This dissertation seeks to better understand the concept of community engagement through the application of the arts to address social concerns. This case study focused on The Tallahassee Community Chorus and its performance of “Sing for the Cure: A Proclamation of Hope.” The research questions dealt with aspects related to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the concert, in an attempt to determine if the effort could be considered community engagement based on the applied methodological framework: Borwick’s (2012) eightfold path of community engagement and Rendón’s (2009) notion of sentipensante. The research study relied on data collected through observations of board meetings, rehearsal sessions, and the concert itself. Additional data came from interviews of board members, executive staff persons, audience members, and a representative of the partnering organization, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Center. Also, concert ushers distributed survey cards to audience members, who returned the cards upon exiting the concert. I analyzed the collected data through NVivo and Excel software, and determined prominent themes related to the study, which were then applied to the framework and, ultimately, to the research questions. Time constraints, low attendance, organizational role related to input and goal formulation, varied performer support for the topic of breast cancer, aspects of the performance, addressing a social issue, and applying the concert to cancer generally, were the prominent themes of this study. The Tallahassee Community Chorus presented an example of community outreach, but not engagement, as determined by failure to solicit an external partner and build a relationship with them before deciding on the piece to perform.
