The Raging Grannies singing at an anti-war protest. Photo by Elliot Margolies.

There are likely as many reasons to join choruses as there are singers. Some individuals sing out of sheer pleasure with certain genres of music. Others are drawn to the challenge of particular works. Many people sing as a form of worship. And for some of us, singing is a way of combining our love of music with our passion for improving the world around us.

If the idea of joining music with social justice seems odd or downright sacrilegious, consider these real works:

• Pieces that confront the impact of social messages on women's body image (Sound Circle, "Full Woman" and "On Bodies"); 
• A series of TTBB songs on the lives of gay and lesbian teenagers (Portland Gay Men's Chorus, "Millennium Mosaic: Voices of Queer Youth");
• Song cycles about the impact of breast cancer on women (Denver Women's Chorus, "Where I Live") and of HIV/AIDS on gay and bisexual men (San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, "NakedMan"); and
• Inspirational works that encourage us never to give up even in the face of stark opposition (songs like Pat Humphries' "Never Turning Back" or The Flirtations' "Something Inside So Strong").

None of those examples falls into the more traditional choices of music by "the Masters." There is no Bach, Mozart, Handel, or Wagner in the mix above. And yet those of us who sing for social justice are fed by such works as much as—or perhaps more than—by "the classics."

Why? Because for us, music is a way to marry our love of song with our dedication to improving the world around us. I'll speak here about my own experiences as just one example.

According to my mother, I started singing when I was around two, faithfully mimicking commercial jingles while watching TV with my father. Since then, I have sung in school choruses, church choirs, community groups, musicals, and many other places. So music has been a part of my life for, literally, as long as I can remember.

Politically, as a middle-class white kid growing up in suburban St. Louis, I remember being vaguely aware of racism and poverty as a child. But those things didn't seem to touch my life until I was older. What truly started my social awakening was my budding feminism, which took root in 6th grade when my best friend informed me that women earned less than men in the workplace. Over the next several years, I quickly discovered the injustices of sexism, homophobia, war, general inequality and hatred, and the aforementioned racism and poverty.

As an adult, music has continued to feed my politics, and my politics has continued to feed my music. I discovered the Capitol Steps, Sarafina!, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. In June 2008, I ended thirteen years of involvement in Washington, DC's Bread & Roses Feminist Singers, an experience that further opened my eyes to the role of choral music in the struggle to create a more just society.

This music has also played a role in my personal identity. During college, I started coming out of the closet, an experience that for me has been deeply tied up with things like Rent, Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses and Sister Singers Network festivals, participating in probably the first openly transgender and genderqueer* festival chorus in the US or Canada, singing in annual LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) commemorations of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented by DC's GLBT Arts Consortium, and attending concerts of our local lesbian and gay choruses.

So throughout most of my life, music in general—and choral singing more particularly—have been integrally linked with my quest to make the world a more just place. And like the struggle for social justice, learning such music can be far from easy. Among innumerable pieces I have sung are the following:

• Six-part SATB works confronting the need for courage in politically-repressive environments (e.g., Sweet Honey in the Rock, "Would You Harbor Me?");
• Complicated rearrangements of African American spirituals (e.g., Ysaye Barnwell, "Wade in the Watah");
• Culturally-authentic pieces in languages such as Japanese, Korean, Zulu, Spanish, and Welsh;
• Songs that handle generational differences among immigrant families (Francisco X. Alarcón, "Alarcón Madrigals"); and
• Barbershop quartet pieces about love between women (e.g., Schraubstader & Brown's 1923 hit "Last Night on the Back Porch" as performed by Anna Crusis Women's Choir).

My passion for combining social justice with choral singing is far from unique. For example, the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses counts more than 145 member groups worldwide. And the Sister Singers Network, comprised of feminist choruses throughout the US, has almost four-dozen member ensembles.

Much of the music sung by such choruses proves that it is far from necessary to give up challenging works if you want to bring a larger or more contemporary perspective to your concerts. Singing the occasional piece about racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, xenophobia, or any other issue important to your community does not mean that you need to sacrifice musical complexity or beauty.  Nor does it require you to give up your dedication to music by "the Masters."

So when planning future seasons, urge those selecting the music to explore which justice-focused works speak to your chorus. It will benefit your individual members, enhance your chorus's experience, and will make you a welcoming place for singers who may have no choral "home" elsewhere in your community. In broadening your repertoire, your chorus will reach new audience members, and this expansion will give your singers and your community one more reason to support your fantastic group.

*"Transgender" refers to people who find the gender label they were given at birth to be an inadequate or inaccurate description of who they are. "Genderqueer" is used by those who, like Shannon, identify as neither men nor women, neither masculine nor feminine. Visit Shannon's website for more details.

About the Author

Shannon E. Wyss works in HIV/AIDS philanthropy and lives in Washington, DC, with a partner, four cats, and one dog. The author received a BA from Vassar College and an MA from George Washington University. Shannon is working on a book about transgendered and genderqueer* youth. Shannon can be reached via www.freewebs.com/hugdyke.

Related Links

Missions with Might, The Voice of Chorus America, Summer 2007

On Bodies documentary. From their site: Coming in 2009, On Bodies explores the lives of 24 ordinary women revealing extraordinary truths. From anorexia to ageism, the women of Boulder, Colorado's Sound Circle take on body image as never before.

The Raging Grannies. Their sites contains a "Song Archive", videos, news stories, and ways to get involved.

Gay & Lesbian Choruses—Then & Now, The Voice of Chorus America, Summer 2005

Social Justice Through Music. A secondary school in British Columbia puts on a social justice themed-concert.