Boys in chorus and other thoughts!

Diverse cultures and their Music Blog #4: Music and Gender

It is common knowledge among most singers that it is easier for tenors than sopranos to find a job in the music world. There are few exceptions to this rule. As a member of my middle school chorus, I auditioned for Georgia All-State Chorus program. All of the girls in our class who were auditioning for All-State knew that they would be held to a much higher standard than the boys. We would get together and practice extra hard for the sight-singing and tonal memory portions of the audition. The boys in the class spent some time practicing with us, but they were held to a much lower standard because there would always be less of them auditioning. The teachers tried their best to hold everyone to equal standards, but they were limited because the boys were less motivated to push themselves. The All-State organizers tried to even out this problem by having an extra SSA (all-female) choir. Ha! They were foiled! The estrogen-filled music-makers still overpowered the tenors and basses. The choirs always sounded great, but this fact loomed.
In most school-related situations, the boys didn’t mind the uneven ratios. I remember boys in chorus responding to teasing with phrases like, “Of course I’m in chorus! That’s where all the girls are!” This uneven ratio is a trend in many aspects of the arts. The ratio tends to be even smaller in dance areas. I think there’s a lot that feeds into it. In the past, performers in all areas tended to be male. Now, it has been switched. I think it’s evening out a bit now but it’s an interesting thing to follow.
Most church choirs struggle with this ratio problem as well. It has always been funny at my church back home because we have the opposite problem. One of our conductors a few years back also happened to conduct the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus. A lot of the members of that group didn’t feel comfortable in most churches. Our church welcomes everyone and so a lot of the men from that group joined our church. Now we have a huge tenor and bass section and we struggle for enough sopranos and altos on a given Sunday. Funny how these things work!