Alex Gartner
BOOKS
The Business of Choir
A Choral Leader's Guide for Organizational Growth
GIA Publications, 2022
by Emily Williams Burch & Alex Gartner
Choral leaders know that singing is a joyful act. It is life-giving, exciting, and inspirational! Yet oftentimes this joy is eclipsed by the tedious underbelly of a choral organization. From answering emails, completing endless paperwork, and the constant interface with parents, administrators, and community members, it's no wonder that a choral leader can often grow frustrated or even burnt out. Can the joy of singing return?
The answer is YES! By tackling the business elements of leading a choral organization, the joy of singing is sure to return in full or even magnified! And that's exactly what you'll find in The Business of CHOIR, a choral leader's guide for organizational growth. Written in 2022 by Emily Williams Burch and Alex Gartner, two authors with extensive experience in building and expanding choral programs, The Business of CHOIR offers new insights, best practices, and practical action items for choral leaders looking to master the organizational and administrative elements of running a successful choral program.
A quippy writing style makes reading through chapters on business topics easy, carefree, and fun. The book's 10 chapters are divided into 3 sections which begin with an interview with a leading choral practitioner. Covered topics include communicating value; fundraising; diversity, equity, and inclusion; leadership; volunteer management; personnel management; recruitment and retention; marketing; finance; and evaluation.
Whether you're a choral director, administrative leader, board member, or serve in a leadership role within a choral organization, The Business of CHOIR promises to help take your organization to the next level. Above all, it reveals the importance of tending to the business elements of choral organizations. With a solid organizational backbone, the musical possibilities are endless!
Relevance in the Choral Art
A Pathway to Connections
GIA Publications, 2019
edited by Tim Sharp
Alex is the contributing author of Leaders of Tomorrow Today: Empowering and Embracing Youth Leadership
Relevance unlocks new ways to build deep connections with people who do not immediately self-identify with our work as musicians. Relevance in the Choral Art outlines the alchemy of relevance and its role in offering meaningful programs and concerts for today’s audiences.
Relevance in the Choral Art is a collection of essays from leading practitioners in the choral field that challenges musicians to reflect on the role choral music plays in today’s culture and what can be done to keep it relevant.
Now more than ever we must face the challenge of the relevancy of choral music in our culture, for artistic directors and their role within choral organizations, for members of choral organizations, and for the community that choral music education and performance serves.
