Together, We Persevered: The Washington Chorus Reflects on Positive Impact of 2020 Programs

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While welcoming Eugene Rogers as its fifth Artistic Director in the midst of an unprecedented global health pandemic that disrupted in-person arts and entertainment, The Washington Chorus forged a creative path to provide transformative inspiration, engagement, and education with a growing local and global audience

In an historic time of multiple domestic and global challenges – a global health pandemic, a long overdue reckoning with historic racial injustices, and domestic struggles with truth and democracy – The Washington Chorus takes a moment to reflect on the impact of its work in 2020, and to thank the tens of thousands of individuals whose contributions, engagement, and belief in the power of singing together to build a better world helped to fuel these positive impacts.

Some highlights of TWC’s positive impact in 2020:

  • TWC was among the first choruses in the country to commission and premiere a new work (“Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow” by composer Damien Geter) written specifically for a chorus to be recorded/performed virtually while under lockdown; the “Cantata” work – an acclaimed 23-minute short music film by Damien Geter and Bob Berg tracing the journey from despair to hope of an African-American couple impacted by COVID-19 – becomes available for global licensing to public, nonprofit, and private sector organizations starting Wednesday, February 3, 2021

  • Although 18 in-person TWC produced concerts or planned special appearances were forced to be cancelled, the Chorus continued its commitment to hiring and paying artists/musicians and technical staff for both newly devised/produced work and for work cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • By launching the “TWC TV” talk show series, first hosted by Executive Director Stephen Beaudoin and then by Guest Host and Creative Producer Patrick D. McCoy across eleven produced episodes, the Chorus provided a new online platform for audience engagement and education, welcoming over 40 guests from acclaimed composers Adolphus Hailstork and Rollo Dilworth to all living current and former TWC Artistic Directors, and many more collaborators and community partners

  • The Chorus’ Board of Trustees and management took needed steps to evolve its values and vision, including adopting five new articulated core values that will fundamentally shape the Chorus’ impact for years to come: Community, Collaboration, Innovation, Inclusion and Excellence.

  • In spite of being unable to rehearse or perform in person from mid-March of 2020 until the present, the enterprising 160+ members of The Washington Chorus continued to learn, create, rehearse, record, and build community even during these locked down times.

 

Click below to watch a short video sharing some of the highlights of the incredible impact that your support of The Washington Chorus made possible in 2020:

 
 
 

Some numbers of note from The Washington Chorus’ unprecedented 2020, as a colorful infographic, created by designer Kelldicott Ryan:

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“During a time when it felt as if all the odds were stacked against us, I couldn't be prouder of the work of our Washington Chorus community in 2020,” says TWC Artistic Director Dr. Eugene Rogers. “TWC Executive Director Stephen Beaudoin and I made a commitment to stay true to the mission and values of excellence, inclusion, community, collaboration, and innovation, and with the support of the amazing singers, trustees, donors, community partners and our growing global audience, I feel as if we made meaningful and relevant art. The choral community has definitely been challenged during this time, and I am reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela who says ‘difficulties break some men, but make others,’ and I am both humbled and proud of how TWC repurposed and persevered even in the midst of the challenges of 2020.”

“As proud as we are of all the terrific impact of our work in 2020, we still have so far to go,” adds TWC Executive Director Stephen Beaudoin. “This period of volatility and uncertainty continues for us and for many more citizens and organizations well into 2021. It will take extraordinary creativity, commitment, intentionality, and care to not just persist but to thrive in this moment. Our positive impact is possible thanks to you: our supporters, friends, and fans here in the DC regional community and across the globe. And our TWC singers, staff, and Trustees deserve special recognition and thanks at this moment for their incredible commitment and care.”

  

The Washington Chorus 2020 programs and special appearances:

  • “Game On!” on January 8, 2020. Special appearance with National Symphony Orchestra at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.

  • “What Makes it Great: Lerner and Loewe Songbook” on February 23, 2020. Co-presentation with Smithsonian Associates at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

  • DC Honor Chorus festival on March 6, 2020. Co-presentation with Washington Performing Arts, Children’s Chorus of Washington, and DC Public Schools. This was to be TWC’s last in-person program of 2020, and – due to the growing global COVID-19 public health crisis – TWC was then forced to cancel or postpone eighteen in-person concerts and special engagements that had been planned for 2020.

  • “TWC TV” series, producing eleven programs from April to December of 2020. Hosted first by Executive Director Stephen Beaudoin and then by Guest Host and Creative Producer Patrick D. McCoy, this digital talk show series welcomed over forty guests from across the globe.

  • “Abendlied: Virtual Choir Debut” on June 23, 2020. World premiere of TWC’s first ever virtual choir recording, led by then Artistic Director Christopher Bell.

  • “TWC 60th Birthday Bash” on October 3, 2020. Virtual gala event celebrating the start of TWC’s 60th anniversary season, with more than 400 guests online.

  • “Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow” world premiere short music film by Damien Geter and Bob Berg, debuted November 14, 2020, then streamed on-demand through December 1, 2020. The Washington Chorus was among American choruses to commission and premiere a new work written specifically to be produced/recorded in an all-remote setting during the COVID-19 global health pandemic; this short music film traces a journey from despair to hope for an African-American couple impacted by COVID-19. Recognized by Oregon Arts Watch as one of the best digital performances of 2020: available for streaming through the Vimeo on Demand service and for licensing to organizations through The Washington Chorus.

  • “A Candlelight Christmas: from the Music Center at Strathmore” in three streaming performances December 18-20, 2020, then available thereafter for on-demand streaming through January 1, 2021.

  • The Washington Chorus was also featured in radio broadcasts on WETA (our collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra on Handel’s “Messiah” from December 2019), and in online streaming broadcasts from The Kennedy Center’s Digital Stage.

 

Special thank you to our TWC Trustees, staff, choristers, artistic and community partners, collaborating artists, and supporters like you who made this positive impact possible.

 
Emma Moores2021