Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Bromley Hodge.
Hi Lauren, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am the owner of PopUp Chorus, and organization that gathers folks to sing together regradless of vocal ability. We truly welcome all voices! People come and we create a chorus in a night – there is no advance rehearsal commitment of audition – just show up and sing.
I worked at an executive level in the music industry in London and NYC for record companies and management companies, working with many successful artists from They Might Be Giants to The Cranberries. Upon moving to NC in 2000, I began creating youth theater and music programs for The ArtsCenter in Carrboro and also in partnership with the Department of Music at UNC at Chapel Hill. PopUp Chorus sprang up organically as part of that because I wanted to do something for adults!
I love the way singing together creates community and connects folks who are all too often disconnected and sometimes isolated. I blame technology! At our events, people are in the moment, learning the music, having fun, singing, talking to their neighbor – not a phone in sight!
PopUp Chorus began doing singing events at Motorco in Durham in 2024 and have subsequently done events at The Cat’s Cradle and ArtsCenter in Carrboro, as well as The Cary Theater in Cary and The Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw.
In addition to our public, ticketed events where we welcome ALL voices, we also do private events where organizations or individuals hire us to lead singing activities for their conferences, leadership workshops, birthday parties, fundraisers and even memorial services.
We are looking forward to launching a new series called PopUp Broadway where we will sing two musical theater songs and to expanding into Raleigh and Wake Forest in 2026. Come sing with us!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been a very smooth road although covid certainly presented a huge roadblock and caused us to stop our events for several years.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
One of my greatest joys in life is spotting talented musicians and teachers and playing a role in helping them have the most successful and fulfilling careers possible.
I discovered the Cranberries as teenagers with a demo containing Dreams and Linger. They had never left Ireland and nobody knew about them. I knew instantly that those songs had the potential to be enormous hits and indeed they were. The band sold over 40 million albums. It was a great joy for me to help them in the early stages of their career, hooking them up with trusted management and an agent.
I have also worked with artists who I dearly loved as people and musicians, They Might Be Giants for decades, The Smiths, Bjork from Iceland, Aimeee Mann…many artists. I have stood on the stage at Red Rocks in Colorado watching major artists play and was backstage for Live Aid in London. I sat in a limo with producer Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash as they discussed working together for the first time, plotting the making of one of the greatest albums ever recorded in my opinion, American Recordings.
But I have also been moved to my core to have helped young musicians and actors understand their worth as artists while playing a role in helping to foster their talent. Equally motivating and moving for me is being part of the synergy and magic of a room full of people who mostly think they cannot sing and watching them create something beautiful musically. I love putting my skills to good use to find the right musicians and teachers to lead these events and then producing them. It’s fun and oh so satisfying!
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Doggedness and passion.
Pricing:
- Tickets for PopUp Chorus events are $20 – 25
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.popupchorus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/popupchorus/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/popupchorus
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@popupchorus7693
