New research from Chorus America and WolfBrown digs into why people attend choral music concerts and if you’ve been following Creating Connection, the findings may sound pretty familiar to you.
The full report (as well as some great survey tools) are available on Chorus America's website, but here’s a quick summary of the major findings:
Connecting with your family and friends is (still) key.
4 in 5 youth choral concert attendees are there because they have a familiar or friendship relationship with a young performer, and 1 in 3 of the adult concert attendees have a relationship with a performer.
First-time concert goers report attending for social reasons – either they were invited by someone or they wanted to go to connect with family.
The benefits of attending are also pretty familiar.
Choral performances offer opportunity for connection, intellectual growth, and emotional resonance, among others.
Sticking with the connection theme for a minute…
“Audiences who feel they have connected with others have powerful experiences." People who learn about the beliefs and customs of a group ("social bridging") other than their own and people who connect with others ("social bonding") are "more likely to have memorable, satisfying experiences at choral concerts.”
People crave opportunities to engage actively and go behind the scenes.
Singing along, clapping along, talking to a stranger, and dancing or moving to the music all resulted in higher levels of self-reported impact.
Audience members want to know the WHY, not just the WHO. They’re more interested in learning about the “curatorial insight” than they are in biographical information about the ensemble, composer, or soloists.
But the findings are really too good to skim.
Read the full report and access some of the survey tools that WolfBrown created at the Chorus America site.
Choral Concert image courtesy of Southern Arkansas University, CC BY 2.0.