Sing while you work: the ‘rise of the choir’ in austerity

This paper was presented as part of a panel titled 'Singing from the same hymn sheet? The role of choirs, collective singing and affective belonging' organized by Rebecca Bramall and Emily Falconer (LSBU).

In the popular BBC television show The Choir: Sing While You Work (2012, 2013) choirmaster Gareth Malone initiates ensemble singing in diverse workplaces. During the course of the show’s two series, the value and benefits of singing are confidently articulated. The Choir reflects and perpetuates the ‘rise of the choir’ in the context of economic austerity, a discourse in which choral singing has been celebrated as an activity that enables the ‘time-strapped’ and ‘stress-ridden’ to ‘pull back some balance into their lives’ (Stylist, 2013).

In this paper I draw on theories of affective labour, and of the relationship between music and capitalism, to explore the relationship between the popularity of choral singing and new economic contexts, specifically of employment and work. Commentators on the ‘rise of the choir’ have tended to focus their critical attentions on debating the transformative effects of ensemble singing. I suggest that in The Choir and the wider discursive context, the pleasures and imputed benefits of choral singing simultaneously illuminate and neutralize a critique of the negative effects of the neoliberal workplace. Choirs and singing are identified as that which the workplace lacks, yet once these ensembles and practices are established their benefits are shown to enhance neoliberal logics of efficiency and competitiveness.

In conclusion, I consider the opportunities that this national-popular interest in ensemble singing might nonetheless afford for developing a more radical critique of the neoliberal workplace, focusing on the collectivities that workplace choirs originate.