Beacon Rising Choir

The Beacon Rising Choir was founded in 2017 as one of the many resistance choirs that grew out of the Women’s March. BRC has since become a Hudson Valley institution, performing at venues like The Towne Crier, Newburgh Brewery, and The Yard, along with many local festivals, fundraisers and events (both with and without a full band). Their spirited performances and intoxicating harmonies have earned them opportunities to perform with other choirs and musicians, including Key of Q, MaMuse, Bloom Choir, and Jeremy Schonfeld.

Open to adult female and non-binary identifying members (treble ranges between C3 and C6), the choir performs a variety of styles and genres with an eye toward interesting, powerful, and artistic literature. The repertoire is predominantly contemporary and comes primarily from female, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC composers and arrangers who speak to the choirs’ ethos of social and environmental justice, compassionate community, and radical self-love and healing.

Prior to Compass Arts becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit, BRC used their annual concert as an opportunity to fundraise for local grassroots non-profits including Fearless! (fka Safe Homes), For the Many (fka Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson), Newburgh LGBTQIA+ Center, Beacon Prison Rides, and Beacon Community Kitchen. Now that Compass Arts is a non-profit, the concerts help to support the mission of Compass Arts Creativity Project to bring the power of the arts to the Beacon community and beyond.

How the Beacon Rising Choir works

The choir accepts new members seasonally as spaces become available. Visit our classes page to check for openings or join the waitlist. Experience is not necessary. All interested folks are required to attend an informal voice placement interview prior to joining.

Song arrangements and practice tracks (for certain pieces) are made available for members to practice from home. While sheet music is provided for all material, being able to read music is not a requirement. Rehearsals are sometimes recorded in order to provide a way to practice at home and refer back for guidance.

The Beacon Rising Choir performs bi or tri-annually at a minimum. These performance opportunities normally take the form of large concerts for the general community but can also occur as special location performances, outdoor gigs, live video shoots and more.

Choir participation costs a preset fee, paid per semester or on a monthly basis (see classes page for details). Registrants are asked to enroll and opt-in to either monthly auto-pay or pay-in-full arrangements for each term. Memberships may be canceled at any time with a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice. Registration priority is given to current members and new members may register on a first-come, first-served basis.

We’re not your traditional community choir, and our prices reflect that. For clarity and transparency, here’s a breakdown of what your membership fees pay for:

• A choir director/conductor/arranger with decades of experience in choir-leading and arts education at all age levels
• A professional band-leader/instrumental director/accompanist with a long history as a performing musician, producer and composer
• Staff members who cover administrative, communications and operations tasks
• Incredible spaces in which to rehearse weekly (currently the Sanctuary or Fellowship Hall at First Presbyterian Church in Beacon)
• Curation of new choral arrangements every term
• Concert and media management, supporting musicians, tech, theater staff and promotions
• Occasional guest artist workshops and hangs
• Scores, practice tracks and rehearsal recordings
• Insurance, bookkeeping, IT support and t-shirts

If you are interested in having Beacon Rising Choir perform at your event or on your project, please reach out through our Beacon Rising Performance Inquiry form. Interested in collaborating with the choir? Email us at beaconrising@compassarts.org.