Go for the quality, I would say.  Ideally of course you would get
somebody who is good at both.  But I think with choral directors there
has to be the right charisma in order to get the most out of the students.
Most moderately musical people can learn to sing well enough to make a
contribution to a fine choir.  What happens beyond the raw material is
group training.  If the group likes the director and respects his/her
musicianship, they will work and work.  You should also find out what
repertoire the director likes.  It should harmonize well with the
general personality of the music department.  Does this person seem to
overemphasize one particular type of repertoire or neglect another? There
should be a balance.  Also, if a person has a reputation for quality (you
can hear it in the recordings), and he or she has built that choir, you
know they have also been attracting students.  One thing does strike me
though--the successful director MUST be willing and able to put the group
before the public in many different situations.  Choir tours are essential,
and may be the biggest single factor in successful recruiting.  (One of our
former directors had a European tour every four years.) It seems everybody
has to have a "gimmick" these days.  Around my schoolyard it was always the
Madrigal Singers, who also toured, gave performances in costume, and in
general put on a good show.  Great recruiting tool for our area.  So
basically the recruiting is nothing more than taking your choir out to
cities, churches and schools, and writing letters and making followup
calls.  I'm negative on the "show (or swing or jazz) choir" concept.  I
think that is strictly high school stuff and is only one step removed from
cheerleading squad.  Stay away from it.  One final comment (again from
experience):  I am opposed to the type of director who is a god to his/her
students.  You can always tell this type--in performance the choir always
looks like a flock of hypnotized lemmings and the director looks like
Svengali, commanding every possible nuance at all times.  However, it does
draw students.  The question is, what does it do for them in the long run?

Chris Bonds