Expanding access to adult community choirs: a scoping review to identify facilitators and barriers to choir membership

Choir singing is increasingly recognised for its potential health and wellbeing benefits, with amateur adult community choirs offering accessible opportunities for participation. However, a lack of member diversity highlights the need to identify facilitators and barriers to address equitable access. To do this, we conducted a scoping review of international literature, identifying 24 relevant articles. Previous findings often focused on personal motivations for participation, such as enjoyment of singing and fulfilment of personal, relational and community needs. Factors that affect access despite personal motivation were also identified: facilitators included previous musical experiences, audition-free entry, word-of-mouth recruitment and effective leadership, while barriers included negative relationships and time constraints. Some literature noted a gender imbalance, lack of ethnic diversity and generally older membership, indicating broader access issues; however, specific factors for underrepresented groups were not identified. The literature indicates important considerations for increasing access, engagement and retention in amateur adult community choirs, but further research is needed to address barriers for underrepresented groups.