Thank you to the 275 people who took the Welcome Christmas 2018 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.

• 23% of attendees were attending their very first VocalEssence concert, and 32% of respondents attended VocalEssence concerts more than three times per year.
• The top four reasons for attending the Welcome Christmas concert were: “to be moved or inspired,” “to discover music you haven’t heard before,” “to spend quality time with family members,” and “to relax or escape.”
• 90% of people spoke with others about the performance after the concert. This indicates that the concert will stick with them for a longer time.
• A majority of people felt welcome at the performances. On a 1-5 scale for how welcome the audience members felt at the concert, 96% gave a score of 3 or higher, with 68% giving the highest score of a 5.
• We had a number of questions about the concert including questions about the new commission by Nico Muhly, commissioning in general, and choosing pieces for the concert. Please watch the video above to learn more.

Questions and Comments from Survey Respondents

• “Everything about the concert was welcoming and inclusive. Philip Brunelle and Phillip Shoultz are great personalities and wonderful with their audience and choir interactions. I really enjoy their concerts and became a season ticket holder of many of the events this year. Each has been unique to themselves which is a testament for the abilities of the choir and a joy to attend!”
• “I really like having chorus members thank you for coming at the end of the concert in the lobby.”
• “If a new commission is on the program, a great detail of information should be shared about themes, composer motivation and associated music.”
• “The new Nico Muhly piece was amazing! Thank you for bringing in new composers that challenge the audience and do something more creative and different than ‘traditional’ holiday/Christmas music.”
• “The 20 minute piece was over my head, I found it difficult to appreciate, however I realize that VocalEssence is an elite chorus that strives to push musical boundaries. Seeing the face of the composer made up for my lack of understanding of the piece.”
• “Overall, it is becoming a tradition during Advent to prepare for Christmas; the blend of vocal and instrumental music is especially moving for me, the obvious joy the chorus members have in their singing for us – and they seem to have fun as well. The chosen winners of the new composition were wonderful – I especially enjoyed the way the oboe and chorus “sang” together – my favorite was the second one.”

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.