Choral Spotlight: Do You Take Requests?
With few exceptions, it is the artistic director or choral conductor who decides what works a chorus performs. Three choruses took a different approach for a recent concert: they let the audience choose the program.
· BG Singers (Buffalo Grove, IL), a chorus of about 70 singers, planned a special concert in September 2025 as part of their 30th anniversary celebration. The concert was titled, "Reprise: 30 Years in Song."
· The San Diego Master Chorale (San Diego, CA), with about 125 members, allowed the audience to choose the works for its season-ending “Mixtape” concert performed in May and June 2025.
· The Choral Society of Pensacola (Pensacola, FL), with about 100 singers, brought back two of its former directors to participate in an October 2025 “Mixtape” program that featured works the chorus had performed in the past.
Audiences got involved long before the performances. During the previous season, the BG Singers inserted into the program a list of 75 songs the group had performed over the years and asked the audience to vote on their favorites. The San Diego Master Chorale presented audience members and singers with a list of 275 songs in six different categories. They also invited write-in suggestions of songs not on the list. The Choral Society of Pensacola surveyed its audience over a period of months, asking which pieces they wanted to hear performed.
What did they pick?
The BG Singers’ audience chose “Let it Go,” “Beautiful,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Do You Hear the People Sing,” “Come Alive,” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” among others.
The songs chosen in Pensacola included “One Day More” from Les Miserables (Claude-Michel Schonberg); “Lacrymosa” from Requiem (Mozart); “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Paul Simon, arr. Kirby Shaw); “Sure on This Shining Night” (Morten Lauridsen); and “Daemon Irrepit Callidus” (György Orbán).
Two of the pieces chosen in Pensacola (Mozart and Lauridsen) were also chosen in San Diego. In addition, from the San Diego selection list, the audience chose “Yesterday” (Paul McCartney and John Lennon, arr. Bob Chilcott); “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” (John Rutter); “Shenandoah” (arr. James Erb); “How Can I Keep from Singing?” (arr. Gwyneth Walker); “Ave Maria” (Franz Biebl); and “Ubi Caritas” (Ola Gjeilo). The chorale also performed three pieces chosen at random from the audience’s write-in suggestions.
In San Diego, audience participation extended right into the performance. As they entered, audience members were presented with two alternatives: “Make Our Garden Grow” (Leonard Bernstein) or “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana (Carl Orff). The piece receiving the most votes became the final number in that day’s performance.
Has your chorus experimented with audience input in its programming? Leave a comment.