The Value of Choral Singing

In the United States, an estimated 42.6 million people sing in choirs each year. There have been a wide variety of studies that discuss the emotional, social, and even physiological benefits that go hand-in-hand with choral singing, which include but are not limited to improved memory, deepened sense of community, and a strengthened overall personal and communal wellness. Similar points can be made in favor of many extra-curricular activities, so for DMV students whose schedules can seem overwhelmed with a near-endless list of activities to choose from, why choose chorus?


Beyond the long-term benefits of choral singing, there are many more immediate specific skills and competencies that singing in a chorus like CCW provides. Students spend time in rehearsal poring over scores, learning to recognize the series of dots and stems and lines on a page and translate them into sung melodies. CCW, unlike many youth choruses, also incorporates a weekly musicianship component into our rehearsals, where students learn the foundations of music theory and apply that knowledge in rehearsals directly to the music they are working on. Studies have shown that young people who take the time to study music are developing more than just their musical skills; they are also developing the same pattern recognition, tonal recall, and scaffolding skills that are utilized in learning a new language. CCW students refine this skill each semester by singing and memorizing songs in multiple languages, and older students even learn a bit about the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a set of symbols that linguists and musicians alike use to describe phonetic sounds across every spoken (or sung) language. Check out the rehearsal footage below to see what this looks like in practice:




In the same vein, singing with CCW also provides students with the opportunity to learn about and be exposed to a variety of cultures and ways of thinking about the world beyond their own! In learning music from different parts of the world, students are also exposed to those places’ languages and histories. These learning experiences are further enhanced when CCW singers go on tour; every two or three years, our older students participate in an international tour, where they perform, sing with local choral groups, and explore their host countries’ historical and cultural spaces. Past tour locations have included South Africa, China, France, Prague, and Vienna. Additionally, CCW also organizes domestic summer tours. Last summer, CCW singers partnered up with students from the Choir School of Delaware to produce the Stand Up: Harriet Tubman Tour, where our choristers traveled through various sites on the East Coast connected to the Underground Railroad, performing and visiting historical sites. This summer, CCW will be hosting our first-ever Voices Together symposium at the University of Maryland School of Music from July 1-3, where we will perform with The Young Voices of the Philippines, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, and the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir. Later that same month, we will travel to New York City and perform with these same choruses at Carnegie Hall! Traveling with CCW on tours like this allows students to take what they have learned in rehearsal and apply it to new contexts, both domestically and abroad. The videos below feature recordings of some of the music our choristers learned on their tour to South Africa alongside an example of a performance context singers might encounter while on tour:

Finally, singing in a choir like CCW allows students to develop some soft skills that are a bit more difficult to quantify, but that prepare them in unique ways for life after high school, whether that’s college, trade school, or the job market. Singing in one of CCW’s ensembles requires students to listen to each other, build trust as a community, and collaborate to achieve their musical goals, sometimes with a very short amount of rehearsal time. Teamwork is crucial to success in CCW, and our alumni leave our program prepared to work efficiently, positively, and productively with other people. Additionally, CCW students develop strong time management, communication, and problem-solving skills through their rigorous rehearsal and performance schedules. Untangling complex musical scores, dedicating regular time to practicing, preparing, and memorizing difficult songs in unfamiliar languages, and then putting the pieces together in the weeks leading up to our performances encourages choristers to utilize their brains in a variety of ways, all of which highlight skills CCW alumni can take with them into their lives after graduation. Colleges and employers alike are looking for applicants who possess not just technical know-how, but also soft skills like persistence, collaboration, and effective communication that make them stand out.


Perhaps most important, however, are the deeply meaningful relationships our students build with each other and the love of singing that our choristers exhibit every single day. When singers come through the door for rehearsal, they can leave behind the stress of the day and join with their friends and peers to sing together and create something beautiful and communal. We feel that the value of these interpersonal connections is increasingly important as our society reemerges from pandemic isolation, and there’s nothing more special than singers from all over the DMV area joining together in musical community. See the video below to hear from some of our students and parents about why they love CCW, and if you’re interested in being part of our community, please reach out to us!



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