A book newly acquired by the Thammasat University Libraries explains the social and civic impact of choral singing. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: a Biography is by Michael Hicks, a professor of music at Brigham Young University, USA. The book is shelved in the general stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus. The noun choir derives from the same ancient Greek work as chorus, meaning an organized group of singers. This shows how old the tradition of choirs are. The noun tabernacle originated in a Hebrew term meaning the portable earthly dwelling place of God among the children of Israel. In Biblical times, a tabernacle was constructed from layers of curtains and boards decorated with polished gold. Inside were items made of gold, silver, brass, furs, jewels, and other valuable materials. The building of this Tabernacle is described in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. Following this biblical tradition, the Mormon religion, founded in America in the 1820s, also used the concept of tabernacles. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a large group with 360 singers. It is associated with the Mormon Church which is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was established in the 1840s. To be a member of the choir, all singers must belong to the Mormon Church, whose official name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For over 130 years until the year 2000, the choir was based at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, also known as the Mormon Tabernacle, built in the 1860s. After 2000, it moved to an even larger building, which is one reason why so many singers are needed, to fill the vast spaces of their performing area. Even in the 1870s, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir already numbered over 300 singers. They became well known early on, and by 1910 had made their first recording. Since then, they have often appeared on recordings, radio, and television, and are a familiar presence in the American musical scene.

Although choirs have long been established in churches and other places of worship, they are not always associated with religion. Some writers of Thai English may be confused about the difference between groups of singers who call themselves a choir, chorus, or chorale. A choir sings religious music, but not always. A chorus generally sings all other types of music. In a play or musical show, if voices are heard in back of the lead singers, they belong to the chorus. The noun chorale is an older term, less seen now, but also refers to singers of mainly religious works. An example of a choir that is not associated with a church is London’s Diversity Choir, a socially engaged group that participates in community festivals, events and projects. Some choirs join together out of social solidary and mutual support. They have different levels of musical expertise. Another London group, the Fourth Choir, describes itself as a chamber choir for advanced singers… aspiring to sing classical and modern choral works to the highest possible standard. This shows that as a group, they do not mainly rely on folksongs or hymn tunes but are also willing to accept musical challenges of sometimes difficult works. Like many such ensembles, the Fourth Choir also has charitable and social service missions. Proceedings from its concerts have been donated to local migrant support centres and its website explains: We assume that anyone who works with us celebrates diversity and equal rights.

As a general rule, when people sing together, they form social bonds. Choral singing has encouraged people to embrace ideas and causes over history.

Thailand and Choirs

There has been much recent interest in choirs and choral singing in the Kingdom. In October 2016 in Chiang Mai, the First Lanna International Choir Competition was held. Dr. Kittiporn Tantrarungroj, vice president of Thailand Choral Association, was one of the artistic directors of the festival. As Dr. Kittiporn noted, organized choral singing in Thailand began when churches from foreign countries opened branches in the Kingdom, often with choirs:

To sing in a choir slowly became more and more popular maybe 20 years ago. Unfortunately, most people still don’t understand what it means to sing in a choir and how much pleasure is gives. Choral singing starts to penetrate into school, but poorly.  But the majority of the Thai schools still do not have choirs today or don’t have an interest in having a choir.

The Thailand Choral Association works to promote choral singing in the Kingdom:

We teach the choirs to sing a range of choral standard pieces, step by step. And on the occasion of the First Lanna International Choir Competition, we will prepare the already existing choirs, so that they are able to perform their own competition repertoire.

One of the advantages of choir groups is that unlike most other musicians, they do not have to carry around instruments or worry about whether they can afford to purchse them. Choir singers are their own instruments, and only have to get themselves to concert engagements. Thai choirs have been making an impact in other international events. Suanplu Chorus is a mixed voice chorus based in Bangkok, Thailand.  Founded in the year 2000 by executive director Dusdi Banomyong, Suanplu Chorus combines Thai music with the Western choral tradition. Suanplu Chorus has performed in Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar, Germany, France, Austria, and the United States of America. In 2010, Suanplu Chorus was invited to perform at the International Cultural Diversity Festival at the UNESCO Headquarter in Paris. In 2014, Suanplu Chorus participated in the 1000 Voices for Peace: Fellowship Concert in Ghent, Belgium.

As its website observes, the 1000 Voices for Peace project was intended to commemorate the centenary of the First World War, which started in 1914. Another leading choral group in the Kingdom is the Orpheus Choir, Opera Siam’s resident choir. Orpheus Choir also performs solo recitals outside of the context of opera performances. Its singers are Bangkok residents who were born in over a dozen countries. The choir has almost 200 registered members, although any given opera performance will require only from 25 to 100 choral singers. In 2015, a smaller group, the Siam Orpheus Chamber Choir, was established to specialize in smaller-scale works.

Other Thai choirs

In 2010, Eastern Asia University’s community choir, East Wind Chorus, was formed by the university’s chancellor, Dr. Chotirus Chavanit. In July, the East Wind Chorus led by Ajarn Chalatnai Suekiatkajorn, will participate in the Grand Prix Thailand competition for non-professional choirs in Pattaya and Bangkok. Other participating ensembles will be the Prince Royal’s College Chorus (PRC Chorus) of Chiang Mai, conducted by Ajarn Keng Panyasuriya. Also the choir of the Sisaket Wittayalai School in Mueang Tai will be present. The Sisaket Wittayalai Chorus is led by Ajarn Pakasit Sornkaew, who founded the ensemble in 2008. Last year, the Wattana Girls Choir of Wattana Wittaya Academy in Bangkok won two gold medals at the Moscow International Children’s Youth Choral Festival, Moscow Sound. Others in the Kingdom devoted to choral music include Dr. Kittiporn Tantrarungroj, who told The Bangkok Post how he established the Bangkok Voices choir in 2005. Before founding The Bangkok Voices, Dr. Kittiporn was conductor of the Suanplu Chorus for five years. During medical studies in the Philippines, he joined the university choir. Dr. Kittiporn described the talents needed to direct a choir in performance:

Besides a knowledge of music, a choirmaster has to do several things at the same time when he or she is directing a performance, which entails listening well and getting choir singers to perform as one. Of course, we need to have good ears in order to identify who’s off-pitch and help singers correctly hit notes. Equally important is to have good intentions in your efforts to help them, so I’m more like a brother, father to my choir members… Many people might think that singing together is all the choir needs to do. No, there are a lot more things one has to consider. Choir singers should be able to sing well and interpret different types of music for choral singing. The Bangkok Voices, for instance, perform a broad repertoire, from Thai derm and luk thung to classical English and Chinese songs.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)