Springfield Chamber Chorus

In its 12th season, with nearly 40 singers, the Springfield Chamber Chorus, an auditioned, professional-caliber volunteer choir which performs music spanning the breadth of the choral repertoire at a high level and commissions new works, particularly from under-represented voices, enriching the artistic life of the community through regular performances.

The Springfield Chamber Chorus organization made a long-term commitment to our local homeless community when we created the Springfield Street Choir, a now vital and integral part of our organization. The Springfield Street Choir, a choir made up of homeless individuals, which provides an outlet for creative expression, self-advocacy, community building, and much-needed joy in the homeless community. 

Prior to COVID, the Street Choir was rehearsing with up to 80 singers per week, and to date has served over 325 unique individuals who are homeless, formerly homeless, or living in extreme poverty, and has performed on nationally-syndicated television, been the subject of an award-winning documentary, and drawn standing-room only audiences.

Forgotten Voices:

Springfield Chamber Chorus commissioned composer Katie Kring to create the transformative “Forgotten Voices” song cycle, which integrates the professional-caliber Chamber choir and the voices and words of people living on the street of our city to create a powerful experience for those who experience it. We believe this piece has the potential to be a powerful vehicle for advocacy in our community, and in others like ours. The powerful music and touching lyrics will move any audience who has the opportunity to hear the commissioned work.

High-Quality Recordings:

We believe in the transformative power of choral music while also being fully aware that the traditional concert audience for such music is a small group of affluent white people sitting in a resonant church. This project is about expanding our reach within intersecting communities of our local Springfield/Ozarks region, the choral community, and the larger community of music lovers everywhere by creating beautiful, high-quality recordings of our work this season. Our goal is to use these productions to break down barriers and make this art form to people throughout the community via digital streaming and television broadcast. 

The performances we intend to film are about creating opportunities for connection and inclusion, with an emphasis on amplifying the voices of people at the margins.  We also aim to record and release streaming video of the Street Choir in performance, because seeing homeless people (who are so frequently dehumanized) engage in the profoundly-human practice of singing has the potential to change hearts and minds around this issue, and in turn change policy and real outcomes. 

Finally, we will be recording our 2nd annual “A Springfield Christmas” special, which will be broadcast on television during the holidays, and feature performances by the Chamber Chorus, the Street Choir, and 8+ area high schools and colleges. This is a powerful way to bring people together with music, and to put choral music directly in the homes of people across our region.