Topic: Accessibility & Inclusion

Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, 10:00am
Holden Chapel, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Our choirs are always looking to engage and support singers and audience members, but are we aware of the ways in which we unintentionally push them away? Our special guests for the season’s opening meeting were Andy Clark, Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University, and Charles Baldwin, Program Officer for Mass Cultural Council’s Universal Participation Initiative. Charles discussed ways that choirs can make everything from their programming to their marketing materials to their spaces more inclusive and equitable for the community, while Andy will discussed strategies for helping all those within our choirs feel welcome, particularly those who are undergoing transitions that may affect their singing.

Resources:

Gala Choruses’ Resource Center, including this 2-page handout on “Creating Inclusive Choirs: Transgender & Gender Nonbinary Singers”

Charles Baldwin’s presentation handout:  The Universal Participation Initiative at Massachusetts Cultural Council

The Singing Teacher’s Guide to Transgender Voices (Liz Jackson Hearns and Brian Kremer): References and Resources for Teachers

The We Have Voice Collective Code of Conduct

Paul Kahn: “An Astronaut on Earth”