Relationship Between Group Cohesion Among Singers During Choral Performance and the Quality of Performance

During a choral performance, the singers attempt to communicate with each other musically and create musical expressions that move audiences emotionally. The musical expression can be influenced by not only the technical aspects of singing but also group cohesion. Increased group cohesion during a performance might enhance the quality of a choral performance. However, whether the qualities of a choral performance, including sensation, vocalization, and expression, are associated with group cohesion among singers during a performance rather than the social relationship within a choir remain unclear. Here, we investigated the relationships between the quality of a choral performance and group cohesion, social closeness, or mind-body awareness using a questionnaire survey.

Thirty-four choral singers from five choirs (three mixed choirs, two female choirs; four to eight singers per choir) sang a song twice with a brief intermission in a normal rehearsal. The performances were then evaluated with recording videos by experts who were professional choral conductors as "Good" or "Poor".

The group cohesion, social closeness, and mind-body awareness scores were higher for "Good" than for "Poor" performances. In addition, the quality of the choral performances was more closely associated with task-oriented group cohesion than with socio-emotional cohesion.

These findings suggest the importance of improving group cohesion among singers during a performance, not only social relationship within a choir to enhance the quality of a choral performance.