The Cottonwood Heights Arts Council is considering sponsoring a community choir. In order to move ahead with their plans, the arts council needs to gauge the community’s interest, so they’re trying to spread the word.

“I think it’s an exciting opportunity for singers out there. Whoever enjoys good plural music, we would certainly welcome their participation . . . I think it would be open to everyone—you wouldn’t have to be a resident of Cottonwood Heights,” Sheila Armstrong said.

Armstrong has been a member of the Cottonwood Heights Arts Council since last summer. She loves singing and has been a member of multiple choirs in the past. She is the impetus behind the formation of the choir.

“It occurred to me, because the Cottonwood Heights Arts Council sponsors an orchestra, that maybe it would be cool for them to sponsor a community chorus. Then they would have better outreach opportunities and be able to recruit more people then we’d be able to,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong presented the idea to the arts council during a meeting in early January. The idea was well received, but the arts council wanted to make sure people were interested before they moved forward.

“The council thought that we should at least send out some feelers in the community and see what kind of response we got,” Armstrong said.

In the Cottonwood Heights’ February newsletter and on the city’s website, the city posted an ad about the choir seeking those interested in participating.

“We’ve had probably 20 or 25 responses so far with people who would be interested,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong’s next step will be to draw up an official proposal, which will include more specific details on where and when the group will practice and perform. It will also include specific information about what kind of support they’ll need from the arts council and community.

“We’re hoping to have a proposal to the council by our next meeting, which is the first of March. Then, depending upon their approval—if they have more questions or want us to work out more details—we’ll see where it goes from there,” she said.

The Cottonwood Heights Orchestra takes the summer off, so Armstrong expects that the choir would probably take a break too. If they do end up taking the summer off, then it would be fall before they started auditioning people and putting together an official schedule.

“Because I’m relatively new on the council, I’m not sure how long a process it has to go through as far as approving their sponsorship of it,” Armstrong said.