Community Choirs in Australia · Community Choirs in Australia Page 2 The Survey The Music in...
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Community Choirs in Australia
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Introduction The Music in Communities Network’s research agenda includes filling some statistical gaps in our
understanding of the community music sector. We know that there are an enormous number of
community-based groups but there is no statistical information about how many people are in them,
how often they perform, what music they play, what issues they face, or their demographics.
The second in a series of surveys focuses on community choirs. For the first time we have a
statistical picture of the demographic and gender makeup of community choirs, how they are
supported, some information about budgets and revenue streams, and an indication of the
contributions that choirs make to their local community.
The survey took place in 2012-13 and has been analysed by Alex Masso, manager of the Music in
Communities Network, a program of the Music Council of Australia. The 19 questions (see Appendix
2) cover a range of topics including demographics, leadership, budgets, and repertoire.
Key findings: Almost all Australian community choirs sing Australian music (Figure 2)
Most Australian community-based choirs have been running for less than 10 years (Figure 3)
There is a gradual increase in choir participation with each age bracket, 45-54 year olds
being most likely to sing in a choir (Figure 5)
Over 80% of choirs are ‘mixed’ but only 30% of singers in community choirs are male (Figure
7)
Almost two thirds of choir directors/leaders have a degree related to music and most of
those have a degree in music education
The number of choirs where ‘singers must be able to read music’ is only 8%, in 57% reading
is ‘useful but not required’, and in 36% of choirs ‘singers don’t need to be able to read music’
(Figure 10)
Almost all community choirs give their time to the local community, with three quarters
giving free concerts and even more performing at community events (Figure 12)
About a quarter of Australian community choirs have annual expenses of under $1000
(27%), a further 10% have between $1000 and $2500 in their annual budget.
Besides the choir director or leader, the highest expenses for community choirs are Venue
Hire, Sheet music, Public Liability Insurance and Accompanists (Figure 13)
More than half of all community choirs receive some form of support from local
government, 13% receive support from state governments and 5% from the federal
government (Figure 14)
Besides local government, the next highest level of support for choirs comes from churches
and religious organisations (Figure 14)
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The Survey The Music in Communities Network conducted an online survey between September 2012 and
January 2013, open to any choir to complete. Over 200 choirs responded to the survey which was
distributed through the Music in Communities Network with the help of the Australian National
Choral Association and others. All of the choirs included in these results fall into what we consider
‘community choirs”. A small number of school and professional choirs were removed from the
responses because there were too few to compare results (for example, between “community”
choirs and “school” choirs) and because in some cases these results would alter the overall results
(for example, directors’ fees for professional choirs).
The survey had 19 questions, listed in Appendix 2
As an indication of the field of responses, the largest categories were Classical (20%), Multicultural
(14%), Folk / traditional (13%) and the group of choirs that indicated “many” or “various” (16%)
(Figure 1). A very small proportion identify as a “musical theatre” choir, this may be the result of
reaching fewer theatre groups than standalone choirs, or may be an indication that “musical
theatre” is one of a number of genres that some choirs sing but not the primary genre.
We treat this result with some caution as an indication of the overall breakdown of genres chosen by
choirs.
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Findings
Australian Music Almost all Australian community
choirs sing Australian music (Figure 2).
Our question was about the place of
Australian music in the choir’s
repertoire, based not on a proportion
of repertoire but the effort or priority
placed on Australian music. Almost
none (0.5%) indicated that “it’s all we
sing”, but a third (34%) indicate that
they “make a conscious effort”. A
much larger group sings some but
doesn’t make a conscious effort
(58%), bringing the total number of
choirs that do sing Australian music to 93%.
Participation, Concerts and Rehearsals
Based on respondents, Australia’s
community choirs have an average
of 37 members, rehearse 43 times
per year and perform an average of
11 concerts per year.
Age of Choirs Most Australian community-based
choirs have been running for less
than 10 years. The highest
proportion have been running for
less than five years (39%), followed
by five to ten years (19%), with
fewer choirs as the number of years
increases. (Figure 3)
One observation here is the
comparison with community orchestras, which we have found to show the opposite trend (Figure 3).
The majority of orchestras have been running for more than 20 years with a small percentage being
created in the last five years, while choirs appear to be more recently established. There are at least
two possible explanations for this: one is that there has been a new burst of activity in recent years,
to the point where one in three choirs has been running for less than five years. Another possibility
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is that choirs naturally ‘come and go’ more frequently than other kinds of
community music group (orchestras, for example), perhaps because that is the nature of the sector
or because they are less established and not sustainable. We estimate that there are far more
community choirs than orchestras (Appendix 1), it is possible that there are just as many long
established choirs as there are orchestras but the high proportion of new choirs includes less
established groups.
Another observation is that the age of a choir might be determined by the style of choiri. We have
found that choirs identifying as “classical” are far more likely to have been running for over 20 years;
in fact half of all respondents that have been running for over thirty years also identified as
“classical”. Pop/contemporary choirs, on the other hand, are far more likely to have been
established in the last five years.
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Age of Members The most startling observation
about the age groups included
in choirs is the gradual increase
in participation with each
increasing age bracket. The
highest proportion of
participants are in the 55-64
age category (24%), with a
gradual increase from the 18-
24 age category (6%). 25-34
(9%), 35-44 (13%) and 45-54
(21%). In total, almost two
thirds of choir members are
over 45 (65%) with a very small
proportion of people under 25
(Figure 5).
Our 2012 survey of community
orchestras found that different
age groups are represented
more consistently, and in more
orchestras, than the balance of
age groups in community
choirs. We treat this with some
caution since the surveys were
slightly different, but Figure 6
suggests a clear trend.ii While a
consistently high number of
orchestras include members
from each age group, choirs are
increasingly more likely to
include people from age groups
as they increase.
This suggests that relatively few people continue group singing after school, many more return to it
or commence group singing later in life.
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Gender One issue that affects choirs
in a different way to other
music groups is gender
balance. Unlike orchestras,
brass bands, jazz bands, rock
bands, ukulele groups, pipe
bands and so on, the voice is
the primary instrument and
therefore the combination of
voices is a matter of
ensemble balance as well as
the social makeup of the
group.
There is a clear gap between
the numbers of men and
women in community choirs. We estimate that 30% of all singers in community choirs are men, 70%
are women. Our research found 81% of choirs being ‘mixed’, 6% ‘male only’ and 13% ‘female only’.
As Figure 7 shows, the largest group of singers in community choirs are women in mixed choirs
(60%) followed by men in mixed choirs (23%), then women and men in gender specific choirs (12%
and 5% respectively).
The proportion of participation in
mixed and gender specific choirs
is approximately the same (about
81% of male singers and 80% of
female singers are in ‘mixed’
choirs), although the number of
women is much higher. It is also
very rare for a ‘mixed ‘ choir to
have a majority of men; Figure 8
shows that mixed choirs are most
likely to have 20-40% male
members, somewhat likely to
have fewer than 20% male
members, but only 4% have over
60% male members.
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Choir Leaders Approximately 95% of respondents said that their choir’s director or conductor has some form of
musical training, with only a small proportion having no musical training (5%). Almost two thirds
have a degree related to music (62%) and most of those have a degree in music education (58%).
Almost half have a degree in music other than education such as performance (45%) and 7% have a
music therapy degree.iii Of those with no formal qualification, nine out of ten have a ‘non-degree
education in music’.
In total, 59% of choir leaders are paid while the remainder take on the role voluntarily. There are a
large number in both categories and a wide range of fees for those that are paid, ranging from a
modest stipend through to ‘per rehearsal’ fees and even salaries. Choir leaders with a music degree
are twice as likely to be paid for their role as they are to lead a choir voluntarily (67% vs 33%). Choir
leaders with no music degree are just as likely to be paid as to take on the role voluntarily (49% vs
51%).
Figure 9 shows that a quarter of paid choir directors/conductors receive less than $2500 per year
and approximately 16% of directors receive more than $10,000 per year. The largest bracket is
between $2500 and $5000.iv It is important to remember that this figure only represents
respondents who stated the annual or weekly payment of the director/conductor, and that these
figures are for individual choirs. We know that some people run a number of choirs and are paid by
each separately, therefore these people will have higher earnings from choral conducting/directing.
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Entry to Choir Participation
Audition and Reading
Skills About one in five choirs
audition their members, which
means the vast majority have
an ‘open door’ policy. The
number of choirs where
‘singers must be able to read
music’ is only 8%, in 57%
reading is ‘useful but not
required’, and in 36% of choirs
‘singers don’t need to be able
to read music’ (Figure 10).
The auditioned choirs are far
more likely to require singers
to read music (Figure 10). In a
third of all auditioned choirs reading is ‘required’ in a further 60% it is ‘useful’, while in non-
auditioned choirs the number where reading is ‘useful’ is almost the same (56%) but almost half do
not require singers to read music (43%). Only 1% of non-auditioned choirs require singers to read
music.
Participation
Fees The vast majority of
community choirs
involve some fee for
participation (79%).
These range from an
annual membership
fee or contribution
through to weekly,
term-based or
activity-based fees.
About one in five
choirs have no
membership or
participation fees
and a similar number
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of choirs fall into the under $100, $100-$250 and $250-$500 categories.
Approximately 10% of choirs have participation fees of over $500 per year. (Figure 11)
The fee per rehearsal is between $5 and $10 for approximately a third of the choirs with fees, $10 -
$15 for a further 17% and 10% pay more than $15 per rehearsal, on average. Approximately 43%
have a fee so low that it probably isn’t collected or calculated on a weekly or rehearsal basis, these
annual fees are under $5 per week on average.
Contribution to Community The contributions made by community choirs to their local communities are diverse and significant
(Figure 12). Almost all respondents (92%) indicated that they perform some kind of community
service, the highest ranking of the options given being ‘performing at community events’ (87%)
followed by ‘free performances’ (75%). Many other activities were mentioned as ways in which
choirs contribute to their community: mentoring generalist teachers in local primary schools, singing
for church services, promoting the work of Australian composers, singing at political demonstrations
and events, and supporting music students through scholarships.
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Finance & Support
Overall Budgets About a quarter of Australian community choirs have annual expenses of under $1000 (27%) and a
further 10% have between $1000 and $2500 in their annual budget. While the survey does not
cover budgets in more detail, these findings suggest that choirs cover a wide spectrum of financial
capacity and that a significant number operate with a very small annual budget.
Expenses Besides the choir director or leader, the highest expenses for community choirs are Venue Hire,
Sheet music, Public Liability Insurance and Accompanists (Figure 13). There are some differences
between choirs with very low budgets (27% of choirs with an annual budget under $1000) and those
with higher budgets.v
More than half of all choirs list sheet music as being one of the highest expenses (54%), even more
so among the choirs with less than $1000 in their annual budget (64%). This suggests that the cost of
sheet music has a major impact on community choirs. Venue hire is the highest expense overall and
particularly for choirs with over $1000 budgets.
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Support from Community & Government Institutional support for community choirs comes from a range of sources, with both financial and
in-kind support coming from the government, private and community sectors. While 64% of
community choirs indicated that they receive some form of financial or in-kind support, only 41%
overall indicated that they receive financial support from institutions in their community or
government.
By far the highest level of support comes from local government, with 35% of choirs receiving
financial support and 28% receiving in-kind support, in total 57% of choirs receive some support
from their local council (Figure 14).vi The other tiers of government are far less likely to support
community choirs, with 13% and 5% receiving some form of support from state or federal
government respectively.
While almost all community choirs receiving financial support from their local council also perform
at civic or community events (93%), only 26% of choirs that perform for community or civic events
receive financial support from their local council.
Churches are the non-government institutions most likely to support community choirs although this
is more likely to be in-kind support such as use of spaces for rehearsals and performances rather
than financial support. Businesses, Clubs and Philanthropists follow local government as the most
common financial supporters of community choirs (15%, 13% and 13% respectively), although more
choirs receive in-kind support from businesses than cash (19% in-kind).
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Schools and Arts Organisations are similar to Churches in that they are far more
likely to provide in-kind support to community choirs than financial support. While about one in
twenty choirs receive in-kind support from an Arts Organisation, almost none receive any financial
support from these organisations.
Credits Report published 2 December 2013
Survey design: Alex Masso and Tina Broad
Report author: Alex Masso
The Music in Communities Network is an initiative of the Music Council of Australia
www.musicincommunities.org.au
www.mca.org.au
Appendix 1: How many choirs are there? The question of how many choirs currently exist in Australia is well beyond the scope and
methodology of this project. Anecdotally we know that there are over 1000 members of the
Australian National Choral Association (ANCA), many of them are community choirs.vii In 2012 there
were 152 Sing Australia groups across Australia.viii There are many choirs that fall into very specific
categories, such as the 30 chartered choruses registered with Sweet Adelines Australiaix or that
simply operate independently.
Without more data we are reluctant to estimate the number of choirs in Australia but it seems likely
that there are well over 1000 choirs, there may in fact be several thousand.
Appendix 2: Questions
Please note that the term “choir” is used throughout to cover any kind of group where singing is the
main reason for being.
1. What best describes the style of your choir?
Options: African-American Gospel; Barbershop / Sweet Adeline; Classical; Folk / traditional;
Multicultural; Musical theatre; Pop / Contemporary; Religious; Other (please specify)
2. What best describes the pathway to membership of your choir?
Options: By audition; Non-audition / Open Door
3. What best describes the musical demands of your choir?
Options: All singers must be able to read music; Being able to read music is useful but not required;
Singers don't need to be able to read music
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4. How would you best describe the place of Australian music in your choir? (ie.
music by Australian composers)
Options: It's all we sing; We make a conscious effort to include Australian music; We sing some but
we don't make a conscious effort; Not appropriate to our type of choir
5. What best describes the training of your music director? Please select one.
Options: Degree in music education; Degree in music therapy; Other degree in music (eg.
performance); Non-degree education in music; No music training; Other (please specify)
6. How much is the musical director paid per year? (if it is an unpaid/volunteer role, please type "0")
Options: Text box
7. Apart from the cost outlined in Question 6, what are the choir's costs per year?
Options: $0; up to $500; $500-$1000; $1000-2500; $2500-$5000; $5000-$10000; $10000-$50000;
$50000+
8. Apart from the cost of your musical director, what are the three biggest expenses? Please select
three of the following:
Options: Venue Hire; Public Liability Insurance; Professional Development / Workshops; Travel;
Recording; Production management for performances; Marketing/publicity; Sheet Music;
Commissioning new works; Accompanist; Other (please specify)
9. During the last year, has your choir received support from any of the following? Select any that
apply
Options: Two columns (“Cash” and “Non-cash / in-kind (eg. waived venue hire, free printing)”) and 8
rows: Business; Church / Religious Organisation; Federal Government (or agency); Local Council;
Local Club (eg. RSL, Bowling); Philanthropy; Professional Arts Organisation; School; State
Government (or agency)
10. Annually, what does each singer pay to be in your choir? (if they don't pay anything, please type
"0")
Options: Text box
11. How does your choir contribute to your community?
Options: Fundraising for charity; Free performances (in nursing homes, hospitals, schools, etc);
Performing at civic events (eg. ANZAC Day, Citizenship ceremonies); Performing at community
events (concerts in the park, carols, multicultural festival, etc); Singing workshops for the
community; Other (please specify)
12. Name of choir
Options: Text box
13. Which of the following best describes your choir?
Options: Community-based Choir (adult / all ages); Semi-professional or Professional Choir;
Institution-based Choir (eg. workplace, church); School Choir; Community-based Youth Choir (ie.
outside school)
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14. How long has the choir been running?
Options: 0-5 years; 5-10 years; 10-20 years; 20-30 years; 30+ years; Don't know
15. How many people from each age group sing in your choir?
Options: under 18; 18-25; 25-35; 35-45; 45-55; 55-65; over 65
16. What percentage of your singers are male/female?
Options: Male; Female
17. How many times each year do you rehearse, on average?
Options: Text box
18. How many times each year do you perform, on average?
Options: Text box
19. What best describes the, town, city or area in which your choir is based? (eg. "Inner Sydney,
NSW", "Toowoomba, QLD")
Options: Text box
20. If you would like to hear about the findings of this survey and join our mailing list, please provide
your email address
Options: Text box
i This comparison should be treated with caution statistically since it has a smaller sample than other results in this study. ii For the Community Orchestras in Australia survey we asked whether the group includes members from each
age group; for the Community Choirs in Australia survey we asked how many members of the group fall into each age category. Therefore, in both surveys we asked whether any members fall into each age category but the questions are not identical and should be compared with caution. iii Some people have more than one degree, this total does not equal 100%
iv Salary brackets are chosen for the purpose of demonstration; four ranges of $2500 for up to $10000, then
two ranges of $5000, then ‘over $20000” v These figures are based on the expenses other than the choir director or leader.
vi The ‘total’ figure for this section is not the sum of cash + in-kind because some choirs receive both kinds of
support but are not counted twice. vii
Australian National Choral Association (Accessed 20 November 2013) http://www.anca.org.au/find-choir viii
Sing Australia (Accessed 20 November 2013) http://www.singaustralia.com.au/Information-About-Sing-Australia ixix
Sweet Adelines Australia (Accessed 20 November 2013) http://www.sweetadelines.org.au/about-us/about_choruses