to discuss issues of common concern.

Discussion in this group might involve:

• Plans for upcoming concerts, including dates and venues - to prevent clashes of music and/or times,
• Assistance with finding musicians,
• Assistance in locating music,
• Any other discussions relevant to choirs in Perth.

Such discussions could take place both in-person and via email.

2. A 'Perth-Choral-Announce' mailing list

The internet enables choirs to reach hundreds of potential audience members quickly and cheaply.  This idea involves establishing an electronic mailing list of Perth choral concert goers, that could be used by choirs to publicise their concerts.

Importantly, this mailing list would need to be appropriately managed to ensure that all emails sent are relevant, and that no more emails are sent than is necessary. For these reasons, I suggest the following guidelines to ensure everyone is happy:

• Postings be limited to announcements of major choral performances in Perth,
• Only one email is sent per concert,
• The list be moderated, such that only legitimate concert announcements reach subscribers, and
• Subscription should be an 'opt-in' process (ie no one would be subscribed to the list without their permission).

This would hopefully create a list where every email sent is of interest to Perth choral music lovers. Choirs would need to encourage their audience members to subscribe.

3. A database of concert venues

A simple database with information about venues (capacities, staging, acoustics, etc..) would make venue-finding a lot easier for choral groups.

4. A calendar of choral concerts in Perth

An online calendar could be established to map out choral concerts in Perth to help other choirs plan their performances.

5. A directory of Perth choirs

A simple list of choirs with basic information about each choir (eg background, rehearsal times, joining requirements, contact information, web site, etc).

What do you think?

Please let me know your thoughts and comments on these ideas. Do you think this would be a good thing? Do you have any more ideas? Would you be willing to get contribute time to assist with the project?

Any and all feedback is much appreciated. Please email me (Chris Loader) and let me know what you think. If you are interested, I will keep you informed (by email) of any happenings with the project. I will also endeavour to add any new ideas of interest to this web page.

If there is anyone you know who you think might be interested, please direct them to this site.

Who am I?

I have been singing with PUCS (the Perth Undergraduate Choral Society) for four years. I was president of PUCS for the 1998/99 term (until September 1999) which exposed me to many aspects of choral organisation. I have also participated in the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association (AICSA), attending several intervarsity choral festivals around Australian, assisting with the organisation of the 48th intervarsity festival in Perth 1997, and participating in the Australian Intervarsity Choral Council.

PUCS and AICSA have successfully using emailing lists to foster communication both within choirs and between choirs. I currently administer several electronic mailing lists for PUCS.

I have also sung with other Perth choirs, including the St George's Singers, and more recently Collegium Symphonic Chorus.

See also my home page.

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