From experimental sonic meditations to singing sessions for the homeless, there’s a new spirit of inclusiveness in choirs – and you don’t even need a good voice to join
![Black, white, avant-garde, atheist – how did choirs become so cool?](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5da0b40264890f6fcf9a4def8cbabfd3cb4393a1/19_0_1500_900/master/1500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=99d3159d6d51b50a72b28bf362dd36f5)
I have joined a choir by mistake. This time last year, I was adamant I could not sing. But now, here I am, with 15 other people in the Cafe Oto Experimental choir in
London, and we are each singing one long, even note, in whatever pitch comes naturally: this is the composer Pauline Oliveros’s Sonic Meditations.
You are probably imagining a cacophony of bum notes, but it is the opposite. Our voices fall in together in a huge harmonious chorus that fills the space with beautiful sound. As we shake off any lingering self-consciousness, people reach for higher volumes, and the hair on my arms stands on end. My eyes are shut and I feel as if we are floating.