“When else will we have a chance to show off like this?” asked World Choir Games spokesperson Michael Perry.
To help explain the significance of the event, he outlined some statistics: This will be the seventh iteration of the Games, an international choral festival at which choirs compete in 23 categories, ranging from traditional folk and sacred music to show choirs reminiscent of the TV show “Glee.”
Previous World Choir Games were held in Asia and Europe. The 2012 games, which is expected to attract 20,000 participants and 200,000 spectators, will be the first held in the Western Hemisphere.
“The mere fact that they’re finally coming to America, and that Cincinnati got it, is huge,” Perry said.
The financial effect of the event is expected to be equally as significant, according to a study prepared in July 2010 by the University of Cincinnati Economics Center for Education and Research.
The study estimates that the event will have a total economic impact of $73.5 million on the Cincinnati region. This includes an estimated 45,000 room nights for out-of-town guests and participants, as well as their spending while in the region.
“All together, these economic activities will generate more than $1.8 million in tax revenues for the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and other local governments within the metropolitan area,” the report estimates.
Perry said that, to his knowledge, Cincinnati’s early launch of pregames activity is unprecedented: Event promoters began hosting events and presenting to local groups as early as July 2010.
“In America, we market things very differently,” he said. “Community awareness is very important.”
Efforts are now under way to promote the World Choir Games on several fronts. One group of volunteers is working to book choirs to sing at local and regional events, while another group is connecting out-of-town participant choirs with local schools in a virtual pen-pal arrangement.
World Choir Games representatives have a busy schedule of speaking engagements, Perry said, and the event’s mascots, Whirl and Twirl, are appearing on more and more advertisements as a clock on Fountain Square ticks down to the event. Perry said planning will continue for increasing ads, presentations, performances and buzz-building events over the coming year.
“We believe this is the cultural, educational opportunity of a lifetime,” he said.
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