Singing and spirituality in a South African male voice group

Abstract

Since the mid 1970s, a group of twelve business and professional members of a male singing group have continued singing together in Pretoria, South Africa. These singers were interviewed as part of a project on spirituality and well-being: music in the community. From the interview data, two overarching themes emerged, membership benefits and spiritual connections; these are discussed in this research project. Members’ views of benefits related mainly to fulfilment of personal, including musical, needs, although all were gratified that their singing provided enjoyment to community audiences and benefits to disadvantaged communities, mainly from ticket sale proceeds. Most saw an association between singing and the spiritual, but only a minority identified a religious connotation, the remainder relating to nonreligious factors such as the ‘human spirit’. A deep sense of commitment and a love of music impacts positively on social engagement, benefiting and enhancing quality of life for the group members.