Please call or write to someone this week. Your child’s music teacher. The choir director at your place of worship. That friend of yours who never misses a choral concert (or who sings in a different chorus). Please tell them about our search. Importantly, please ask that person to spread the word to his or her friends and colleagues. If you’ve already written or called, please write or call again. All the deets are available at our website: https://womensvoiceschorus.org/director-search/
Here are the key take-aways from this week’s meeting of the search committee.
- Outreach. The committee discussed the need to refresh awareness of and interest in the AD position through direct, targeted outreach. This may include sending follow-up emails to previously contacted choral conductors/teachers in the area. We also need to encourage chorus members to contact (or recontact) appropriate people in their lives, e.g., church-affiliated musicians, school music teachers, friends who attend a lot of concerts. It is important to ask all the people we contact to share the information with their friends and colleagues.
- Interview questions. In the past week, each committee member reviewed and ranked what she felt were the most vital questions to ask in an initial interview. There was significant agreement about our top ten questions.
- Trial run of application evaluation process. The committee agreed to give our evaluation process a trial run by reviewing the application packages of two applicants in the coming week. At our next meeting we will discuss the effectiveness of the process and consider any necessary tweaks before we consider more applications.
- Summary notes. The committee decided that it will be a more efficient use of chorus time to forego verbal updates during announcements in favor of summary notes posted in the Members section of the WVC website.
- In addition to the summary notes, the committee agreed to post answers to questions that have been posed by some singers. Answers to these “Committee Questions” also will be available on the website.
- Survey results. Results of the chorus survey will be made available on the website. These will include a ranking of what respondents felt was most important—and most wished the committee to look for—in an Artistic Director (i.e., results of the scale questions) and summaries of singers’ answers to the open-ended questions.
- NEXT WEEK: The search committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 8th, in our regular rehearsal space at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Agenda items will include reviewing the official audition rehearsal requirements for applicants, reviewing the member response form for use at the audition rehearsals, and discussing the application evaluation process.