I just saw someone describe Julien Baker’s voice as something that “could make them believe in God” and genuinely genuinely I’ve never heard a better way of expressing how her music makes me feel.
Just a few reasons why we need more truly secular school/community/professional choirs to, like, exist:
More welcoming for singers and audience members who are non-religious
More welcoming for singers and audience members of minority religions
More welcoming for singers and audience members who are uncomfortable having their sacred music taken out of context
Church choirs already exist, and there are a million other ensembles singing Gloria and Requiem and Ave Maria and Hallelujah Chorus; I promise the folks who like singing and listening to the religious classics have no shortage of options available to them
There is so much amazing secular repertoire out there that gets passed over time and time again in favor of the same old church pieces. Expand! Explore!! Seize this musical opportunity!!!