There is a unique singing/sharing experience traveling across America and Europe this summer. It is the opposite of a Taylor Swift concert. In these events, the audience is the show.
These ad hoc communal sings are led by an Australian musician, director and composer Astrid Jorgensen.
Her one night gatherings are called The Pub Choir. It demonstrates the capacity of one person to help people discover and express their collective joy.
Learning to Sing Together
Here is how one person described her experience:
A few weeks ago, I walked to a small neighborhood arts venue and sang along with 250 of my neighbors at the sold-out event called “Pub Choir.” It was not in a pub, and we were not in a choir, but all in attendance now feel famous because the performers recorded it and put it on the internet. Even months later, I am still bubbling from the collective effervescence of learning a three-part harmony version of “The Best,” famously covered by Tina Turner.
(It’s not about you, but about us)
“Australian choral director Astrid Jorgenson set the stage by telling us to put our phones away. They would be filming us. We were the show. She had us belt out the chorus from “What’s Up,” by 4 Non-Blondes to figure out which voice part to stand with. Before she told us what song we would be singing and recording that night, Astrid said, “You might not know this song. You might not even like this song. But tonight, it’s not about your preferences. This is about us, singing together.”
“Astrid taught everyone their lines with a glorious low-budget PowerPoint presentation. We were instructed to follow our color-coded lines that were accompanied by memes to remind us of the style we were going for. . .Astrid would sing the line for us, then have us sing it back to her.
(a holy call. .. and response)
“It was a holy call and response with subtle correctives like, “I see you moving a lot and working hard. I like your version, but I am wondering if you might want to try my version?” When she heard that a few of us “got it,” she winked at us saying, “I see you elementary school music teachers out there! Fabulous! Now squeeze the hand of someone near you and whisper to them, ‘We’ve got this’ and make sure they follow you for the slippery part.”
“. . .she moved us into three voice sections telling us we could check in with our friends during the bathroom break. We were not to stand with the section where we might have been placed in other choirs in the past, but where we felt most confident belting it out.
“Singing passionately was the goal. When we sang the line, “Tear us apart? Nooo … ” we were to look like our heart was being poured out like a waterfall. To direct us she danced across the stage, flipping her hair, shimmying, and occasionally pausing the rehearsal to have us all erupt in cheers for one section that finally got the slippery part right.
My friend Julianna and I squeezed hands with our neighbors, poured out our hearts, cheered, and shimmied on command. When Pub Choir ended, we hugged strangers while complimenting them on their passionate singing and practically skipped home.”
Creating Community with a Sense of Unity
I love this example of creating a community of shared effort from complete strangers. The result is a moment of pure joy. Ok, it is only for 90 minutes and maybe just one or two songs. But it shows the power of leadership in a common effort-even when some believe they have no singing voice at all.
This is an example of a Seattle video from a Pub Choir singing Tina Turner’s The Best. Makes you want to skip out of work and go sing. Singing makes you feel awesome.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlc7sHBQ4Oo)
Music at This Year’s Political Conventions
Music is at the center of many communal events. At the Republican convention last month, the following musical motivators were part of the experience:
Among the offerings: Kid Rock performed his 2000 song “American Bad A–”; “Real American” by Rick Derringer; and Lee Greenwood performed “Holdin’ a Good Hand” in person.
Here is my suggestion for the Democratic convention taking place next week. It is the 1971 release byThree Dog Night- Joy to the World:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9uoq9gfeL0)