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Essentials in
Get Famous
Symphony Gigs
Your greatest performance this year may take place on someone else’s show.
Updated: 5/31/2006 3:12:13 PM
By Lu Quinney, President of the Sun Harbor Chorus, and Gary Forsberg, VP of PR and marketing for The Saltaires.
(Originally published January 2001)
As a barbershop performer, you may find that some of your greatest on-stage highs will take place far away from a competitive stage or chapter show.
Over last Independence Day weekend, members of at least three Society choruses appeared in concert with major symphonies. These performances exposed new audiences to the barbershop style of music, and for members of these choruses created a wonderful performance experience that won't soon be forgotten.
Now is the time to start shooting for the stars. Just realize that performance opportunities like this don't fall from the sky. They require the right kind of contacts and community involvement, and come to fruition only after a lot of hard work. However, after all the preparations are over, and thousands of new barbershop fans stand in applause, it's definitely worth it.
Whether or not your chapter is in a major metropolitan area, the same principles apply in setting up joint appearances with other groups.
Two patriotic performances
San Diego. The San Diego Chapter's Sun Harbor Chorus experienced a thrilling performance opportunity as part of the San Diego symphony Summer Pops opening program of the 2000 season. Also featured were the San Diego Chorus of Sweet Adelines, Int., Revival, and Acappella Gold, as well as the U.S. Navy Band, Southwest. It was an absolutely smashing production, and we had a ball performing before two sold-out audiences of 2,700 each on the Navy Pier overlooking San Diego Bay.
A cappella presentations were made by each chorus and the quartets which gave us the chance to showcase some pure barbershop. The standing ovations may have been for the symphony and the fireworks displayed during the finale, "Stars And Stripes Forever," but we chose to believe it was for the Barbershoppers. Felt like it to us.
Salt Lake City. The Saltaires, paired with the Utah Symphony, played to packed houses at two famous mountain resorts on July 1 and 3. "It's a Grand Old Flag!" declared the symphony's ads, posters and Web sites. Deer Valley's crowd approached 4,000, The ballad, "Just Like a Butterfly That's Caught in the Rain," raised goose bumps and brought tears to the eyes of many, and the rip-roaring arrangement of "Swanee" nearly exploded devotees from the hillside turf. The crowd was applauding six measures before the end of the piece.
The symphony and Saltaires have developed a great respect for each other over the last year, and each musician looks forward to the collaborative effort.
How to get these performances
The story is one of active marketing and of being opportunistic, in the best sense of that word. A Sun Harbor chapter member encountered the symphony director at an Optimist Club meeting in 1999, where the conductor was the speaker. Introductions were made and cards exchanged, but then we didn't hear from the symphony for several months.
Meanwhile, the Chapter had been invited to sing with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, as the result of contacts made at a mixer of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, of which the San Diego chapter is a member. We were unaware that the symphony conductor had sent his representatives to see that performance, and a week later, we received a message from the symphony inviting Sun Harbor to sing with them on the 4th of July weekend, 2000!
Likewise, for the Saltaires, it was a matter of being opportunistic. One of the Saltaires' daughters is a student of the concert master violinist of the symphony, and having attended one of our shows, she suggested to Kory Katseanes, associate director of the symphony, that the Saltaires would be an excellent choice for collaboration on a patriotic program.
Marketing lessons
- Many of our most significant performances come from chapter members' affiliations with other community organizations.
- Active participation in the local convention and visitors bureau or similar organization, puts the chorus in touch with the entertainment and tourist industry, whose other members are constantly looking for good entertainment for their conventions and special events. We no longer use the phrase that "Sun Harbor is the best kept secret in town," because we are not!
- The initial contact must be followed up by solid musical leadership, especially when working with a symphony conductor. In San Diego, we are most fortunate to have a director who is on a par with the symphony conductor, but the lesson is to put forth the most talented and knowledgeable musicians in each chorus to work with a symphony or other professional musical organizations.
- Put marketing before the chapter members as a opportunity for each man to pursue.
- Appoint a marketing director for the chapter, through whom all requests for performance must pass, so he can then contact the music team and the chorus manager to clear the date, check the venue and put the ball in motion to make the performance happen.
The challenge and the preparation
In some ways, the Sun Harbor performance with the symphony was easier than one of our own shows:
- The venue was selected.
- All tickets were sold by the symphony. (We did provide them with our mailing labels.)
- Most of the publicity was done by the symphony.
In other ways, the performance presented some new challenges for example, in the case of Sun Harbor:
- The music was difficult and the chorus had performed just once before with a smaller symphony (in 1999). In addition, the chorus was performing with the Sweet Adelines and the Navy Band. This was a challenge that required commitment from everyone. Our music director, Ron Black, provided excellent instruction, and the chorus members provided their individual best effort. The chorus practiced three times a week for a full month, and in the last week, we practiced every night.
- Coordination in music was required. As stated above, it was critical that our music leadership matched that of the symphony. A number of the songs had to be rearranged, either by the symphony or the chorus. We were successful because we had the talent to do so.
- It took a lot of administrative coordination. The chorus needed to coordinate its rehearsals and plans with not only the symphony but also Sweet Adelines.
Benefits to the chapter
Members of both choruses experienced a "high" that several members said exceeded the thrill of singing on the International stage. Our wonderful harmony was presented to new audiences for the first time. And the symphony attracted a lot of patrons who would not have been there, had it not been for the barbershop choruses. If fact, in San Diego, the symphony sold out its opening summer concerts for the firsttime! As the result of this performance, both chapters gained several new members. The Saltaires had more than a dozen men start the audition process, and the Harbor Chorus reinstated several former members and had others join. Both chapters received many complimentary cards and requests to be on chapter mailing lists. Both chapters received tremendous exposure to the wider performing arts community and provided the members with new musical and artistic experiences. Members gained solid confidence in the ability to perform with anyone.
Behind this great opportunity were activities that should be no secret to anyone. They just need to be done:
- Actively market the chorus as quality entertainment
- Be opportunistic
- Aggressively follow through
- Secure the commitment and hard work from the performing chorus
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