Choral Singing and Teamwork

Last week, Hanan talked about one special feature of this choir – our spirit of humility – and it reminded me of something I had read earlier this year when I was perusing some potential topics for these opening devotions. In 2009, Chorus America released a study of choir singers, both religious and secular, across the United States. And while that study’s focus was largely on how children benefited from choral training at a young age, they also examined adult singers across the country and particularly what traits tend to define these choral participants.

The part that I particularly liked was a section that looked at evidence about the outstanding teamwork mentality of choral singers, not just while they were rehearsing or performing in their choir, but also in their outside lives. Here’s some of the statistics they reported on singers’ team-first attitudes.

• 95% of choir members say reliability is one of their strong suits; only 78% of average Americans say the same.
• 61% of choir members are willing to accept most criticism they receive as “fair and legitimate”, while only 43% of the general public feels this way.
• Only 22% of choir singers feel that they do not get enough credit for their contribution to their workplace, which this study feels is an anti-teamwork attitude, whereas 29% of average Americans feel slighted in this area.
• 47% of choir members say they regularly accept assignments at work outside their areas of expertise; only 41% of the general public can say the same.

Now on that last one, I’ll add that even me being President this year probably qualifies as me accepting something outside my area of expertise, as nothing I do in my day job or outside of choir involves any form of public speaking. These days, I get to speak in front of a group exactly one time per week, and guess what? You’re looking at it. :)

Anyways, this section closes with a question that it wasn’t able to fully determine in its study: Is it that choirs help people develop these teamwork skills, or do they naturally attract these types of people who already have them? Or is it even some of both? The answer to that is still inconclusive, and probably varies from singer to singer, but they close by saying, “… to choristers themselves, the answer to that question is clear: 74% agree or strongly agree that singing in a chorus has helped them become better team leaders or team participants in other areas of their lives.” I think that’s true, too – just as we improve our ability to sing in a choir setting, so too do we get to improve our skills of humility and teamwork. Praise God for that. Let’s bow our heads,

Dear Father, thank you for this choir, and the spirit of humility we are able to develop while we sing. Thank you for the teamwork that is required in choral music, and how our participation in this choir helps us bring that spirit into our daily lives. We lift up tonight’s rehearsal, Lord – may we accomplish all we need to for the weeks ahead. In your holy name we pray, Amen.



(source: https://www.chorusamerica.org/publications/research-reports/chorus-impact-study)