WHERE’S THE Y in X-FACTOR COMMUNITY SINGING?

​I’ve been grappling with the question of why we have so little Y chromosomes in Community singing in general? As you know males differ from Females in that they contain both X and Y chromosomes in their genetic make up, however females have two X chromosomes and yet they constitute the majority of vocal groups. This trend is not necessarily reflected in soloist artist careers with great names like ‘John Farnham’ and ‘Anthony Warlow’ to name just a couple of Australian stand out performers. Given all we know about the benefits of group singing why is it that so many Australian men shy away from this healthy activity.
 
We’ve got a great bunch of guys at MCCHOIR however they are desperately outnumbered by the women. Of course if you’re a single guy you might think this is a good thing! But in term of balancing a group of singers, there’s nothing quite like a deep bass or male driven Tenor part to lift a performance.
 
I have only ever experienced men singing together en mass once in my lifetime and I have to tell you it was an awe inspiring moment. A room full of men singing with passion and gusto has a way of stirring something deep inside that has been missing from our culture for far too long.
 
One of our younger male members, Daniel wrote on his facebook post recently “I love to sing... I want to develop my singing so I can one-day perform as a soloist. That’s my dream... I'll get there. Music makes me safe, makes me happy...”
 
Can I tell you this young man performed at our concert spectacular in front of 400 guests just the other weekend and absolutely blew the audience away with his solo in “Just Give Me a Reason” by P!NK and Nate Ruess. One audience member was so impacted by the lyrics of this song that she became quite emotional and felt a real connection with the choir (and our soloist).
 
Perhaps you once sang because it was a requirement at school to be part of the choir, or maybe you enjoy playing guitar and would like to develop some vocal skills to compliment your instrumental skills, or perhaps you’ve just become so busy with work that your musical aspirations have been put on the back burner.
 
Can I say that everyone of our members lead busy lives, but they find that the small investment in time to attend rehearsals and listen to tracks during the week in the car on their way to work or when they have a spare moment, pays off huge dividends. There’s a buzz you get from performing together, the social interaction and friends you’ll find and the release of feel good hormones is far better than the sugar high from a block of chocolate and far healthier! Improved lung function and boosting your immune system are added benefits too, but most of our members participate because it’s simply a lot of fun and an all round enjoyable experience.
 
To help you get started men, if you’re a new male member and sign up for MCCHOIR and pay for Terms 3 and 4 by our KICKOFF on July 14th we can offer any new male members a special offer of two terms for the price of one. Your first rehearsal is FREE so just register your interest on-line here and come on the 14th for your first session and decide on the night if it’s for you and we’ll invoice you for the $99 – it’s that easy!

REGISTER MY INTEREST NOW

​Jason Simmonds
Founding Creative Director
Melbourne Contemporary Choir
Melbourne Contemporary Youth Choir