Dear Denys:
I am a choir director in a thriving suburban parish. Our choir is large and it always sounds great. You should hear our full-on, organ-plus-orchestra rendering of “Mass of Creation”–it sounds like Handel! But there’s one problem: the women outnumber the men in our choir three-to-one. There have to be more guys out there in our parish who can sing. How can we get them involved?
Befuddled
Dear Befuddled:
I have often noticed this problem in other parishes, and I feel your pain.
First of all, just about every American man born after 1960 can sing. But the problem is that most of them only sing AC/DC tunes, and they have to be either in a dorm room or driving a car to really want to do so.
They have also learned from experience that when they start singing, women roll their eyes and leave, so they tend only to sing around other men. As a result, most guys aren’t going to feel comfortable in a mixed parish choir, unless Back in Black is on the program for an entrance hymn.
Back in Black
My suggestion: start a new Gregorian chant schola in your parish music program. Men only. Gregorian chant has the power to appeal to lovers of both high art and hard rock, and the opportunity to do something both challenging and, well, cool in the company of other men will have ‘em lining up to get involved. It will be like the parish garage band. Give it a try.
DPJ
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