Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This study explores a choral community engagement project with a goal to encourage further dialogue about cultural sustainability through artistic partnerships. It addresses the following overarching question: How can choral music partnerships incite cultural sustainability across communities? The research follows the case of a January 2023 choral concert presented by a predominantly-White community choir in the Southeastern United States, in partnership with a collegiate choir from a historically Black institution, as well as the local chapter of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The concert featured the work “Weather,” with text by Claudia Rankine and music by Rollo Dilworth, both prolific Black artists. This piece, commissioned in part by the community choir and conducted in concert by its composer, powerfully depicts the COVID-19 pandemic’s storm-like impact on our lives, particularly on Black lives in the United States. It includes provocative descriptions of the Black experience during the political and social unrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, following the murder of George Floyd, and leading up to the November 2020 U.S. Presidential election. It calls upon listeners and performers to restore peace in our world and work to repair the future. In following the conference themes, this case contextualizes the ideas of well-being, quality of life, public knowledge, political activism through art, and the impact of collaborative art-making within racially diverse, multi-generational groups. The study also explores implications for future partnerships and continued cultural sustainability through choral community engagement.