Mapping Choirs in Dublin
A project by Maria Figueiredo and me for the Postgraduate Diploma in Cultural Event Management at IADT.
Summary infographic (PDF) · The map · The database
Introduction
Mapping Choirs in Dublin is a project by Damian Evans and Maria Figueiredo for the PG Diploma in Business: Cultural Event Management course in IADT. The aim of the project was to systematically involve communities in the identification and recording of local cultural assets. Drawing on this knowledge we make strategic recommendations as to how the community can be developed in the future.
Methodology
Much of the data collected was obtained from Sing Ireland’s Members Directory, which was copied manually into a shared google sheet (found here). The google sheet was shared with members of Irish music Facebook groups with a request to either submit more choirs to the comments or directly to the spreadsheet. Information was fact-checked as much as possible using websites and online material. Further choirs were added from Sing Ireland’s ‘National Map: Singing For Health Groups’ which was a collaboration between Sing Ireland and the Music Therapy Department at the University of Limerick. Although the map was national, we added only the choirs from County Dublin to our map.
Limitations
As with any project, we were limited in both time and resources in what we were able to achieve. We do not claim that this is a complete map/database of choirs in Dublin. In particular, we are aware that we have not included numerous church and school choirs. As there is no central repository of this information, gaining it would have meant getting in contact with every parish and school individually, which was not possible. Therefore we only included those that we knew of or found out about through crowdsourcing. We estimate that there could easily be another hundred choirs if church and school choirs were included.
Furthermore, not all information could be obtained about every choir. It should be noted that choirs are always in a state of flux, and more so during a pandemic. As such, the information provided gives a general state of play rather than a statistical analysis. Choir numbers are constantly in flux, and so when provided should be considered a guideline. Similarly, while genre may give an indication of the emphasis a choir places on a certain repertoire, there may be departures from the indicated genre.
Sociologist Ruth Finnegan’s The Hidden Musicians: Music-Making in an English Town (1989) problematises the distinction between amateur/professional recognising that a more in-depth examination of musicians’ lives often reveals the many grey areas that they inhabit. ((Finnegan, R. (1989) The Hidden Musicians: Music-Making in an English Town. Reprint. Wesleyan University Press, p. 68.)) Similarly, Dublin choirs often exist somewhat ambiguously on the spectrum of amateur to professional, perhaps performing for professional engagements while not providing a significant income for its members, or any other number of varied arrangements that may exist. The information given in the database is more indicative of the brand impression being projected by the choir.
State of Play
The global pandemic has had a huge impact on choirs in Dublin. Many ceased operating at the beginning of the first lockdown in 2020 and have only just begun to meet again. Many choirs have not yet restarted and their future remains uncertain. Many, however, sought to overcome the difficulties presented by the restrictions by gathering online, which presented its own set of issues to be overcome. Significantly, technology does still not enable group singing in a way that matches in-person singing. The slight delay from producing to hearing sound makes even duet singing problematic, despite the plethora of choral videos that were produced during the pandemic, which in fact took individual videos and edited them together. Despite these difficulties, the vast majority of Dublin choirs appear to have continued in stasis and are now restarting, albeit often with reduced numbers.
Recommendations
The authors are convinced by the academic literature and by lived experience, of the value of choirs to both personal and societal well-being, and their contribution to local culture. While it will take time for choirs to rebuild their numbers and for people to feel safe within a choral setting, the power of group singing to bring communities together will contribute to a sense of normality, should the pandemic continue to subside.
We believe that the role of the umbrella organisation Sing Ireland has played a strong role in advocating for choirs throughout this period and providing much-needed guidance for choral directors regarding safety and regulations. With an example membership rate being €50 for a choir of up to 50 members, it provides high value with discounted insurance, numerous online and in-person training events and regular news updates, amongst other benefits. We argue that it plays a powerful role in helping Dublin choirs to function at their best.
The Dublin choir community could be further benefitted by a central list of not just Sing Ireland members, but all Dublin choirs including church and school choirs. The sharing of resources and knowledge, in addition to the lobbying power of such a large group, could further grow and strengthen an already vibrant community. This has been explored by the Dublin City Council Cultural Company which currently has twenty-one choirs listed on their Culture Map, clearly not an accurate representation of the actual number of choirs. The challenge is of course maintaining an accurate list within an ever changing cultural landscape.
Arguably a more effective way for a somewhat disparate community to connect might be to utilise a less centralised method of networking, even something as simple as a Facebook group. Although there are Facebook groups for individual choirs, and for professional choral directors and musicians, there is no general Dublin Choir Facebook group open to all. Reasons for this could include the fact that groups can generally be joined by individuals rather than by Facebook ‘Pages’, which can not join other groups, though they can ‘Like’ pages. It is possible that as social media evolves, the tools may arise that make a crowd sourced, self-updating list of Dublin choirs more feasible.
Resources
Resources
The map
The Google map was made by importing the spreadsheet after checking it for accuracy. Some locations were unknown and others are approximate: click a choir’s marker to see its location details along with everything else we know about it. Markers are colour-coded by area: South Dublin, Dublin City Centre, North Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal.
The database
Airtable is a database and spreadsheet hybrid. We didn’t use all its features, but it made it easy to share different views of the data. The main view shows every choir as a card, in alphabetical order. These views sort and filter the same data: