What is a choir?

A choir is a group of people who sing together to entertain or serve other people, under the direction of a nominated person.

It may be a one-off or spontaneous group (eg friends who sing decide to sing Christmas carols to raise money for a charity), or a voluntary community group, or a large business putting on multiple shows each week.




Various people may be associated with a choir (accompanist, manager, chairman, section leader, etc) - but the two essential roles which every choir has are:
  • Singers
  • A musical director.

A musical director is someone who is part of a choir, but whose role is to lead it, rather than to sing.  He or she helps the choir - as a group - to sing as well as they can.

A group of people who do not have a musical director may be an ensemble, vocal group, trio, folk-group etc - the difference is that everyone is responsible for directing the group

There are many different types of choirs, and they can be organised in various ways, too..