Employee Choirs

Employee choirs are becoming more common now that larger companies such as Google, Facebook, and Boeing have popularized the idea. As the blog post linked below explains, the magic is in working with people on something that is vastly different from what they do every day. In addition to the suggestions in the post, I would offer a few more considerations if you are thinking about forming an employee choir.

1. Musical skills. Unless your company has thousands of employees in one location, you may need to welcome participants at a variety of musical skill levels in order to have more than just a handful of singers. Accepting all singers regardless of ability may seem like the way to go, but it's important for the more musically trained employees to have a place where their skills are utilized. If you only cater to the very inexperienced singer, you will not attract the better singers in the company to join the choir. The key is in making sure that no one is bored during rehearsal. Split up the learning portions of the rehearsal or get experienced singers to assist others at the same time. Make sure that no one is just doing nothing. Trained musicians and non-musicians can coexist in a choir, but they all must be able to use their skill levels to the fullest.

2. Repertoire. It's important to be mindful of the fact that as the employee choir is representing the company as a whole, the musical selections should keep all employee perspectives in mind. Depending on a multitude of factors, it may so happen that the majority of participants in a particular employee choir are from the same religious background, for example. A community choir that is not associated with a company would be able to choose music that reflects that religion, but a company choir must consider all employees in the company and not just the participants in the choir. In addition, a company choir should be aware of musical selections that could have political connotations or any other potentially offensive interpretations.

3. Directors. It is helpful to have someone overseeing the administrative, non-musical tasks, such as recruiting singers, booking a meeting room for rehearsal space, finding places to sing, logistics, etc. This person doesn't have to also be the musical director. There should be very specific requirements for the director of the chorus. Look for someone with a higher degree in music performance or music education. You may need to ask around in the company to find out if anyone has music training that isn't in their employee file. For example, I have degrees in Music Education and also Industrial and Engineering Management. Someone working in a job where the music degree isn't relevant might not have included it in their hiring documents. Additionally, they should have training in vocal pedagogy and know about healthy vocal singing technique. You want to reduce the risk of vocal injury or vocal cord nodules. Finally, it is a nice bonus if the director can also function as the piano/keyboard accompanist. It saves time for one person to be the director and pianist at the same time, and for a company rehearsal you want to keep rehearsals moving along at a fast pace. Modern keyboards are lightweight and easy for the director to bring to work when needed.

Link to original blog: https://blog.chorusconnection.com/why-your-company-should-start-an-employee-choir-immediately