Recently, there has been a growing awareness around the importance of diversity and inclusion, both within Sweet Adelines and society as a whole. This has been especially true in recent months, with the Black Lives Matter protests against all racially motivated violence so present in the news. At Lions Gate Chorus, these events have prompted us to think about how we value diversity, as well as our opportunities to live this value more fully within our chorus. 

The blueprints of our lives, the very things that make us who we are, are reasons to celebrate and grow closer together, not further apart. Political or religious affiliation, country of origin, skin colour, body size, illness, varying abilities and disabilities, age, education, parentage, socio-economic status, what you do, what pronoun you use, and who you love; all of these and more are woven together to make the one-of-a-kind you… the one-of-a-kind me.

The reason we have all come together is, of course, music!  As singers, we have learned much about the mechanics of the voice as a product of physiology that every singer has in common: breath, vocal cords, mouth. Yet the sound we produce is as unique as we are. This physiology we all share, in spite of our differences, gives us the ability to make music together and presents us with a beautiful opportunity to examine where we are, and where we’d like to be.

Choosing Diversity

Lions Gate Chorus is 100+ unique members with a variety of life experiences. One of our values at Lions Gate is to celebrate those differences, acknowledging that they colour and texturize our unique sound, and bring us closer together. Our pride is stronger because every story, every set of circumstances, every individual’s choice to bring everything they are into the art form, gives us a tensile strength and a full spectrum of colour that, together, creates a stunning tapestry.

We have also come to understand what it means to be a learner, and to celebrate opportunities to learn and grow in new ways. As a group of predominantly white women, we understand that we have work to do to be fully inclusive to people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. Lions Gate prides ourselves on creating a welcoming atmosphere for all new members. In order to truly live that value, we must become not only welcoming but also inclusive. Inclusiveness means identifying barriers that might prevent prospective and current members from feeling safe, and having access to an equitable experience. We commit ourselves to challenging and breaking down those barriers together. Two examples of barriers we have identified and are actively working to remove are: makeup plans that don't account for everyone’s skin tone and face shape, and off-handed jokes about what “ideal” Sweet Adelines look like. Identifying such barriers and learning to overcome them together will be an ongoing process of necessary growth for us, both as individuals and as a chorus. 

We know that, as a group, we’re ready to commit to true diversity and inclusivity because we already celebrate our amazing diversity in other ways! Here are some of the ways Lions Gate singers describe themselves, giving voice to some of the beautiful aspects of diversity we already have within our chorus:

For a minute, let’s separate the voice of the person from their identity. We would be hard-pressed to be able to match a voice with the singer creating it! And yet, whether it’s a velvety smooth bass voice, a captivatingly raw baritone, a sweetly and shyly compelling lead, or an unusually rich and deep tenor, none of these voices can be truly separated from the unique human being who creates it. Diversity is our strength, and more diversity will make us much stronger. 

Voices United in Song

All of the voices, all of the uniqueness of every member creating that stunning tapestry, become the sound of Lions Gate Chorus. Every single voice matters in the creation of that musical expression, that audience experience... and our tapestry – our sound – is what differentiates us, and every chorus, from each other. Our sound is decidedly ours. We constantly hone our music-making skills. We never stop working on the nuances of the musical product we create. We massage our visual presentation. We re-imagine and remake our story-telling props. But we strive to never, ever interfere with the heartbeat of who we are; a group of unique individuals joining together with a common goal of creating a musical experience that thrills our audience. Becoming a more meaningfully diverse chorus can only strengthen our sound!

Harmony - free from prejudice

Every voice, joined together, creates the sound and experience we love as barbershop singers. Without our diverse, lived experiences, our sound simply wouldn’t be the same. Harmony can provide us with a shared experience free from prejudice if we are all willing to put in the work to identify and break down the barriers that prevent some singers from participating in this art form that we all love. This work will be hard and ongoing, and filled with inevitable missteps and mistakes, as we strive to learn and grow. And so we must focus, ultimately, on the future impact we can make, as a chorus, as an organization, and as individuals.

We leave you with this:

Harmony is found in the weaving of our individuality and is amplified when we join together in celebration of who we are on the inside, as well as on the outside.

Consider sharing these graphics on your own site as you begin to take steps toward a more inclusive shared experience in your own chorus.