Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida changes its name to Choral Artistry

It’s an insane name: The Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida.

But for 10 years the professional choir has only called himself that. Until now.

“It’s a bite,” admits Choir President Patricia “Pi” Rice. “And it’s hard to remember. There is no catch. “

Choir directors hope to change this with a new focus and a shorter, more catchy name: Choral Artistry.

This change was a long time coming, says Rice. But it wasn’t easy.

“That was a painful process,” she says. “Trying to rename yourself at 10 is really difficult. We went through many, many thoughts and ideas and ended up with Choral Artistry. “

The rebranding coincides with a new website and the announcement of the choir’s 11th season.

This season the annual “Summer Sing” and “Sing Out!” Take place. Festivals and the Southwest Florida premiere of Considering Matthew Shepard, a Grammy-nominated oratorio about the life and death of the Wyoming student murdered in a hate crime in 1998.

“I’m looking forward to this new season, especially the pandemic,” says artistic director Trent Brown. “I think there is a huge appetite for the arts and for people to be personal and see and experience live music.”

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This is actually the choir’s third name change. The group existed for five decades as the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus. It then split from the Fort Myers Orchestra in 2011 and renamed itself the Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida.

Now the choir has outgrown that name too, says Brown.

For one thing, they sing a lot more than just symphonic music. They play everything from modern American composers to a cappella songs to Latin American works.

There’s a lot more variety on stage than just classical music, says Rice. “Trent is famous for saying at our concerts, ‘If you don’t like what you’re hearing, just wait five minutes and we’ll change it.”

Brown wants to continue bringing this variety of programs to Southwest Florida.

“Symphonic chorale isn’t really what we program anymore,” he says. “In order to offer the community more variety in the repertoire, we really had to break away from it.

“That doesn’t mean we’ll stop playing symphonic repertoire. It just means that this won’t be our entire identity. “

The new name also gives them more flexibility, he says. With “symphonic chorale” the audience usually expects the full choir – up to 70-75 people on stage at the same time, including a core of 12 paid, professional singers (the rest are volunteers).

But not their entire repertoire calls for so many singers, says Brown.

“Symphonic Chorale implies a certain type of performance in every concert, and that’s part of what we do,” he says. “We make works with a choir and orchestra of a symphonic nature. But we also do a lot of other concerts that aren’t like that. “

In addition, the new name gives the choir more of its own identity, says Brown. Many other art groups and corporations already have “Southwest Florida,” Fort Myers, or some other region in their names, and it’s easy to get lost in this ocean of similar-sounding organizations.

Another bonus: the choir has been considering touring elsewhere in Florida, and a less regional name gives them more options.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t give concerts here anymore,” says Brown. “It just means we want to look a little bigger.”

The choir has come a long way since leaving Southwest Florida Symphony, Rice says. It was then that they chose a name that identified them closely with the Fort Myers Orchestra.

But now Choral Artistry works with many other groups too, including Opera Naples and the Naples Philharmonic.

“Through growth and time … and by expanding our own repertoire, we’ve really found our own legs as a completely separate entity,” says Rice. “It was time we took a closer look at how we named ourselves, how we branded ourselves, and how we are reflected in the digital world.”

That change will help fundraising as well, says Brown. Often times, people donate to Southwest Florida Symphony and other arts organizations that work with the choir and mistakenly think that the money goes to the choir too.

“We’re going to work with symphonic organizations and operas and so on, but we’re not supported by them or the university or anything,” says Brown. “We are our own business unit.”

Now that their separate identities are more evident than ever, Brown looks forward to giving big concerts again under their new name.

Some arts organizations are cautiously starting their 2021-22 season and “dipping their toes in the water,” says Brown. No choral art. You are planning a full season with some exciting events.

“We’ll jump all-in,” he says. “We’re going to make it big. We know people want it, so we’ll find a way to make it happen. “

The season is technically their eleventh, but Choral Artistry called it “10th Anniversary / Take 2”. This reflects the smaller pre-season of the choir, which still included three concerts.

“We’re going to be celebrating our 10th anniversary,” says Brown. “And of course when we start the 11th season, when we look back on the great challenge of this 10th season and everything we have achieved in it. So it’s a pretty exciting anniversary for us for many reasons. “

Here’s more about Choral Artistry’s 2021-22 season:

The choir performs with other local singers at this annual event. All singers are invited to rehearse with the choir and then perform in front of the audience.

“People can just come over for the night and sing with us,” says Brown.

This year’s Summer Sing will have a Christmas theme, he says. “Nobody has to have a real Christmas with people. We’ll sing the Christmas carols and maybe exchange a few presents. “

Haydn’s “Creation” (November 14th at Faith United Methodist Church in Fort Myers):

The composer’s oratorio from the 18th century celebrates the creation story from the “Book of Genesis” of the Bible.

“We’re going to do it in English,” says Brown, “and it’s going to be a really big performance: choir and orchestra.”

“Sing out!” (January 28-29 at the New Hope Presbyterian Church, Fort Myers):

The annual choir festival includes music workshops and a concert. Other Southwest Florida singers are invited to sing with the choir.

This year they play Handel’s “Messiah,” says Brown. “That was the very first ‘Sing Out!’ which the organization did 10 years ago. So people can come and take part. “

“Considering Matthew Shepard” (April 10th at the Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral):

This is the southwest premiere of Craig Hella Johnson’s three-part oratorio about gay college student Matthew Shepard who was beaten, tortured and left to die in a hate crime in 1998.

“The work is loosely modeled on a Bach passion,” says Brown. “It takes texts from Matthew Shepard’s diary, interviews with Matthew’s parents, and some excerpts from some news articles, and uses this as a libretto to tell the story of Matthew’s life and early death and the legacy he leaves behind.

“It’s a very, very strong job and I’m delighted to be leading in this area for the first time.”

– To learn more about Choral Artistry, call 560-5695 or visit the new website at choralartistry.org.

Connect with this reporter: email crunnells@gannett.com or connect on social media at Charles Runnells (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter), and @ crunnells1 (Instagram).

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