Ms. Moy and Mr. Selvey attended the American Orchestra Summit (AOS), a landmark conference concerning the American orchestra, with the hopes of creating a similar summit for the choral community. The AOS examined the wide-reaching cultural impact that the orchestra has had in America, and explored how orchestras and academia might partner effectively to extend this import. From this summit, Ms. Moy and Mr. Selvey learned about innovative community engagement collaborative strategies being employed in the orchestral world that have possible value in the choral community; and connected with many inspiring leaders in the world of music, psychology, and business.
The beginnings...
It’s hard to determine how chorosynthesis first became a thought. Mr. Selvey and Ms. Moy recognized early on in the academic year that they had similar passions for research. Mr. Selvey was interested in audience engagement, particularly by connecting with the internal motivation of attenders and Ms. Moy was interested in motivation and retention of students in choral ensembles. At the heart of both points of research was the desire to advance the choral arts in a sustainable fashion.
Ms. Moy received an email from Ken Kiesler, University of Michigan to attend the American Orchestra Summit. Inspired by the invitation, she sent it to Mr. Selvey and asked rhetorically why there wasn’t such an event for the choral community. Mr. Selvey boldy replied that they both should attend the summit in order to glean from the experience what would be necessary to put on a similar choral summit! In typical Seattle fashion, Mr. Selvey and Ms. Moy discussed over coffee their vision for advancing the choral art. And that’s where it all started.