Earthly Voices: Surrey's choirs need more men

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Can you spot the chap? Look carefully...

In the face of a shortage of male voices, local chorister Julia Cripps looks for ways to draw more men into community choirs ahead of their next concert

In spite of male enthusiasm for singing in the shower and on the terraces, there seems to be a national shortage of men prepared to sing in community choirs. It's sociable, fun and it's even good for your health, improving lung function and posture and lowering stress levels. So why aren't the boys taking it up?

My own Esher-based community choir, Earthly Voices, is in need of a boost to its tenor and bass sections, so I call Dominic Stichbury, the founder and leader of Islington's Chaps Choir, whose 120 members are all men, for advice on how to boost our ranks.

Apparently, many young men who sing in choirs are put off when their treble voices break. Even those who survive puberty with their singing confidence intact tend to avoid more "touchy feely" community choirs that like to explore a range of songs from across genres and regions.

The answer, he believes, is to run weekends men-only workshops. Avoid clashing with major sporting events, he advises, and try to use a room above a pub so you can follow it up with a 'bonding' session afterwards. And, most importantly - keep the women away.

I find that bit of advice a little depressing. Are women really that off-putting?

Perhaps most interestingly, it turns out that 90% of men join choirs because they know someone else in the choir. When I think about it, we first swelled our male ranks by encouraging members to bring their spouses or partners.

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So this is my challenge to the men of Surrey. Prove me wrong, and give community choirs a go! The first session at Earthly Voices is free, and you don't even need to be able to read music - we teach the songs by ear, and supply MP3 song parts to help you learn.

You won't be alone. East Molesey's David Stothard is one of eight men in the 40-strong choir. He joined as a tenor after attending a taster session. "I get a real buzz from singing, it really gets the endorphins going and Earthly Voices is incredibly friendly. Whilst individuals have different abilities, the combined sound is fantastic," he says.

Another male voice is Musical Director Jeremy Avis, a professional singer and composer who writes many original song arrangements and compositions for Earthly Voices.

"It's partly the variety of songs that makes this such a fun choir," comments Liz Bean, Choir Chair, "Jeremy ensures that each voice has interesting parts to sing. All too often in community choirs settings, basses just end up singing 'dum de dum'."

Earthly Voices meets on Thursdays at 8-10pm, at the Church of the Holy Name.

You can contact Membership Secretary Jackie Porter on 07714 827131 or porterjackie@hotmail.co.uk for a taster session.

Look forward to their next concert on July 4