Sing out!

I was about to write about the parlous state of some orchestras in the country (Philadelphia, and Detroit among them) and will at a later date, but was diverted by a recent event in my life. On Good Friday April 22 the Choir of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Garrison NY sang Brahms’ “A German Requiem” before a packed church, accompanied by a piano duet.  I am a member of the bass section of this 26 member group, all of which volunteer their time. The requiem is a difficult and demanding work and we worked hard for weeks in preparation.  The result was more than satisfactory judging from the audience response. For me and my colleagues it was an inspiring and deeply gratifying experience.  I find singing in that choir, preparing a different anthem each week nine months a year, plus special concerts, has become a major part of my life.

I am happy to report I am not alone. A 2009 study by a group called Chorus America found that 32.5 million adults sing in choruses or choirs in the USA, and if you include K-12, the number jumps to 42.5 million singers in at least 270,000 choruses. Those numbers got my attention. As the study concludes, singing in a chorus represents our nation’s “most popular form of participation in the performing arts.”

Not to be ignored is the fact that a vast majority of the participants are amateurs – they are not paid, they sing for the pleasure in it. A typical chorus member, I can cite myself as an example, loves music, enjoys the sense of community that comes with the experience and finds it a rich source of learning.  The study takes it a step further and posits that singing in a chorus promotes “civic engagement,” an attribute that is in short supply in our society.  I admit I have an IPod and love it, but sometimes when I ride the subway in NYC I’d like to wield a pair of shears to those wires dangling from the ears of many around me who cut themselves off from their surroundings via “earbuds.”

The redoubtable and venerable folk icon Pete Seeger lives in Beacon NY, a community close to my home.  In any performance he gives, he insists that somewhere along the line the audience joins him in singing. He believes communal singing brings people closer together, even if the group is a transitory one, such as at a concert.  He is right.

Many years ago I spent two summers as a work-study student at the Berkshire Music Center, the educational arm of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in western Massachusetts. At the beginning of the summer session, there was an opening convocation, where everyone would gather – students, faculty and staff. At the conclusion, from music that had been distributed at the event, all would sing Randall Thompson’s anthem Allelulia, which the composer had been commissioned to write for that purpose. It was not a great performance, but it was a communal one and a fine start to a busy summer, where everyone would be going their own way.

Here’s an idea. At biennial swearing-in of the U.S. Congress, why not have all 435 legislators, their families and staffs, join in the singing of America the Beautiful  in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives ? And for good measure, let’s be sure to invite a few lobbyists. 

Sing out, wherever you are.