If you’re a choir member, or thinking of starting a choir, you might imagine that all choir and workshop leaders have extremely ordered lives.
In my case, that’s absolutely not true!
I don’t work between the end of October and late April, so in theory I have six whole months (plenty of time!) to get “everything in order”.
That means filing the pile of scores I chuck in the corner after each workshop. Rescuing those A1 lyric sheets flattened under the rug and putting them in order. Adding new arrangements to my website. Finally getting round to arranging all those songs I plan to do “one day”.
You get the idea.
I haven’t taught since the end of October 2025, and tomorrow I’m off to Woking to lead my first workshop of the year. I’m kind of prepared (I know which songs I plan to teach) and I’ve unearthed my workshop bits and pieces from under a pile of rubbish.
But I still haven’t filed the scores, sorted the A1 sheets, uploaded new arrangements, or started arranging more songs.
My desk is chaotic (though I know where everything is). I haven’t properly tidied up after last year (but I can still find what I need). And the biscuits for my singing workshops have gone stale.
Yet I can still do my job. I book venues up to two years in advance, track and acknowledge payments, send out reminders, find new repertoire, and so on.
At some level, all choir and workshop leaders are super-organised — we have to be. But we’re human too, and often work within a fair amount of chaos.
So if you’re thinking about becoming a choir leader, you don’t have to be perfect.
And if you’re a singer, remember this: that calm, capable person leading your rehearsal is often just a few missing files and stale biscuits away from complete chaos — and doing it brilliantly anyway.
You might also like to read The job of being a choir leader.
Chris Rowbury
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