Blue Ridge
Vocal Connection
We’re asking participants in Montana International Choral Festival’s 2023 event to spread the vision to Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains…
Mark Freeman and I (Thomas DeBusk) volunteered at the 2023 Montana International Choral Festival because we plan to create a regional choral festival based in the scenic Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. We came to learn, and believed the best way to do that would be to jump in from the bottom up. So we’ve schlepped pianos, hauled risers, guided singers to the stage, and picked the brains of seasoned veterans & enthusiastic newbies who make MICF’s organization & execution look easy (we KNOW it’s not).
Back home, we’re starting from scratch, so we have a lot of heavy lifting to do. We know the MICF started with the passionate vision of Donald Carey. He was able to successfully translate his experience in Nancy, France into Missoula’s current cultural powerhouse one donation, volunteer, note, singer, and choir at a time.
We’re asking you to help us pass that inspiration on to another community that needs it: ours. We are asking you to help our Blacksburg neighbors look past the workload to see a valuable payload yet to be realized.
We already have musicians, singers, choirs, and conductors. But we don’t yet have the essential cooperation, shared vision, and sacrificial spirit that birthed the MICF. We need you to help us develop it. How?
Easy: click on the link below and answer four simple questions about your involvement in the MICF.
We’ll post your comments on a Blue Ridge Vocal Connection web page to show our local government leaders, musicians, business owners, music teachers, and other civic and community leaders that investing time, money, and talents in a regional choral festival is a sound investment in a better future.
Yes, this appeal is long-ish, but we just need a few words of encouragement from you. Soon, please. And thank you in advance (because we’re native Southerners with good manners). Maybe someday we can show you our hospitality in person at our first annual Blue Ridge Choral Connection. You will share in the pride we feel because you’ll know you played an important part in getting our festival off the ground.
Please note: we’re not spammers, we won’t give or sell your email to spammers, and we won’t use it for any purpose other than communicating with you. The form you fill out will also give you the option to allow us to use your full name, or just your first name & last initial. You can also tell us in the comments whether we have your permission to disclose the organization you’re a part of.
Rules for $500 Cash Prize Contest
Only individual organizers of qualifying choirs will be eligible to win the $500.00 cash prize that will be awarded at the event on September 3, 2023. All prospective contestants are subject to the following rules and continuing eligibility requirements. The $500 cash prize is a performance award that will be given to the first choir organizer to register 10 singers to participate in their choir. Performers who play an instrument, but do not sing during the performance, will not be counted toward the 10-person minimum.
A “choir organizer” is the designated individual responsible for registering, recruiting, and facilitating the involvement of Blue Ridge Choral Connection participants.
Prior to being qualified or accepted to perform, each choir must designate one and only one individual as their choir organizer.
Each choir organizer will serve as both the gatekeeper for participation in that particular choir, and the principal point of contact by the event host. Choir organizers will be responsible to forward all communications by the event host to their respective performers in a timely and thorough fashion, so as to facilitate the cooperative and constructive execution of this event. The event host presumes that registered participants do so with the consent of the designated organizer of their identified choir. However, if any disputes arise about whether a registered participant should be allowed to perform with a particular choir, they will be resolved by that choir’s organizer in cooperation with the event host.
Blue Ridge Vocal Connection reserves the right to cancel or postpone the Blue Ridge Choral Connection event with or without notice, for any reason, whether foreseen or unforeseen, including, but not limited to: inclement weather, insufficient registrations, etc. If the event is cancelled or postponed, BVRC may award or withhold the $500 cash prize in whole or in part at its sole discretion.
The winner of the $500 cash prize will be announced during (and not before) the Blue Ridge Choral Connection event currently scheduled for September 3, 2023. To become eligible and remain eligible to win until the prize is awarded:
1) Choir organizers must be present at the time the winner is announced.
2) The choir organizers’ choir must perform with 10 or more singers, regardless of the number of registered participants.
3) The choir organizers’ choir must have 10 or more singers present at the time the winner of the $500 cash prize is announced.
Choirs will not be “qualified” or “accepted” unless and until they have registered a minimum of 10 singers. Choirs meeting the 10-minimum threshold will be notified that they have been accepted to perform. Choirs that meet the 10-minimum threshold after 10 choirs have been accepted will not be eligible to participate, nor will their respective organizers be eligible to win the $500 cash prize. No organizer of a choir that registers 9 or less participants will be eligible to win the $500 cash prize.