Photo – Guest composer and song leader Moira Smiley at the Philly Big Sing, a “ya’ll come” singing experience in Philadelphia in September 2024
By Erica Breitbarth, Graduate Research Fellow
Last summer, an unlikely group of southeastern Pennsylvanians went viral. Huddled around a kitchen counter on the Main Line, a bunch of dads in khakis belted out four-part barbershop harmonies. What brought them together? The magic that happens when people sing together in harmony. As a high school music teacher, I saw this magic day in and day out. Every day, my students put down their heavy backpacks, hopped on the risers, and began creating beautiful harmonies with one another. Many students told me that choir was a place of refuge and that singing with others was a lifeline for them.
The research shows that singing is good for you, but why don’t more people sing? Maybe you were told once you couldn’t carry a tune. Maybe you have stage fright. Maybe you never learned to read music, and think it’s too late to try. Maybe you want to sing, but just don’t have time in your schedule to join a choir.
As a researcher, I’ve recently become fascinated by “y’all come” singing experiences, ones that don’t require an audition, a weekly commitment, or any prior musical knowledge. These events eliminate the barriers to entry and invite anyone and everyone to lend their voices in harmony. For example, the Gaia Music Collective’s one-day choirs draw hundreds of people to interesting acoustical spaces to learn a pop song arrangement just for fun. Bobby McFerrin’s collaborative vocal improvisation practice called circle singing invites people to use their voices to make up music on the fly, locking in wordless vocal loops in what McFerrin referred to as “vocal play.” These experiences emphasize process over product, experience over performance, and welcome instead of auditions.
In spending time in these open singing spaces, I am consistently struck by how communal singing provides a fast track to connection and joy. A room full of people who didn’t know one another an hour ago are locked into a collective experience that literally syncs both voices and heartbeats. Perhaps an antidote to our loneliness epidemic is taking a deep breath in and belting out a tune in a bar, community center, or house of worship. With these types of open singing experiences on the rise and the clear benefits to health and well-being, why not lend your voice in song?
Here are a few opportunities to lend your voice in harmony with some of the Presser Foundation’s grantee organizations over the next few months!
The Concord Chamber Choir, under the direction of former Foundation Graduate Music Fellow Daniel Jackson, will present their annual Handel’s Messiah singalong on December 5th at 4pm in Bethlehem, PA. They invite the audience to sing the choruses from the Christmas section and the famed Hallelujah chorus, accompanied by a Baroque chamber orchestra. As the performance’s soprano soloist, I invite you to join us and experience this powerful work that has inspired music lovers for nearly 300 years.
The All Philly Big Sing on takes place on March 13th at 4pm in Center City Philadelphia. Five celebrated song leaders from Elevation, Philadelphia Youth Choral Ensembles, Philharmonia, Bucks County Choral Society, and the Mendelssohn Chorus (all The Presser Foundation grantees!) will lead a community sing with music from a variety of traditions. No auditions or experience required.
Bring your voice and an open heart. Let the music do the rest.