Pub Choir

Pub Choir (currently Couch Choir during the COVID-19 pandemic) is a musical act founded in Brisbane, Australia, directed by Astrid Jorgensen and accompanied by Waveney Yasso on guitar.[1][2][3]

Pub Choir
Astrid Jorgensen (9th from left), Waveney Yasso (4th from left) and Megan Bartholomew (far right) with Camerata Chamber Orchestra at Fortitude Music Hall, December 2019
Background information
OriginBrisbane, Australia
GenresChoral Music, Popular Music
Years active2017-present
Websitewww.pubchoir.com.au
Members
  • Astrid Jorgensen
  • Waveney Yasso
  • Paris Owen
  • Megan Bartholomew
  • John Patterson

At each Pub Choir event Jorgensen arranges a popular song and teaches it to the audience in three-part harmony, concluding with a performance which is filmed and shared on social media.[4][5] There is no formal recurring membership and participants purchase tickets to attend each show, which is usually held at a licensed venue.[4]

Background

The first Pub Choir event was held in West End, Brisbane in March 2017.[4] University friends Astrid Jorgensen and Megan Bartholomew hosted the inaugural event at Brisbane venue, The Bearded Lady, where 80 attendees learned Jorgensen's arrangement of "Slice of Heaven" by Dave Dobbyn.[6] Original Pub Choir members Waveney Yasso (guitarist) and Paris Owen (videographer) were also active at this first event. Jorgensen founded Pub Choir "to help regular people reclaim music in their lives, free of pressure or judgement".[5]

Pub Choir gained international attention in November 2017 when their rendition of Zombie (The Cranberries song) by The Cranberries went viral on the internet,[7] and was shared by the band themselves shortly after the death of lead singer, Dolores O’Riordan.[4] Pub Choir has since held events widely around Australia,[2][8][9][10][11][12][13] as well as in New Zealand,[14] the United States[15] and England. On 5 April 2018 Pub Choir performed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[16] On 20 July 2019 Pub Choir performed at Splendour In The Grass.[17]

Special guests

Pub Choir has featured guest appearances by several notable musicians and celebrities. The first guest appearance in March 2018 by John Collins of Powderfinger for a performance of "My Happiness (Powderfinger song)" received significant media attention, with a three-page feature in The Australian[7] by journalist Andrew McMillen and a long-form radio piece on ABC's Radio National Breakfast program, hosted by Fran Kelly.[18]

In 2018 other notable musical guests included:

In 2019 musical guests included:

In 2020 musical guests included:

In 2018 Pub Choir was featured in Hit Network's national advertising campaign, with multiple presenters appearing at shows including Grant Denyer, Dave Hughes, Kate Langbroek, and Ed Kavalee.[19]

Philanthropy

Pub Choir has regularly partnered with local charities, often donating a portion of ticket sales and raising money at events.[5]

In 2018 Pub Choir raised over $19,000 for the charity MND and Me in honour of Pub Choir regular attendee, John Hanley. Subsequently, John Hanley's involvement with Pub Choir caught the attention of ABC TV producers for the show "The Recording Studio",[20] in which Hanley was featured in the inaugural episode on 16 April 2019.[21]

On 20 December 2018 Pub Choir sold out a Christmas event at Brisbane City Hall for a performance of "How to Make Gravy" by Paul Kelly. Samuel Johnson (OAM) was the guest speaker, and the event raised over $108,000 for Samuel's charity, "Love Your Sister".[2] In 2019, their Christmas event raised over $134,000 for Women's Legal Service Queensland.

On 14 June 2019 Jorgensen was awarded the Queensland Community Foundation Emerging Philanthropist of the Year as a result of her charitable work with Pub Choir.[22]

Couch Choir

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic a virtual choir named Couch Choir was created as an online equivalent of Pub Choir.[5] In July 2020 it created a video including 1,534 contributions from people in 40 countries.[23] In 2020, Couch Choir's video performance of Close to You by The Carpenters was added to the collection of the Australian National Communications Museum.[24] Couch Choir's 2020 Christmas video of All I Want For Christmas Is You featured the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and was shared online by Mariah Carey, raising over $31,000 for the charity GIVIT.[25][26]

References
  1. "How Pub Choir became a phenomenon". Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 30 April 2018.
  2. "Pub Choir brings singing to the masses". The Canberra Times, 26 April 2019.
  3. "Pub Choir is for everyone, no matter how bad your singing is". Scenestr, 8 April 2019.
  4. "Pub Choir: Brisbane grassroots event where everyone's urged to sing". The Australian, 23 March 2018.
  5. Leigh, Andrew; Terrell, Nick (2020). Reconnected: A community builder's handbook. Australia: La Trobe University Press. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9781760642617.
  6. "Something brewing in the world of song". The Australian, 24 March 2018.
  7. "Brisbane's Pub Choir movement marks first year". The Australian, 23 March 2018.
  8. "Let that inhibition go': Vocal support drives Pub Choir's success“. The Age, 31 January 2019.
  9. "'Pub Choir hits the right notes as movement steps out of Brisbane for first time". ABC Sunshine Coast, 7 March 2018.
  10. "'Pubs in harmony as singers take over the bar for Festival of Voices Pub Choir Events". The Mercury, 10 July 2018.
  11. "'600 people heading to Darwin Ski Club for first ever NT Pub Choir event Friday night". Northern Territory News, 19 July 2018.
  12. "'Pub Choir to take over Toowoomba bar". The Toowoomba Chronicle, 20 March 2018.
  13. "'Pub Choir in Warwick". Warwick Daily News, 22 January 2019.
  14. Interactive (http://www.nvinteractive.co.nz), N. V. "Pub Choir @ The Spiegeltent". Bread & Circus. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  15. Crossen, Louise. "Griffith alumnus goes global with Pub Choir". news.griffith.edu.au. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  16. "Pub Choir | Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". Gold Coast 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  17. "'From singing in the pub to Splendour in the Grass". SBS, 3 April 2019.
  18. "'Pub Choir': A singing community". Radio National, 26 March 2018.
  19. "2DayFM is bringing Pub Choir to Sydney". Radio Today. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  20. "'Dying man records Brown Eyed Girl on ABC show for wife". ‘’The Courier-Mail’’, 12 April 2018.
  21. "'Middle Eight: The Recording Studio". ‘’The Australian’’, 20 April 2019.
  22. Downes, Kirsten. "QCF 2019 Philanthropist of the Year Awards". QCF. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  23. Wallace, Jess (15 July 2020). "Forty countries, 1500 people: Watch this killer Couch Choir in action". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  24. "Part Two - Building virtual communities". National Communications Museum. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  25. "Couch Choir Helps the Isolated Find Their Voice". 96five Family Radio. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  26. Coast. "2,800 people from 50 countries sing stunning virtual choir cover of 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'". Coast. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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