Many choirs here in the UK have an ageing membership.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you don’t bring in new members regularly, your choir will eventually die out!
I started my first choir way back in 1997. Some of those singers are still members, but now in their 60s and 70s. Which means that they were in their 40s and 50s when they first joined.
Similarly, my residential singing weekends are attended by older singers, some of whom I’ve known for over 15 years.
I am ageing along with my singers! At some point we’re all going to drop off the perch. If there is no regular new blood, these singing opportunities will cease to exist.
Pat wrote recently:
“I’ve been a member of a male choir for many years. The average age is now late 70s. When we attempt to recruit, we end up attracting people of a similar age. We are now experiencing natural attrition due to the ageing process. Our concern is that the future is not looking positive for continuity.”
When we join something new, we want to walk into a room filled with people like ourselves. If you’re the only woman, or the only person of colour, or the only one under 50, then it will feel like you don’t belong and you’re unlikely to stay.
This is the difficulty that Pat is facing. If you’re a group of male singers in your late 70s, then that’s exactly the sort of person you’re going to attract when recruiting.
How can we recruit fresh blood to an ageing choir? After all, these men (and the singers in my choir) were probably in their 40s and 50s when they first joined. Why are people in those age groups not joining today?
Here are 10 ideas that you might like to try.
- imagine you’re starting your choir today – think back to when the choir first started. How old were the first members? What excited you about the project? What was your dream? How did you recruit and publicise? How many singers did you have? What’s different today? It’s easy to forget what was great about your choir in the early days. Try to recapture some of that energy to reinvigorate today’s version of the choir.
- start a feeder choir – recapture that excitement by starting a separate choir in the image that you want. Back to basics, but also time to try new things. Have a different name, but some of the same repertoire. Don’t connect it to your current choir. When the feeder choir is ready, let them do a few songs with you when your existing choir performs. Further down the line, you can combine the two choirs.
- collaborate with a local choir – find a local choir which has members younger than yours. It could be a mixed choir or a choir that does completely different material to yours. Have a joint concert, introducing each choir to the other choir’s audience. Use the audience as a recruiting tool.
- offer a training course – some people (especially men!) don’t think they can sing until they’ve been taught. Set up a short series of weekly workshops where people can “Learn how to sing”, ideally without charging. Choose a suitable time such as beginning of autumn term (when lots of Adult Education classes start) or the new year (when people make resolutions to try a new hobby). Aim the publicity at younger people – description, imagery, social media, etc. At the end of the course, invite singers to join your choir.
- create an intergenerational workshop – the US has far more intergenerational choirs than the UK, many of which are based around church attendance. Create a workshop for singers of all ages, from 8 to 80. Maybe choose a venue that already has intergenerational groups using it. Hone the publicity and content carefully to attract a wide range of ages. Don’t limit yourself to particular mixes of singers (e.g. all men). Publicise your choir at the end of the workshop. Many people will want to continue to sing and will be looking for something to join on a regular basis.
- change your attitude/costumes/repertoire – as your choir has aged, things like costumes, repertoire and general attitude/energy will have aged too. What somebody in their late 70s likes, is very different from what someone in their 40s likes. Can you adapt so you’re more attractive to younger singers?
- have a “bring a friend” evening – or, given the age of your singers, bring a daughter or grandson. Invite younger outsiders along for an evening rehearsal and teach them some fun songs. Who knows, they may enjoy it enough that they’ll want to join.
- change the name of your choir – names give rise to all sorts of preconceptions. If you’re called The Anytown Choral Society or Oldtown Male Voice Choir, people will conjure up a particular image, and not necessarily the one you want to convey. Maybe it’s time to rebrand your choir for a fresh start.
- switch your rehearsal day/time – however much we like to think that people join our choirs because they love what we do, the main consideration is often that the choir meets at a convenient time and day. Many younger people work and have families, so weekends can be preferable to weeknights for example.
- are you based in the wrong place? – it may be that, however hard you try, you won’t get younger singers in your choir because there just aren’t any locally. It might be that your local demographic is generally older and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Are you managing to attract younger singers to your choir? Do let us know what worked for you.
other posts
You might find these older posts of interest too.
The problem with men: getting them, handling them, keeping them
How to recruit singers to truly reflect your local community
How to use your audience to recruit choir members
If you’re looking for new singers, don’t expect them to come to you
Effective ways to recruit more men for your choir
Opening your choir to new members – who? when? how?
New singers are trying your choir, but not staying – what can you do?
Chris Rowbury
Get more posts like this delivered straight to your inbox!
Click to subscribe by email.
… found this helpful?
I provide this content free of charge, because I like to be helpful. If you have found it useful, you may like to ...
... to say thank you.