Thank you to the 150 people who took the VocalEssence WITNESS: Yet They Persist Survey. The VocalEssence staff analyzes the results and uses the information to plan for better performances in the future. Below is a summary of the results.

• 17% of attendees were attending their very first VocalEssence concert, and 44% of respondents attended VocalEssence concerts more than three times per year.
• The top three reasons for attending the VocalEssence WITNESS: Yet They Persist concert were: “to be emotionally moved or inspired,” “to learn about cultures other than your own,” and “to discover music you haven’t heard before.”
• According to the data, this concert will stick with audiences for a long time. The concert had a huge emotional impact on the attendees – one of our highest scores ever – of 4.5 out of 5, and 91% discussed the concert with others after the performance
• A majority of people felt welcome at the performances. On a 1-5 scale for how welcome the audience members felt at the concert, 94% gave a score of 3 or higher, with 79% giving the highest score of a 5.

COMMENTS FROM SURVEY RESPONDENTS

• “I love the audience participation element. It makes me feel like part of the concert instead of an observer.”
• “Me senti bem vinda e acolhida por todos” (English Translation: I felt welcome and welcomed by all.)
• “The Spelman College Glee Club was amazing. The talented voices, the connection with meaning, the on-the-spot performance, along with the other ensembles were jaw-dropping. I haven’t missed a Witness concert since I attended my first one.”
• “I absolutely LOVED the kids and all of the music they performed. I especially loved when they came back out in their regular clothes (not uniforms) – it was incredibly impactful to me. I also thought the Spelman choir was spectacular! And the power in the combined choir songs…I literally choked up several times and I physically got the chills! It was just beautifully done!”
• “I appreciated the inclusiveness / diversity (ages and ethnicities) of the singers AND the audience, learning more about the women who were celebrated at this event, honoring the achievements of previous community trailblazers, and the empowering message that we can accomplish more together. While all of the choirs were terrific, I was especially moved by the performance of the youth choir.”

WORD CLOUD

Below is a word cloud that includes the words that audience members used to describe the concert. The larger the word, the more it was used by survey respondents.