The Holland Chorale will celebrate our 48th year providing a cultural enrichment program through music education. Our programs consist of four major concerts that address issues of cultural diversity, community awareness and personal motivation. These four significant concerts are presented involving a wide variety of performers and distinguished guest artists. Each concert contains educational outreach components that involve adults, students and community organizations. The Holland Chorale has always sought to promote the arts within the community and to provide support for arts education programming.
We have 4 major performances with over 100 participants (not including the audience) and several small ensembles that consist of 20 to 40 participants that provide community service to nursing homes, churches, schools etc. Our paid staff consists of the Artistic Director, Executive Director, General Manager and several volunteer positions.
We publicize our programming and services to over 120 newspaper, radio stations and television studios. We have three major mailing campaigns as well as two newspaper broad sheets that each reach over 75,000 homes. Posters and personal letter campaigns by the chorus members provide wide spread coverage.
Research has shown that choruses play a significant role in civic engagement. Civic engagement and social capital are key blocks for building a strong community. The studies also show that the social fiber is fraying in communities that do not encourage arts participation. The Holland Chorale mission is as follows.. “By Making Music that moves you, The Holland Chorale enhances community life by inspiring participation in the arts!” The goals expressed in our five- year strategic plan are as follows:
Excellence:
The Holland Chorale will present
performances of the highest quality
Musical Diversity:
The Holland Chorale will provide a wide range of vocal
music to its audience
Educational Outreach:
The Holland Chorale will provide
experimental arts education through community enrichment events
Reflection of the changing
community:
The Holland Chorale will consider and
reflect the needs and interests of its community in all actions
Stability:
The Holland Chorale will strengthen and
sustain its long-term organizational and financial structure
Our Chorus is made up of 84 volunteer community singers as well as over 50 musicians that perform in the subscription series. We collaborate with 6 high schools, 30+ elementary schools, 6 middle schools, 4 colleges, several churches, Freedom Village, Holland Symphony Orchestra, Hospice of Holland, Holland Rescue Mission, Holland Area Arts Council, and Holland Friends of Arts to name a few. Over 22,000 people in the city of Holland and surrounding areas are served each year.
In 1960 a new male chorus was formed to perform in the Greater Holland area. The group consisted of approximately 15 men and was directed by Calvin Langejans, then a high school music teacher and choral composer/arranger. Within a few years, the group formed a women’s choir and almost immediately the two groups began performing together. Shortly the two groups officially merged and formed a non-profit corporation known as the Holland Community Chorale. The group now is near the end of its 45th year as a community based volunteer chorale, with a total of over 300 current and alumni singers. Its 90+ auditioned members represent many communities from the West Michigan area, including Holland, Zeeland, Hamilton, South Haven, Hudsonville, Jenison, Grandville, Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. Our audience is comprised of over 15,000 music lovers annually, and our March Festival program involves over 22,000 area students of all ages and their families.
In 1979, the Chorale hosted Alice Parker (arranger for the Robert Shaw Chorale) in a community service event. This event became the premiere of March Festival of the Arts, which then began a yearly event fostering interaction between guest artists from across the state and the nation with students in all local school systems. Additional activities were created to involve individuals of all ages in and around the Holland/Zeeland/Saugatuck area. It grew then into a major celebration of the arts for the greater Holland/Zeeland area involving music, visual art, creative writing, dance, a juried art exhibit, and a creative writing contest. We have been overwhelmed with the response and gratitude the community has expressed to our organization. After several years of committee work, surveys, and proven programs we see the need to enlarge this program to cover a more comprehensive audience. Renaming the program “The Holland Chorale Community Enrichment Program” has facilitated the expansion and allowed us to provide more specific and more comprehensive events through out the year. The program includes The High School Senior Program, Chorale Kids, “Showtime”, ALMA youth choir and The Holland ALMA Ballet Folklorico.
(For a more detailed History, click here)
The Holland Chorale has a well-established 5-year strategic plan that is governed by a board of directors. All our programming is operated under the rubric of an outcomes-based evaluation system. Surveys and questionnaires are used annually to mark and evaluate our community impact. The Holland Chorale is a 501-c-3 charitable organization.