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ART THAT RESONATES

About Us

Elevate Vocal Arts excites, engages, and inspires diverse communities, audiences, and performers through the beauty and power of excellent vocal artistry.

Mission

Elevate Vocal Arts creates performance and education opportunities, and expands creative workforce development opportunities for individuals from historically marginalized communities to develop as professional Vocal Artists who speak to our time's relevant issues through music, storytelling, and spoken word, strengthening our democracy.

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Vision

EVA provides workforce development opportunities to Vocal Artists and Vocal Arts Apprentices who tell stories that inspire, activate, and enliven community, civic engagement, and democracy. By telling stories through song, spoken word, and storytelling, Vocal Artists envision and create new possibilities, thus expanding our creative economy and transforming our community and world.

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About Elevation

EVA’s flagship, all-professional performing ensemble, Elevation, is Delaware’s only professional vocal ensemble. Elevation performances fuse traditional, classical choral music with jazz, hip-hop, R&B, storytelling, and spoken word. Unique to our model and our repertoire, we consider the vocal arts to be more than just singing and are inclusive of the many ways the human voice is used in creative and artistic expressions.

Elevation self-produces performances throughout Delaware annually. Performances are produced in New Castle County, Kent County, and Sussex County. In addition to these self-produced concerts, Elevation is presented by colleges and universities, arts and culture venues, and houses of worship.

More than just performers, Elevation’s Vocal Artists mentor our Vocal Arts Apprentices and support Delaware arts educator professional development and school-based residencies.

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Our Programming

We offer the following programming:

  • Vocal Artist Training, Mentoring, & Workforce Development
  • Education:
    • School-Based Residencies
    • Professional Development Sessions
    • The Bent But Not Broken Conference
  • Professional Vocal Arts Performance:
    • Vocal
    • Spoken Word & Storytelling
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Workforce
Our Vocal Arts Apprentices (VAAs) are at the core of our program. VAAs are chosen through an application process that includes resume submission, audition, interview, and an assessment of workplace hard and soft skills. Applicants accepted into the program receive workforce development and vocal arts training, as well as mentoring. EVA‘s Summer Institute offers an intensive, residency-based, five-week summer program for developing VAAs ages 16-25. Our Summer Institute brings together expert vocal artists, artist managers, and arts administrators to serve as faculty and mentors to our VAAs.
Education
EVA is committed to ensuring that Delaware’s students have access to high-quality arts education experiences. As such, EVA offers intensive, school-based residencies. Unlike many school residencies that last for just a few days, EVA’s school-based residencies last 30-60 days. This time frame provides adequate time for EVA’s Vocal Artists to build relationships with classroom teachers and students and to delve deeply into curriculum and vocal arts techniques. The goal of EVA residencies is to put an equal emphasis on the artistic process as well as the artistic product. By doing so, classroom teachers and students can extend and integrate their learnings from the residency experience.
Performance
EVA provides transformative and immersive musical experiences through exceptional performances of an inclusive vocal arts repertoire. We are dedicated to cultivating a culture of excellence, collaboration, and innovation, while also promoting and supporting the development of emerging vocal artists. We inspire and enrich our communities through the power of vocal arts.

Support Us

At Elevate Vocal Arts (EVA), we believe that everyone can contribute to our mission of transforming lives through the power of vocal arts. Your support enables us to create and expand creative workforce development opportunities, inspire communities, and strengthen our democracy through the power of vocal arts.