Thursday, October 02, 2014

I hate singers

I have always sung in choruses. I love to sing choral music of any kind, especially sacred music. But I actually can't stand other choristers. Having joined numerous amateur choruses as an adult and often quitting after a season, I have many thoughts on why being in a choir is so annoying. The following is not criticism, just why I personally get annoyed by choir people, and why it is hard for me to be happy being part of a choir. And I own up to having some of these negative traits myself:


  • Many choristers are divas and are constantly SHOWING OFF. The nature of choral singing means you're not supposed to show off. You're supposed to blend, and listen to each other, and do what the conductor/choirmaster says, and not TALK incessantly during rehearsal about how much you love a piece. It's not about you. But part of being a performer is drawing attention to oneself, so a diva mentality comes with the territory.
  • On the flip side, many choristers are a bit antisocial. Singing is a somewhat meditative exercise that often appeals to introverts. Therefore, sometimes you enter a choir situation where people don't have much social grace and don't introduce themselves to new people. It's off-putting.
  • Choir experience starts at school, and those were good times. The thing about joining choirs as an adult is you won't know most people in them. You don't go to school together anymore, you're cooperating with a bunch of strangers, and this makes is much less fun. It kind of takes ALL the fun out of it.
  • Adult choirs are mostly filled with senior citizens and housewives, so it's harder for younger people to relate and make friends. There are definitely all kinds of people, but these two categories dominate.
  • I once sang with a chorus that was extremely high caliber. It was so good because people studying voice were somehow required to be in it (for credit or something). These were the most unfriendly, cliquey, diva-ish people I have ever encountered. So that's the trade off. Good choirs mean horrible people.