How to find the right choir to join 1: finding choirs in your area

• Posted by Chris Rowbury September 11 - Filed in Choir Post - 868 views

  [The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from 25 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions across the globe. Your experiences may differ from mine, so do feel free to leave a comment and let's begin a conversation! A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]

   

  The long summer break in the northern hemisphere is over and many singers have been missing regular singing opportunities. They might be considering joining a new choir after the break.

   

  

   

  September is also a time when adult education classes start up and people’s thoughts turn to trying new hobbies. If singing is your thing, how do you go about finding a suitable choir?
  
  I recently gave up leading my own community choir. That meant that a whole bunch of singers were left without a singing outlet. Many managed to find another local choir, but some are still looking for the right one to join.
  
  There are plenty of choirs out there with a wide range of styles and approaches. However, it’s sometimes hard to find one that will suit you and that is not too far to travel.
  
  Here are some hints on how to find the choir that’s just right for you.
  
  

  what’s available in your area?

  The most obvious first step is to see what’s going on in your local area.
  
  Check out your local newspapers and magazines; your local library or information centre; local arts centre; noticeboards in cafes, etc.; ask your friends and colleagues.
  
  If nothing much comes of that, try the internet.
  
  The first thing to do is search for the word ‘choir’ together with your local town or area. You may have to scroll through several pages of results to find all the local offerings.
  
  If that doesn’t throw up enough, then try inputting your county or region or nearby city. You may be willing to travel.
  
  There are several directories of choirs online. Here are a few:
  
  United Kingdom

  • Natural Voice Network – a network of choir leaders who share the belief that everyone can sing and that nobody should be excluded from music-making. You can search for choirs by area.
  • Gerontius – you can search by town and type of choir.
  • British Choirs on the Net – there is both an alphabetical and geographical listing.
  • There is a page on the BBC website which has links to help you find a choir.

   

  United States and Canada

  • Ubuntu Choirs – a growing community of choirs who believe that the joy of singing is a universal birth right. They maintain a choir directory.
  • Vocal Area Network – over 500 choirs located around the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan area)

  Although there are membership organisations in both Canada and the US for choirs (e.g. Choral Canada and ChoralNet), they don’t have directories of choirs!
  
  Australia

  • Community Music Victoria – support a range of music-making activities in the state.
  • Australian National Choral Association – has over 1,000 members which you can search by state.
  • Creativity Australia’s One Voice Choirs – list about 20 choirs in the southern part of Australia.
  • South Australia Community Portal – has a list of choirs in South Australia.
  • Sing Australia – accepts that everyone can sing and it makes no judgement on how well that happens. They have have singing groups in all states and territories of Australia.

   

  Europe

  • European Choral Association – a network of organisations, choirs and individuals in the field of collective singing in Europe. They have a list of members in over 40 European countries.

   

  International

  • ChoirPlace is an online community-based centre for choir members and vocal music lovers. You can search ChoirPlace by country.
  • British Choirs on the Net also have choir listings for many other countries.
  • The Natural Voice Network has several international members.

   

  is this the right choir for me?

  Having found a potential choir to join, how do you know if it’s the right one for you?
  
  Next week I’ll look at some questions to ask yourself, how to evaluate your first session, and what to do if you can’t find a suitable choir in your area: Is this the perfect choir for me?

   

   

   

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  Chris Rowbury

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