Hello friends! How is your Choir Community these days? Have you thought about it recently? Or ever?

Every choir - big, small, professional, community, church, school - has a unique Community within and around it, and it’s vital to pay attention to it. I think that having a strong sense of community helps choirs thrive and sing better together.

Your Choir’s Community consists of…

Singers and conductors - of course!
Pianists and other instrumentalists - of course!
Administrators and board members - of course!
Family members of singers - who are the support networks behind our singers?
Audience members - it’s wonderful to share music with others!
Other members of the specific community the choir represents - do we want to connect to them?
Social media followers - do we include them? Should we?

This is a non-exhaustive list, and there may be some you disagree with, or others you’d add. But each of these groups play a different role in the life and vibrancy of your choir’s community, and I think it’s important to consider how far your Choir Community extends.

What happens when we ignore the Choir Community? What happens when our priorities are imbalanced? What if your Choir Community prioritizes audience size, or income, or prestige, over the ties that bind our people?

I think that we lose touch with why we do this at all. We lose the spark that makes the music come alive. I have seen this happen, especially in professional ensembles where the motivation for being in the room or ensemble isn’t purely about connection. And yet, that also means the music-making suffers. The music is better when the community is strong.

Let’s begin!

Step 1: Do a little audit of your Choir Community.

For the moment, we’ll stay pretty singer-focussed, but that’s where we need to start since it’s the foundation for everything else. What can you observe about the community within your rehearsals? See what it’s like over the next couple weeks of rehearsals, without judgement.

Here are some questions to get you started as you think about your choir:

Do people stick around to chat after rehearsal, or do they pack up and go quickly without much interaction?
Do you have name tags? Are people still wearing them, even halfway into the season?
Do you have specific time for connection? Breaks, meals, snack, etc.
What are people doing during breaks? Talking to each other? On their phones?
Do you have a way for people to connect with each other outside of rehearsals? Messaging apps, social media, contact lists, etc.
Have you had any new members since the ‘official start’ of the season? Has anyone checked in with them?
Do you have a way to connect people with carpooling or rides?

When you start to look at what is actually happening in the rehearsal room, it could be surprising. Even just writing this, I’m realizing there might be some work to do in my own choirs.

Next week, we’ll continue with this topic, and look at some next steps you can take with your Choir Community. For now, this is a good start!

Consider who is in your Choir Community.
Observe and start to think about what is actually happening in that Community.