Singing brings people together – even online. In the ERASMUS+ research project “Choir@Home,” the University of Liechtenstein (Dr. Janine Hacker), in collaboration with the Mozarteum University Salzburg (Prof. Dr. Heike Henning) and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr. Alexander Carôt), investigated how singing together can take place in virtual spaces and be reimagined. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of digital alternatives in the cultural sector. While some choirs successfully made the transition to digital, others struggled with technical hurdles or a lack of social interaction. This is exactly where the Choir@Home project came in: the aim was to enable choirs to rehearse digitally and to create new educational concepts and social conditions for effective collaboration in virtual space. An international online laboratory choir tested the developed concepts in over 30 online choir rehearsals and performed five virtual concerts. Direct feedback from participants helped to continuously improve the concepts. At the same time, the results were made available to a wide audience via social media, press articles, information events, and scientific publications. In addition, teaching materials were developed for the implementation of individual online choir projects.

The project achieved all of its goals—and even exceeded many of them. It created a comprehensive knowledge base on suitable digital tools, developed practical guidelines for choir directors and choirs, and proved through online rehearsals that singing together can also be lively and socially connecting in a digital setting.

The Choir@Home project shows how digital choir singing can be successful – not as a substitute for singing in person, but as a complement to it. It opens up new opportunities for musical participation and digital inclusion and provides choirs, educators, and cultural institutions with valuable materials and solutions for the future.

The results of the project are available on the project website: https://choirathome.com/index.php/results/

The video for the Christmas carol “Bell Carol” by the online lab choir can be viewed on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zOAHHX6A8p0?si=B7tVT7Zi8gwNi8Hx

[1] The research project “Online Choirs: How to carry out virtual choir rehearsals with the help of digital tools” was funded under Key Action 2 (Cooperation Partnerships) of the European Union's ERASMUS+ program (project no.: LI01-KA220-HED-000086928).