15.11 Choral department public relations

Public relations

Effective public relations will mean increased public support for the choral music program. Public relations involves the director's relationship with colleagues, with the administration, with a support group for schools and some community choirs and with the community. The public image of the choral department can be an effective tool in requesting more funds and increased public support.

In order to have a totally successful choral program one will need the support of the school community. A director should start building a public image of the choral department from the very beginning. The following suggestions will aid a choral director in creating a desirable public image for his department. Public relations can be equated with advertising in the business field. Advertising is only a means of getting customers. If the product is not of high quality, the customers will not return. The choral program must be built on sound musical ground or the best possible public relations program will not keep it growing. Surface or shallow programs are found out very quickly and the community wastes no time in labeling them for what they are.

Public relations with colleagues

It has already been mentioned that music should be conveyed as a curricular image. This should be re-emphasized at this point. A director must convince colleagues that he wants the study of choral music to progress just as history, mathematics, and other classes do. Other teachers must understand that the choral director is also interested in the progress of each student. One must want one's department to grow, but not at the expense of others.

It should be remembered that the history or mathematics teacher is rarely in the limelight as the choral director is. Be especially careful to show that you are not trying to exploit students for your own personal advancement. This will not be done by what you say as much as by what you do. Try to show how performance is a natural culmination of musical studies. Then make every attempt to show that your performances are of value to the students.

Show a genuine interest in other departments. Make it a point to know what is going on in the school. It will not be hard to find out what the football team is doing, but it might take some investigating to discover that the home economics department is in the midst of a special project that warrants your interest as a fellow faculty member. An interest in the work of others will, in turn, generate an interest in your department.

During one of your free hours, visit another class, and find out what the other teachers are doing. Of course, it is always best to ask permission to visit another teacher's class. This is best done when, in the course of a conversation, you can show an interest in a topic that is going to be the basis for his class in the near future. You may also find a valuable teaching technique by observing another teacher. It is also interesting to watch students whom you have in a choir situation as they participate in another class. It is also valuable to invite other teachers to visit your choral rehearsals during their off-period. They will find it just as interesting and will better understand the activities of the choral program. This interaction will ultimately provide joint educational opportunities. For example, a literature class may be reading texts that are already set to music for choirs. Performance of these texts with a demonstration of the use of music to enhance the text for the literature students can be enlightening for both groups. Sometimes, the director may find that the music obscures rather than enhances the text, which also is a good educational moment.