In a former synagogue in Los Angeles, over 100 strangers gathered for a three-hour one-day choir event hosted by Gaia Music Collective. The goal: learn and perform a choral arrangement of Miley Cyrus's 'The Climb' from the Hannah Montana movie, with themselves as the only audience.
Collective Effervescence and Connection
'There’s just something so ineffably spiritual about singing with such a large group of people,' said Kristen West, 29. 'I think they call it collective effervescence. It’s basically what makes church so magical.'
Asher Blank, a Gaia organizer and conductor, noted the growing hunger for such experiences: 'People are hungry for opportunities to make music, but they’re also hungry for opportunities to connect with other people.'
Rise Amid Loneliness Epidemic
The gatherings come amid what the US surgeon general identified in 2023 as a loneliness epidemic. The share of American adults meeting friends for dinner or drinks on any given night has dropped by 30% over the past two decades, according to an article in the Atlantic. Weekly religious attendance fell from 42% in the early 2000s to 30% in the early 2020s.
Participants at the LA event described the choir as filling a void. Darcy Calabria, 30, said it restored 'a piece of my soul that was missing.'
Somatic Belonging and Healing
Blank emphasized the physical experience: 'Feeling my actual body resonate with the sound of my voice, and feeling my body be sort of the vessel and the carrier of that sound, in community with other people who are doing the exact same thing, is just an incredibly powerful experience.'
The choir split into six parts, with surprising harmonies. 'You obviously want to appeal to the broadest audience, but I also think that people like being challenged,' said attender Jaimie Ding, 29.
From Skepticism to Joy
Kevin Duffin, 43, who has attended several events, said: 'You come out of it feeling so high, and so optimistic, and like anything’s possible.'
West, who left her evangelical church in 2022, said: 'When I left organized religion, the act of singing with a collective was something that I really grieved and I really missed. So there was something so healing about having a space like this.'
Global Reach and Queer Community
Gaia, launched in a Brooklyn apartment during the pandemic, has held events in several cities. Broadway stars like Leslie Odom Jr and Jessica Vosk have participated. TikTok clips of Gaia events have gone viral, including a Brooklyn performance of Natasha Bedingfield's 'Unwritten' with nearly 10 million views.
Blank noted a 'pretty big contingent of people who come to Gaia who are excited about being part of queer community.'
Activism and Transformation
New York's Mycelium Choral Project, founded by Gaia alum Kenter Davies, donates half its proceeds to causes like immigrant advocacy and trans youth. Davies said one-day choirs foster 'shared vulnerability' and transformation.
At the LA event, David Goryl, 53, said: '100-plus strangers coming together and immediately becoming like a family, I got the chills just thinking about it.'
