I'm proud to say that, for once, I'm ahead of Philip Copeland.  I've been texting my choirs for two years now, using nothing more sophisticated than Outlook.  I can build a a text or an email distribution list for any group with Outlook.  For texting, all you need is their phone number and their provider. This website tells you how.  I ask who would rather be contacted via text and those students provide me their mobile numbers. Careful though!  Most mobile phones have a text character limit, so don't use your normal signatures and don't be verbose.  Texting is all about short and precise.

We use the heck out of technology in our classes. I realize that the wave of the future (at least in some part) is texting.  Many students communicate more now with text and supplement with email.  We've considered this option to communicate to our choir(s) but have always decided against it for a variety of reasons.  Texting (at least to me) is a bit more personal and I don't feel comfortable imposing on the students in that way.  In some cases (small groups) or for traveling - we do employ this method however.  I'm very particular about privacy and don't want to force, encourage, stress, or otherwise, the students to sacrifice theirs in order to sing in a choir.  The opt-in is a possibility, but for me, I'd prefer not to be redundant in delivery methods.  I want/need one place to put information.  That way, there is less of an excuse for failed attempts to receive information.