Many non-profits, especially smaller groups without staffing, tend to operate without creating an annual fundraising plan.  The most likely scenario is that an organization understands that they need to raise money, someone comes up with a brilliant idea and then the group puts together a group of volunteers and makes it happen.  Sound familiar? In […]

I wanted to introduce myself to you – I am Richard Jung, the Executive Director of the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus and GALA Choruses 411 Advisor for Fundraising and Development. I started this position last summer and after a very slow start have finally begun to put together some useful information and tools that will […]

“You cannot interact with the autistic community or the trans community without interacting with both.” –Joelle Maslak Living in a society designed for neurotypical individuals can be very exhausting and overwhelming for autistic people, not unlike the stress and exhaustion of living in a binary world for many trans folks. Especially because most services are […]

Do you ever worry about the interpersonal dynamics in your choir?  Do you ever get frustrated with an individual singer’s behavior?  Do members ever become emotional and you worry if they are ok?  Or maybe you have a board member that is consistently late to meetings or does not accomplish the tasks they said they […]

Phoenix, Colorado’s Trans Community Choir found ourselves at the center of controversy when parental complaint around our scheduled performance of our original play, Raven’s True Self, at a local elementary school was taken up by the CBS Denver News. The wholesome play, about a transgender raven in a community of animals and the importance of […]

The concept of “Asia”, particularly as a cultural signifier, has always been problematic. It assumes a high degree of commonality across what is the world’s largest continent, and has been used to homogenize and “other” what is a hugely diverse swathe of people. When Proud Voices Asia, the Asian LGBT choir network was set up, […]

(above) Shanti: Journey of Peace is premiered by 150 singers with Eastern and Western instrumentalists in the University of Cincinnati’s Great Hall, 2004. This article was originally printed in Choral Journal as part of the October 2018 issue, permission was granted by ACDA to share here. Learn more at acda.org/choraljournal. Finally, I have found means of […]