Why Become A Friend Of VCS?

It’s a fair question that a new singer raised about our fall “Friends of VCS” campaign. I’ve gotten that question several times in the four years I’ve been involved with VCS. And my answer has never changed: VCS asks for your support because we strongly believe that we are ALL better off with great music and a commitment to the arts. 

The DC-metro region is choir central in the US. Go anywhere in the area, start singing* and I’ll bet you’ll quickly have an audience, or perhaps even company – whether it’s opera or a beatboxed Pachelbel Canon in D.

Even so, VCS is unique in this culture-rich neighborhood.

We’re a non-audition teaching choir with high expectations of artistic excellence and great music. And we recognize the diversity of our community, serving them with an ecletic repertoire ranging from modern American classical pieces to coffee house classics. We dream big, take huge creative chances, and frequently surprise audiences. And you, our audience, have always consistently come back for more, curious about what we’re about to offer, and supportive of how we have no idea that “we can’t do that!”

Which is when the rubber hits the road—We are essentially a non-profit choir with three part-time staff. “More” takes resources.

Traditionally, we’ve made do with dues, advertising, and grants. However, as anyone in the arts will tell you, we compete for an ever-dwindling source of grants, and American corporate involvement in the arts has declined steadily and precipitously across the board in the last 20 years. More frighteningly, arts education has declined steadily as well. As one arts manager put it at a recent conference I went to, “It’s not that just that the next generation may not recognize or know the classics. It’s that they may not know who Beethoven is at all.”

Whether you think knowing Beethoven’s 9th from his 5th is important for everyday life, there’s little argument about the ripple effect of what happens when the arts disappear: Our lives become a bit more colorless. We have fewer moments where we’re part of something bigger. And the non-joiners among us have less beauty and music to find solace in when we’re crammed like sardines on the Red Line or surviving that last mile on the Beltway.

For those of us who look at the longer term and want a place where the next generation is welcome, our family-friendly concerts are a huge draw—a place for younger audiences to discover great music, and yes, learn how to be so that paying big bucks for the Kennedy Center “Lion King” treat begins to make sense. And like all of us, they too rediscover what the human voice really sounds like when unleashed from the confines of an MP3 file.

We are determined to keep doing all of that, but be a self-sustaining arts organization that doesn’t depend on any one major source of revenue. We MUST be able to support ourselves so we can remain a relevant and integral part of our larger community, and continue to offer great music, highlight great issues in our concerts for a cause, and offer family-friendly concerts where the next generation has a place to discover the arts — whether it’s Beethoven or Billy Joel.

That is why we ask you to become a Friend of VCS. 

A small donation from you, as little as $25, helps us successfully produce another season of the music you have come to expect and appreciate from us. Because we are all too aware of the many great causes out there—like the ones we work with and work to support at our annual concerts for a cause—we only do this once a year in September. And because we want to acknowledge and appreciate your donation, which is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law, “Friends of VCS” recieve our public thanks and enjoy special benefits on concert night.

Would you like to become a Friend of VCS today? Find out more and become a Friend today by sending us email at info@viennachoralsociety.org or talking to one of our singers.