User Comments on British Choirs on the Net and from having a choir Web site

The London Choral Studio was founded in 2001 by Robert Hamwee and Keith Fraser as a small ensemble of singers who have an interest in a variety of musical styles and influences. The ethos of the group is on collaboration, and wherever possible soloists are drawn from within the group giving singers a platform to show their talents. In order to achieve this a great deal of emphasis is placed on the self-study of the parts and music, which requires considerable support.

Both Robert and Keith have IT and business marketing skills, and it was decided from the outset that the group would be supported by IT as much as possible and a website was at the centre of this strategy. As well as providing biographical information on the singers in the group, the website acts as a marketing tool to promote the activities of the group by advertising forthcoming concerts and performances, as well as crediting our sponsors (such as the jewellers Bariolage) for their support.

A number of singers have been recruited through the website in collaboration with British Choirs on the Net who have given the website a prominent place in the “Vacancies” section. Potential members gain an insight into the repertoire of the group and the commitment required of members before making contact with Robert or Keith via an email portal, and this has meant that all of the potential recruits who have contacted the London Choral Studio and have been invited to audition are fully aware of what is expected of them. This has led to a much smaller than usual rate of prospective members failing to turn up for auditions, and a high retention rate of singers.

In order to reduce the administrative burden of producing music, all of the scores used are produced on FinaleÔ and located in the password-protected Members Area for the singers to download and print off. For those pieces of music that are under copywrite a tally is kept of the number of reproductions that are made and a payment is sent to the publishers in respect of the score, followed by a performance fee to the composer via the British Performing Rights Society, however much of the music performed is in the public domain and not subject to copyright fees. As the music is scored using FinaleÔ .wav files can be created that highlight each voice part in turn that can be downloaded off the website so that the singers can practice in their own time and become familiar with the music, keeping rehearsal time to a minimum.

At each concert a tear-off slip is inserted into the programme for concert-goers to leave their contact details. These are then put into an Excel spreadsheet and exported into Outlook to notify past audiences by email of forthcoming concerts that they may wish to attend. As a result we see a number of familiar faces at each concert who come to listen to the choir time and time again.

The next step in the development of the website will be sound clips taken from concerts and rehearsals to advertise the choir to corporate event organisers. Already the website has generated interest from event organisers for the choir to perform at conferences and promotional events, which provides much needed funds for future choir projects such as recording sessions and tours. 

I'm the webmaster (and a member of) three choirs based in West Yorkshire:-

The Accord Singers - a small chamber choir - has benefited extensively from having a website. We have gained members this way. We have been invited to sing at various events, including a wedding next year (for which we are being well paid - this will help our bank balance no end!). We have almost certainly gained audience members. Most important of all, we were approached a couple of years ago by a Dutch Choir, Chantatouille (they had first seen our website listed in British Choirs on the Net), with a view to exchange visits. In October 2002 Chantatouille visited us and a very successful joint concert took place, together with other events (musical and social). This was a wonderful experience for all, we have made new friends (our choirs became engaged and married in one short weekend visit - a whirlwind romance!) and we are invited to visit them next year.

Another example, which has been up here for some time but whose messsage has been echoed to me from other choirs too, is from Duncan Robertson of the City of London Choir:

"Our website ... has been a roaring success. It was targeted at potential new members and on average produces about one genuine new member a month, in addition to enquiries, people who turn up once and then vanish and people who don't make it past the audition. This means that we have gone from having no recruitment problem to having too many people. I have considered taking the site off the web to stem the flow ....."

And finally .....

The Brewood Singers http://www.brewoodsingers.co.uk During 2001 we were contacted by the Stefnir Male Voice Choir from Iceland who are coming to the UK on tour during July this year (2002) to sing in the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen.  The e-mails that followed have resulted in us setting up a joint concert at the Church of St Mary & St Chad, Brewood on Wednesday 10th July.  We are all looking forward to what we hope will be a wonderful concert.

The Brewood Singers http://www.brewoodsingers.co.uk Our Secretary was recently contacted by someone wishing to join the Singers.  He didn't know quite where Brewood was.  It was passed to me to deal with so I sent him information, including our web site address for him to see if it was the sort of thing he was looking for.  A few days later I received an e-mail back: I have to apologise. It looks like you're further away than I thought. I live in North Carolina USA and, if I am not mistaken, you (The Singers) are in the UK somewhere. Therefore I don't think it would be feasible for me to join at this time." I just had to reply:"Oops!  I think it might be just a little far for you to travel.  Brewood is in the Staffordshire countryside, north of Birmingham, in the Midlands area of the UK.  You will probably find the flights are quite good between N Carolina and Birmingham airport, but I fear it would be a little expensive on a regular basis together with a rather bad and persistent dose of jet-lag.  Otherwise we would have loved you to join." Our quest for more men goes on, but our fame is spreading to the corners of the world.

David S Brookes (Musical Director, The Brewood Singers)