Choir Singers Research Articles

ДУХОВНІ УЧИЛИЩА У РОЗВИТКУ МУЗИЧНОГО ПРОСВІТНИЦТВА ПІВДЕННО-СХІДНОЇ УКРАЇНИ ДРУГОЇ ПОЛОВИНИ XIX – ПОЧАТКУ ХХ СТ.

The correlation of the educational and enlighten the constituents of the region’s ecclesiastical colleges activity are considered in the article. The general and specific features of the activity of these two directions are revealied. The music and educational conditions of these special ecclesiastical institutions in the comparison with the church-parochial schools are analyzed. The distinctions of organization of the educational and enlighten process of ecclesiastical colleges and church-parochial schools are appointed.The analysis of the annual reports on the teaching and upbringing work of the church schools gave grounds for study the question on the teacher’s educational art disciplines of artistic cycle level: the church choir singing, the music instrumental performing, fundamentals of music theory, the orchestral and chamber-instrumental performing. The specific facts, which testified to the correspondence of the musical and educational training of the teachers of art disciplines to their positions, are recounted.On the basis of the analysis of music and educational program requirements, which are presented by theological schools for their pupils, as well as concert programs, containing information about public collective speeches, individual instrumental and vocal performance, the forms of musical and educational work of these educational institutions are revealed. These specific forms include the theological and philosophical reading, the literature and vocal evenings, the music evenings, the organization of concerts by secular artists, the school choirs’ participate at the concerts and at the famous secular (local and guest artists) singers’ concert performances. The regional ecclesiastical colleges’ role in the theological educational system of Russia imperia of that time is determined.The enlightenment activity of ecclesiastical colleges of the South-eastern Ukraine as the regional culture social phenomenon is characterized. We make the conclusion about predomination of collective forms of performing over individual ones as well as the choir performance over instrumental one, about the important significance of music enlightenment influence of ecclesiastical colleges for the formation of the local public’s aesthetic tastes, for the raising of the conscious receiving level of music art, about the expanding of music outlooks and gradual increasing of the music culture of the broad sectors of civil society.

Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly care (MIDDEL): protocol and statistical analysis plan for a multinational cluster-randomised trial

IntroductionIn older adults, dementia and depression are associated with individual distress and high societal costs. Music interventions such as group music therapy (GMT) and recreational choir singing (RCS) have shown...

Seasons of the Italian opera in Odessa in 1855–1857: repertoire, performers reconstruction of the anthracite

Relevance of the paper is to make a review of the Italian artistes’ and musicians’ activities on Odessa stage during 1855–1857.Objectives of the study include clarifying of conditions for the organization of performances by Italian artistes and musicians in Odessa during 1855–1857, in conditions of the absence of theatre financing by the city authorities, the identification of the opera troupe-staff in 1856/1857, the study of the singers’ vocal and scenic virtues and the reconstruction of the operatic repertoire. In this context, it is also important to reconstruct the creative biographies of opera soloists, to determine their performance influence on Odessa musical and theatrical environment formation and, as a result of their touring activities, on other Ukrainian cities one.Methodology involves the semiotic-hermeneutic method (to analyze the peculiarities of scenic directing, the specifics of musical-critical thought, the audience reactions and preferences as a text of culture and its hermeneutic comprehension); biographical method (for clarifying and combining the facts of Italian singers’ life and creative activity in Italy and abroad, in particular, in Ukraine); cultural-historical method (allows to study F. Berger’s Italian troupe scenic activities as a social phenomenon, contributed to the dissemination of Italian opera achievements in the local musical and theatrical environment).Findings and conclusions. It was clarified that the musical-theatrical activity in Odessa in 1855–1866 without city theatre annual financing by the municipality has not been actually stopped. Musicians, choir singers and some secondary soloists, who stayed in the city, participated in concerts at the theatre and in the city stock exchange hall. Later they have formed an Odessa troupe under F. Berger’s leading, since the beginning in summer 1856, together with the artistes who came from Italy. This troupe, singing on the city theatre stage for nine months, offered spectators the Italian composers’ popular opera repertoire, in which dominated G. Verdi’s and G. Donizetti’s works. The long pauses in the Italian troupe activities during the season, the reduction of operatic scores were caused by soloists’ limited performance abilities, since among artistes were not singers to perform soprano and contralto leading parties, as well as for a long time, were not the first bass and baritone. F. Berger’s troupe Odessa theatrical season became a peculiar test of performances and organizational opportunities for Italian opera performances in small troupes in other Ukrainian cities and towns. Presenting soon opera and concert performance programs in Kremenchuk, Poltava and Kharkiv, “strolling” F. Berger’s troupe, despite the performers’ composition heterogeneity, has popularized the best Italian operatic art achievements.

Automatic Segmentation of Ethnomusicological Field Recordings

The article presents a method for segmentation of ethnomusicological field recordings. Field recordings are integral documents of folk music performances captured in the field, and typically contain performances, intertwined with interviews and commentaries. As these are live recordings, captured in non-ideal conditions, they usually contain significant background noise. We present a segmentation method that segments field recordings into individual units labelled as speech, solo singing, choir singing, and instrumentals. Classification is based on convolutional deep networks, and is augmented with a probabilistic approach for segmentation. We describe the dataset gathered for the task and the tools developed for gathering the reference annotations. We outline a deep network architecture based on residual modules for labelling short audio segments and compare it to the more standard feature based approaches, where an improvement in classification accuracy of over 10% was obtained. We also present the SeFiRe segmentation tool that incorporates the presented segmentation method.

CİDDİ BOŞ ZAMAN FAALİYETİ OLARAK KOROLARA KATILIMIN BİREYLERİN YAŞAM DOYUMUNA ETKİSİNİN ÇEŞİTLİ DEMOGRAFİK DEĞİŞKENLERE GÖRE KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI: ANTALYA ÖRNEĞİ

The aim of this study was making comparison of life satisfaction of choir singers who are participating choir as a serious leisure activity with respect to some demographic variable. This research is descriptive and population consists of 37 nonprofessional choir’s choir singers taken from 43 total choirs in Antalya city center. In this study, the designed questionnaire addresses demographic variables, The Motivational Factors Scale of being Choir Singer (MFSCS) developed by Ardahan (2016a) and The Satisfaction with Life Scale-(SWLS) developed by Diener et al. (1985) adapted in to Turkish by Köker (1991). The questionnaire was handed to 260 men (Xage=56.27±14.30), 393 women (Xage=51.10±12.05) total 653 choir singers. In the processing of assessing data the descriptive statistic methods, Pearson Corelation Test, Independent Samples t Test and ANOVA Test have been used, results have been assessed according to significant level 0.01 and 0.05. Findings show that life satisfaction of choir singers, who are participating choir as a serious leisure activity does not have statistically meaningful difference with respect to demographics variables as marital status, gender, education level, frequenting time to choir, different choirs numbers, employment status. But, there are statistically meaningful differences with respect to age, income and paying due. When age and income increase life satisfaction also increases. Chorists paying due have higher life satisfaction then individuals not paying. As a result, it can be said that, attending to a choir as a choir singer can be accepted as a serious leisure activity. There is no statistically meaningful difference with respect to demographics variable excluding age, income and paying due.

Влияние театральных мистерий на сиенское изобразительное искусство первой половины XV века на примере работ Сассетты

Theatrical performances that accompanied important Church festivals have been an integral part of European culture since the early Middle Ages. Their scenography and machinery, interpretation of subjects, decorative design had a significant impact on the development of Renaissance painting. This article considers the impact of images of religious mysteries on the altar painting of the first half of the Quattrocento on the example of the works created by a Sienese artist Stefano di Giovanni da Cortona (Sassetta). Siena was one of the Tuscan centers of the Renaissance that were especially active in the maintenance and decoration of feasts, including those associated with the celebration of recently canonized local saints (St. Bernardine, later St. Catherine of Siena). The Gothic style of Sassetta allowed the artist to figuratively and expressively interpret the impressions that he could get while watching one of the religious mysteries: the choir singing, actors’ movements, the machinery of the feast. Among Sassetta’s works which traced the influence of early Renaissance theatrical performances are a fragment of the altar of the Eucharist with the image of St. Anthony, images of the Ascension of the Virgin, the central panel of the San Sepolcro altarpiece dedicated to St. Francis.

Sound Exposure of Choristers.

Choir singing is a very popular activity with 4.5% of the European population regularly participating. London South Bank University was approached in January 2019 by St Paul’s Cathedral to undertake noise dosimetry for the Music Department. Rehearsals and performances were identified and measured using acoustic instrumentation to determine if the choristers, adult choir, choir master or organist were compliant with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. These data were then matched to the daily and weekly work schedules of the musicians and the sound exposure estimated. The adult choir, organist and choir master were found to be under the set daily limits, 85 dBA (LEP,d). The most exposed chorister was above this limit. However, when adjusted for their shorter working year and using the weekly noise exposure limit of 87 dBA (LEP,w), the estimated exposure was compliant with the regulations. Recommendations were presented to the Music Department focusing on management techniques to reduce the weekly exposure of the choristers without effecting the spirit, tradition or musicality of the performance. It was also strongly suggested to reduce the number of performances for the boys by introducing a second choir.

Binaural Capability of Locating Sound Sources of Information Signals

The purpose of the work done was to estimate the human binaural capability of locating stereo sound sources of information signals, especially speech, choir singing, and symphonic music as compared to pulse signals. The measurements were conducted in an average-sized hall where sound was emitted by a stereo system consisting of two loudspeakers with the base width of 4.5 m.Based on the results of analysis of existing methods of binaural sound perception modelling, the estimation was performed based on correlational processing of signals recorded using a head dummy placed in various points of the room.For the recording points selected, the maximum time delays between signals arriving at a listener’s left and right ears were calculated, and the interaural cross-correlation functions were obtained. The general functions, especially the peak shift, correlation interval, and peak sharpness (including the conditions when it splits into two individual ones), were analysed. The correlation factor values and levels were calculated. As a result, the conclusions regarding the capability of locating an imaginary sound source were made based on the cross-correlation function factors values, which simplified the application of this method in practice.Based on the results of experiments conducted and on the subjective sensations of perception, the authors have come to the conclusion that a stereophony area has sizes much wider than those assumed earlier from the signal time delay of 1 ms at a receiving stereo pair (representing a shift of an imaginary source towards the ear perceiving the signal earlier).At the same time, it was found that signals with a speech component are much harder to locate than pulse signals. While music signals, especially symphonic music, are close to pulse signals in terms of human locating capabilities.The found patterns have allowed us to introduce adjustments to the stereophony area calculations. Based on the research results, we suggest defining the stereophony zone border by the correlation factor value of 0.5. Given that, the interaural cross-correlation function properties and subjective perception provide for acceptable speech legibility and music transparency. The key conclusion is that this area is quite narrow for speech signals and is actually limited to the time delay of signals arriving at left and right ears – around 1 ms. Music signals have a wider stereophony area defined by the time delay between perception binaural pair components of around 10 ms. Therefore, sizes of a stereophonic sound area ought to be defined with regard to an information signal’s type.Ref. 14, fig. 3, tabl. 3.

РОЗВИТОК ХОРОВОГО МУЗИКУВАННЯ У ДУХОВНИХ УЧИЛИЩАХ ПОДІЛЬСЬКОЇ ЄПАРХІЇ КІНЦЯ ХІХ СТОЛІТТЯ

Мета роботи полягає в розкритті особливостей навчання церковного співу в духовних училищах на території Подільської єпархії. Визначена важливість значення викладання церковного співу в духовних училищах та його вплив на релігійне виховання. Проаналізовані основні положення викладання церковного співу на основі положення С. Миропольського (Учбовий кабінет при священному Синоді). Методологія дослідження базується на джерелознавчому методі, який був задіяний при дослідженні системи викладання церковного співу на основі архівних матеріалів. При вивченні особливостей навчання співу в духовних училищах Подільської єпархії був використаний дидактичний метод, який дозволяє провести більш детальний аналіз програм викладання предмету. Наукова новизна полягає в оприлюдненні матеріалів з архівних фондів, систематизації та узагальненні основних положень хорового виховання на основі вивчення програм церковного співу в духовних училищах для юнаків (Шаргородське, Тульчинське, Тиврівське та Приворотське), а також Кам’янець-Подільському та Тульчинському училищах для дівиць духовного звання. Висновки. Результати дослідження програм з церковного співу, їх прикладне значення дозволяють зробити висновок про те, що рівень хорового виконавства у чоловічих і жіночих духовних навчальних закладах був досить високим, адже училищні хори повинні супроводжувати богослужіння, а випускники цих закладів мали самостійно вчителювати і бути керівниками шкільних хорових колективів. Основу їх репертуару також складали літургійні твори, зокрема й партесні. Прикладом професійного навчання хоровому співу і плідного функціонування хорового колективу може слугувати Тульчинське єпархіальне училище для дівчат.

Finding meaningful occupation in refugees' resettlement: A study of amateur choir singing in Norway

ABSTRACTRefugee populations are particularly vulnerable to marginalization and have reduced social networks. In the present study we explored whether, how, and why participation in choir singing, as an example of an everyday occupation, could be of significance for refugees in their transition to a new daily life in a Norwegian municipality. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 participants with refugee backgrounds recruited from a multicultural amateur choir. Our findings show that refugees experienced challenges in meeting with ‘the state’ of Norway, and that while they were grateful for the country’s social welfare system, they nonetheless struggled to find their place in society. Staying occupied and meeting with people were found to be two key strategies to develop a sense of belonging. The choir was found to provide a form of collective occupation where they felt included not only with members of their own ethnic groups, but importantly, also with members of the host community. Their choir participation was thus a part of their experience of searching for identity within their new context. In having to ‘start from zero’, the choir provided a space to share their skills, and to develop new ones.

Chinese American Adolescent Identity in a Children’s Choir: An Exploratory Study

Abstract This exploratory case study examined ways that participation in a children’s choir singing repertoire from both Western and Eastern countries of the world molds the cultural identity of Chinese American adolescents. The primary question guiding the inquiry was: How do Chinese American adolescents describe the experience of singing in a children’s choir on their emerging cultural identity? Data collection included 12 hours of observations over the course of 5 weeks and interviews with 5 Chinese American students, the director, and the founding director of the children’s choir. Findings suggested creating a positive Chinese American community in this choir helped build, maintain, and develop cultural identity, although in different ways unique to the individual. Aspects of this community included usage of heritage language, singing Chinese folksongs to create multigenerational connections, forming Chinese American friendships to navigate cultural identity, and having teachers as culture bearers. However, cultural identity creation was unique to the individual. Cultural identity formation was flexible and nonlinear, emphasizing caution against overgeneralizing the Chinese American youth population.

Voice Disorders and Voice Knowledge in Choir Singers

Singers have reported higher prevalence of vocally harmful behaviors, vocal symptoms, and voice disorders than nonsingers have. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of voice disorders among choir singers and to discover the risk factors associated with voice disorders. Another purpose was to explore the choir singers' knowledge about the anatomy and physiology of the voice, and voice ergonomics. Three hundred and fifteen adult choir singers, 65% women, and 35% men, completed a web-questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic questions and questions about vocal symptoms, risk factors for voice disorders, and voice knowledge. Twenty one percent of the participants experienced two or more frequently occurring vocal symptoms, which was defined as having a functional voice disorder. Choir singers with a vocally demanding profession were almost twice as likely to report several frequently occurring vocal symptoms. Health-related risk factors, such as inhalant allergy and asthma, had a significant relation with the number of vocal symptoms. The overall voice knowledge among the choir singers seemed limited. The prevalence of voice disorders among choir singers seems to be similar to the prevalence rate among professional voice users. Choir singers with a vocally demanding profession are at a higher risk of developing a functional voice disorder. The results of this study raise the importance of educating choir singers about the voice, in order to prevent development of voice disorders.

Complex networks emerging during choir singing.

Choir singing is positively associated with well-being and quality of life, and requires the coordination of physiological systems within and across individuals. Informed by models of interpersonal action coordination, we delineate the network topography of choir singing by analyzing cross-frequency couplings and within-frequency couplings (WFCs) of respiratory, cardiac, vocalizing, and motor subsystems. We find that respiratory and cardiac subsystems synchronize with one another during singing and are coupled to oscillatory vocalizing patterns, and to the hand-movement oscillations of the choir's conductor. The choir's cross-frequency connections are particularly strong when singing a canon in parts, apparently supporting the interaction and coordination of the different canon entries. In contrast, WFCs are more pronounced when singing the same canon in unison. We conclude that the temporal coordination dynamics of the observed subsystems form part of the functional substrate for choir singing. During singing, the choir functions as a superordinate system, or superorganism, that imposes boundary conditions on the dynamic features of the individual singers.

A systematic review of mental health and wellbeing outcomes of group singing for adults with a mental health condition.

A growing body of research has found that participating in choir singing can increase positive emotions, reduce anxiety and enhance social bonding. Consequently, group singing has been proposed as a social intervention for people diagnosed with mental health problems. However, it is unclear if group singing is a suitable and effective adjunct to mental health treatment. The current paper systematically reviews the burgeoning empirical research on the efficacy of group singing as a mental health intervention. The literature searched uncovered 709 articles that were screened. Thirteen articles representing data from 667 participants were identified which measured mental health and/or wellbeing outcomes of group singing for people living with a mental health condition in a community setting. The findings of seven longitudinal studies, showed that while people with mental health conditions participated in choir singing, their mental health and wellbeing significantly improved with moderate to large effect sizes. Moreover, six qualitative studies had converging themes, indicating that group singing can provide enjoyment, improve emotional states, develop a sense of belonging and enhance self-confidence in participants. The current results indicate that group singing could be a promising social intervention for people with mental health conditions. However, these studies had moderate to high risk of bias. Therefore, these findings remain inconclusive and more rigorous research is needed.

Comparison of the Life Satisfaction Level of Recreational Choir Singers and Non-Choir Singers

Comparison of the Life Satisfaction Level of Recreational Choir Singers and Non-Choir Singers

From Soundwaves to BrainWaves: The effects of choral singing on recovery from stroke and aphasia

BackgroundStroke is a leading cause of death and disability. Recovery is frequently compromised by reduced well-being, mood, socialisation and quality of life. Music and singing are recognised as enhancing well-being and benefit people with chronic illness. Evidence suggested that choir singing may improve the fluency of people with aphasia. Choirs existed for people with brain impairment; no studies had robust design and outcome measurement.AimTo conduct a pilot study in Newcastle, Australia in a collaboration between Hunter New England Health and the University of Newcastle. To explore the effects of choral singing on quality of life, well-being, mood, social participation and communication skills of community-dwelling stroke survivors including people with aphasia.MethodA mixed methods waitlist control design was used. 39 people at least 6 months post-stroke were assessed before and after a 12-week choir rehearsal period. Carers were invited to participate. Subjects were interviewed at the end of the period.ResultsMeasures of communication improved significantly and a trend to improvement in overall quality of life was seen. Depression and disability were significant in their impact on overall quality of life scores. Qualitative work reported increased quality of life, confidence, independence, mood and socialization and improvements in speech and communication were also reported.ConclusionOur pilot showed that a 12-week choir program for stroke survivors and carers is feasible and benefits quality of life, well-being, mood, community participation and communication in people with aphasia.

DEVELOPING AND DOING VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTOR SCALE OF BEING CHOIR SINGER

The main aims of this study are to develop “The Motivational Factors Scale of being Choir Singer (MFSCS)” and define the validity and reliability for Turkish population. This research is descriptive research restricted by the choir singers in Antalya city center. In this study, face to face data collecting method applied to all choir singers (n=653) in Antalya. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was done, and varimax rotation was performed on 40 items for MFSCS and the MFSCS was grouped into seven factors. Whether the data was suitable to this analysis, Kaiser Mayer Olkin and Bartlett Sphericity test results were taken into consideration and then, EFA was performed. Cronbach’s Alpha internal consistency test was applied to the identified sub-factors and overall scale. It was found that CFA parameters were in limits. Pearson Correlations Test was conducted to define the statistical correlation between sub-classes and items. Results have been assessed according to significant level 0.01 and 0.05. As a result, it was founded that Cronbach’s Alpha as 0.928, total explained variance as %65.58 and CFA parameters were in statistically satisfactory limits. It can be concluded that MFSCS has reliability and validity in the estimation of “The Motivational Factors Scale of Being Choir Singer” for the Turkish population. Article visualizations:

FOR GETTING MORE LIFE SATISFACTION BEING A CHOIR SINGER IN GOLDEN YEARS

The main aim of this study is to determine the profile of choir singer in golden years (CSGY), to compare motivational factors with respect to some demographic variables and how effect being of a CSGY’s life satisfaction in their golden years. This research is descriptive and population consists of 37 nonprofessional choir’s choir singers taken from 43 total choirs in Antalya city center. In this study, the questionnaire was handed to retired 174 men (Xage=62.58±7.20), 198 women (Xage=57.87±6.07) total 372 choir singers. In this study, the designed questionnaire addresses demographic variables, The Satisfaction with Life Scale-(SWLS) developed by Diener et al. (1985) adapted in to Turkish by Yetim (1993), and The Motivational Factors Scale of being Choir Singer (MFSC) developed by Ardahan (2016a), and benefit lists. The LS data of non-choir singers, 113 man, 183 women total 296 persons who never sing/been in a choir before, was taken from Ardahan’s study (2016b). In addition to this, running period data, benefits and motivational factor’s score of individuals who were still working/be employed somewhere were taken from Ardahan and Akdeniz’s study (2017a). In the processing of assessing data the descriptive statistic methods, Independent Samples T Test, ANOVA Test, and Pearson Correlations Test have been used, results have been assessed according to significant level 0.01 and 0.05. The findings show that majority of choir singers were 60 years old and more, attend to Turkish Art Music Choir, married, belong to a choir, well educated, have 700$ or below monthly income, retired, living with family husband/wife/children, going choir alone, pay due, participate passive recreational activities and the major motivational factors for attending to choir were Liking Music, Relaxing as Mentally, Renovate and/or Developed, Socialization, Exemplifying, To be away and/or Escape, and Recognition and Social status. As a result, it can be said that individuals going to a choir in their golden years for Liking Music, Relaxing as Mentally, Renovate and/or Developed, Socialization, Exemplifying, to be away and/or Escape, and Recognition and Social status and create globally wellness and happiness in their life. Article visualizations:

Samolivkovyy singing: regional phenomenon or common church practice?

The relevance of the study is determined by the powerful development of liturgical musicology. In this area, along with the study of monodic sources and the activities of vivid representatives of the liturgical culture, the value of the previously marginalized areas have increased recently. Understanding of the hidden or previously underestimated processes allows you to rethink the views about such a complex and heterogeneous period, as the nineteenth century, with next sixteen years – before the onset of severe stress of established systems in the confessional different areas of Ukraine. Therefore, attention is drawn to the so-called samolivke, the study of which was the purpose of the research. To achieve it, considering the specifics of this phenomenon in comparison with the academic standards of church choir singing, historical-genetic and compractational methods were used, as well as methods of intonational and vocal-choral analysis, synthesis in generalizing of the data obtained and the allocation on this basis of its characteristic features.This concept, traditionally applied exclusively to the phenomenon of Western Ukrainian liturgical practice and absent in the apparatus of liturgical musicology of other countries, was applied to the general practice of church singing regardless of denominations and displayed outside the regional use. The detected signs made it possible to detect the stable elements of a certain system, specify its origin and specificity of functioning. Its spread is conditioned by general principles of unprofessional church singing, and its melodic-intonational filling and timbral correspond to regional features of the church-singing tradition. So, the samolivka – this is the kind of a nationwide choralsinging with the active factor improvised polyphony, specific to a particular location distribution of functions of voices and relation klirosnogo and obschehorovogo performance. Established the complexity of its system, based on an oral tradition and longterm cultural memory, which combines an array of heterogeneous elements.The results obtained give grounds for revision of ideas about processes of the development of the liturgical musical culture, in particular – reflection or even influence this phenomenon to composer creativity.

‘We want to make it cool to be a choir girl’: an anthropological investigation of creativity in forming a choir identity

ABSTRACTMembers of the Danish MidWest Girls’ Choir and their conductor have the aim of creating unique expressive forms. As a consequence, the girls’ work has worked to develop new forms of singing and performance. The choir seeks to find an identity that distinguishes them from traditional church choirs and thereby recreate ‘choir girls’ as something other than ‘well behaved’ and ‘disciplined’, both in their learning processes and in forming their image as a performing choir not related to a church. This paper analyses the role of novelty as process and ‘product’ in an identity-creating process in the social community of singers. Creativity is in this article seen as the collective processes of becoming skilled and of demonstrating distinction from the established discipline of classic choir singing. The choir's identity-forming process is based on creating and being engaged in a different kind of rehearsal, performances and thereby the ‘respectable’ choir image generally.