Community Outreach
Community Outreach is a central value of The Houston Choral Society (HCS). Indeed, HCS Community Outreach brings our Mission Statement to life:
…performing great choral music to enrich the soul and advance the choral arts…
Our Artistic Director, Dr. Kevin Klotz, believes in the power of music to beneficially impact others:
To enrich the soul, HCS takes our music into the community to lift up those in need and honor those who serve.
If you want to invite The Houston Choral Society Chamber Choir to perform in your venue or at a special community event which you are hosting, please contact us at 832-478-6986 or via e-mail: [email protected].
To advance the choral arts, HCS strives to be a catalyst for the enrichment of vocal music…in other organizations.
We believe these values make HCS unique in the musical landscape.
Here are some of the ways HCS stretches beyond the realm of traditional concert performance and extends the goodness of choral music into the heart of Houston.
Hospital Outreach | MD Anderson Hospital
Christmas can be a difficult time for families with hospitalized loved ones. For nearly 20 years, HCS singers have mustered at MD Anderson Hospital one Monday in December. Strolling the wards and softly caroling, our singers share the meaning of the Season with patients and their families. We all agree it is one of the highlights of our performance year.
Hospital Research | Shriners Hospital for Children
HCS visits the patients at Shriners Hospital for Children almost every Christmas season. Besides gifts of music, we also bring gifts of toys to the boys and girls. For many of these children, the visit by HCS singers is their Christmas!
Special Project 1996: “Imagine America,” Benefiting The Houston Food Bank
HCS joined forces with the West Point Cadet Glee Club in April 1996 to benefit the Houston Food Bank. With former First Lady Barbara Bush as event chair, the sold-out “Imagine America” netted over $100,000 for the Food Bank.
Special Project 2008 | “Hands Across Houston,” Benefiting Neighborhood Centers Inc.
HCS celebrated 20 years of quality music with the debut of a commissioned work by renowned composer Adolphus Hailstork. Titled Set Me On A Rock, the work—and the concert—honored Houston’s response to the thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In particular, we honored the work of Neighborhood Centers Inc. (NCI), whose support to Katrina evacuees continues even to this day. Community leaders and elected officials took to the podium to praise NCI’s century of service to Houston.
Thus it was that HCS’s sold-out 20th anniversary concert shed a bright light…on someone else! Said an NCI officer:
“I can’t believe it: a not-for-profit organization producing an event to benefit another not-for-profit. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Music Outreach | Spring Choral Festival
For several years, HCS hosted a Choral Festival at our home venue, Foundry UMC. We invited local high school choirs to perform a few favorite selections and just have fun. The high school choir directors were pleased with the opportunity to showcase their emerging talent, and we were delighted to provide that opportunity.