Choirs need to promote themselves in order to recruit singers, get people to come to concerts, buy CDs and so on.
But does your public face truly reflect your choir as it wants to be?
Somebody was asking recently about how to recruit younger singers to their choir. The point was made that, if photographs of your choir show only people of a certain age, then that’s the age of the singers you will recruit.
What you present to the world is how people will see your choir.
If you want younger singers or to widen the demographic and ethnic/ cultural mix of your choir or to recruit more men, then your publicity needs to reflect that.
Your public image needs to be updated regularly to represent the choir you want rather than the choir you have (unless you’re happy with what you’ve got and don’t want to change).
The image you present to the public includes the design of any printed material (posters, flyers, programmes, business cards, CD covers), photographs and videos, even the name of your choir.
If you have a fusty, old-fashioned design, then people will assume your choir is fusty and old-fashioned. If your choir photos don’t have any men in them, then people will assume male singers aren’t wanted. If your choir name is The Old-Fashioned Choral Society, then that gives people a clear idea of the kind of repertoire you sing and what sort of singers make up your choir.
Things change over time. Your choir ‘brand’ might have been appropriate when you began, but is it fit for purpose now?
Ask some strangers to look at your publicity then tell you what kind of choir they think you are. You may well be surprised.
more information
You might find these older posts of interest:
How to recruit singers to truly reflect your local community
What exactly is the point of your choir?
Is your choir name fit for purpose?
Chris Rowbury
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