ABSTRACT
The world is facing deep and unprecedented challenges. People may well be entering a time of the decline of the existing social contract and the rise of the culture of narcissism and individuality. Furthermore, studies in exclusion, emotional health, and fragmentation that have been undertaken principally in the Western world, point to an epidemic of unhappiness and loneliness. And there are some reasons to assume that the increase of urbanization, secularism, and technology, and a host of other social factors may also lead to similar social problems in the Majority World, compounding existing problems. Against all this, the choral communal voice offers an antidote that is increasingly necessary and vital, by bringing people together into a single space physically, and occasionally through cyberspace. Even when the emphasis is only on the production of beautiful and engaging concerts as dictated by the conventional paradigms of what sounds good, choral togetherness is enormously beneficial.
