Main site of Rita de Cássia Fucci-Amato

Questionnaires for choristers (singers) and conductors:

https://spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dF9KZnV3NC1oRFYtT3pPTjVLSHowUFE6MA (in English);

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDFmbzl5V09RQlo5Q0hqRTFSY3doUGc6MA (in Spanish);

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFRKanRUOFRnWXN5aTg1NUdGZWlwOVE6MQ (in Portuguese).

The questionnaires will be available until August, 2012. The conductors and choirs taking part of this research will be cited in a special acknowledgement list which shall be published in this website. This website will be enriched through the time with the publications (like papers in journals and conference proceedings) analyzing the results of the research. The individual answers concerning singers, choirs and maestros will be maintained anonymously. All these data will be faced with theoretical bases on themes such as the manager’s job, human resources management, leadership, motivation, organizational culture, organizational learning, etc. Therefore, by the answers of singers and conductors will be possible to propose new models and approaches to the difficult – and necessary – activity of managing choral organizations.

Thanks for your contribution!

The research projectChoirs are paradigms of teamwork and motivation and examples of learning and knowledge organizations, while conductors are symbols of leadership and efficient management. Despite the persuasion of these images, the real profile of maestros' job and of musical organizations in the day-to-day cannot be revealed if we do not open our eyes to their work behind the stage, before the concerts, and outside the podium.

In what sense are maestros as managers? Which elements from the theories of administration - from Fayol to Drucker, from Mintzberg to Senge, from Rosemary Stewart to Nadler and Tushman - can better describe the activity of conductors? Are maestros gifted leaders, or they acumulate a special 'cultural capital', in the words of Bourdieu? How theories of leadership and motivation - from Max Weber to Elton Mayo and Abraham Maslow, from Herzberg to Goleman - can show the 'human resources' management developed in choirs? How is the organizational culture in these cultural organizations?

Here are some of the questions that guide this research. The reality of these themes is measured by an overview of choral singing around the world. In the first phase of the project, some cases of choirs and maestros were analysed through various methodological techniques: detailed questionnaires, interviews and direct observation of rehearsals and concerts. In a second phase, some special cases of vocal groups of many countries are beiyng studied individually, and a worldwide survey is being conduct, through a questionnaire for conductors and choristers available at internet.

The research project "The maestro's job a manager and the organizational perspective of choral singing" is developed by the conductor Rita de Cássia Fucci-Amato, PhD, at University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil (Production Engineering Department of São Carlos Engineering School). This study is funded by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

Acknowledgements

Under construction. The list is being completed.


1. To the conductors and choirs that took part in the first phase of the research, as special cases
Maestro Abel Rocha [m1] and choir Collegium Musicum de São Paulo [c1] (Brazil)
Maestro Eduardo Gonçalves Fernandes [m2] and Coral Unifesp (Universidade Federal de São Paulo) [c2] / CoralUSP XI de Agosto (Faculdade de Direito, Universidade de São Paulo) [c3] (Brazil)
Maestro Marcos Julio Sergl [m3] and Cultura Inglesa Choir [c4] (São Paulo, Brazil)
Maestro Martinho Lutero Galati de Oliveira [m4] and Coro Luther King [c5] (São Paulo, Brazil) / Coro Cantosospeso [c6] (Milan, Italy)
Maestro Renato Teixeira Lopes [m5] and Coral de Universitários da Católica (CUCA), from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) [c7] (Brazil)
Maestro Roberto Rodrigues [m6] and choir Audi Coelum [c8] (São Paulo, Brazil)


2. To the conductors and choirs that took part in the second phase of the research, as special cases

Conductor Antonio Llaca [m7] and Coro Vivo Ottawa [c9:9] (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

Conductor Jorge Carvalho Alves [m8] and Coro Sinfónico Lisboa Cantat [c10:24] (Lisboa, Portugal)

Conductors Michell Uribe [m9] and Armando Gómez Castillo [m10] and Coro Alpha Nova del Instituto Politécnico Nacional [c11: 20] (Ciudad de México, México)

Conductor Marcelo Ortiz Rocca [m11] and Coro de Cámara Adrogue [c12: 12] (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Conductor Terrie Ashbaugh [m12] and Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus [c13: 9] (Tucson, Arizona, United States)

Bath Camerata [c14: 7] (Bath, England)

Coro de Cámara Monteverdi [c15: 8] (Arequipa, Peru)

Coro Universitário de Tucumán [c16: 19] (Tucumán, Argentina)

The Columbine Chorale [c17: 11] (Denver, Colorado, United States)

3. To the specially interviewed conductors and choral managers

Under construction...

4. To the conductors and choirs that took part in the second phase of the research, in the general worldwide survey

Under construction...

Argentina

Australia

Gloriana Chamber Choir (Melbourne)

Hunter Singers (Newcastle)

Austria

Vogelweide (Innsbruck)

Brazil

Belgium

Amarylliskoor (Alken)

Bulgaria

Chamber Choir Ivan Spassov (Plovdiv)

Canada

Con Brio Singers (Ontario)

China

International Festival Chorus (Beijing)

The Hong Kong Bach Choir and Orchestra (Hong Kong)

Costa Rica

Croatia

Kormoni zbor/ Chamber Choir Ivan Filipovic (Zagreb)

France

La Sestina (Nice)

Germany

Consono Chamber Choir (Cologne)

The Embassy Singers (Berlin)

Vocalis (Frankfurt)

Hungary

Budapest Monteverdi Choir (Budapest)

Indonesia

Infinito Singers (Jakarta)

Italy

Accademia Corale di Lecco (Lecco)

Ireland

The Mornington Singers (Dublin)

Mexico

New Zealand

St Cecilia Singers (Auckland)

Peru

Portugal

South Africa

Louis Botha School Choir (Bloemfontein)

Palissander Chamber Choir (Pretoria)

The Philharmonic Choir of Cape Town (Cape Town)

Spain

United Kingdon

Atherstone Choral Society (Atherstone)

Bunbury Singers (Tarporley)

United States

Auburn University Chamber Choir (Auburn, Alabama)

Auburn University Men’s Chorus (Auburn, Alabama)

Auburn University Singers (Auburn, Alabama)

Cantare con Vivo (Oakland, California)

Pasadena Master Chorale (Pasadena, California)

Tucson Chamber Artists (Tucson, Arizona)

Venezuela

Data collected
from x choral conductors,
from y choral singers
from z choral managers
representing w choirs in 27 countries.

Papers and books