Scale, Scope, and Structure in the Community Chorus Industry

Abstract

Choral music is the leading form of public participation in the arts in the United States. This article describes choral music from an organizational perspective, using a strategic management framework to examine total market scale, scope of activity, and internal structure. While many tens of thousands of choruses are embedded in educational and religious institutions, this article focuses on independent, community-based choruses. Data from public and private sources, including the leading national service organization for choruses, shows that an estimated 3,000 of these choruses operate in the U.S. They are typically organized along club models, with significant contributions to finances and governance made by chorus singers. Summary data in the article show variation in governance and program activity within budget ranges and among chorus types including professional, symphonic, volunteer, and children/youth.

KEYWORDS:

• chorus
• management
• nonprofit
• voluntarism

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Catherine Davies, Chorus America; Tom Pollak, NCCS; Todd Smith, Barbershop Harmony Society; George Heitman, Muhlenberg College. An earlier version of this article was presented to the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Philadelphia, PA, on November 21, 2008.

Notes

1. Formerly the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America.