From shower to showtime - singing is cool again

by Malcolm Brown, The Sydney Morning Herald:

"EVEN their names have a melodious ring: the Sweet Adelines, the Bright Star Singers, A Choired Taste and, most fittingly in Sydney, the Leichhardt Espresso and the Circular Keys Chorus.

Community choirs, says the director of the Espressos, Michelle Leonard, have struck a perfect chord. Singing was "almost trendy", she said.

"People used to look at you as though you had some sort of disease," Ms Leonard said. "Now you can out yourself. The level of public awareness in the past 12 months has boomed."

Community choirs bring people together, start social relationships and quickly demonstrate how people care for each other, said Ms Leonard, whose youngest choir member is 15 and her oldest in his 70s.

Australian Idol, ABC radio's choirs competition and more lately the national broadcaster's television hit Choir of Hard Knocks have all contributed to the growing delight that people feel when they sing in public. ..."

Read the full article from the SMH here.