Welcome to The Choir Times
Your Source for Everything Choir and Choral Music
The Choir Times is your go-to destination for the latest news, insights, and information about children's choirs and choral music. Our platform is designed to keep you informed about upcoming events, interviews with renowned children's choir directors, tips for singers, and much more. We are passionate about promoting the choral arts and creating a vibrant community for choir enthusiasts. Join us in celebrating the beauty of choral music and the talented individuals who bring it to life.
Message from the Chief Editor:
Welcome and thank you for being a part of this journey,
My name is Sarah Khan-Akselrod, and I started choir when I was six years old, but I really started to love music even before I could say the word “music”.
I also started piano lessons at a much younger age, and I have continued to play since then.I have always been very interested in the arts, particularly music.
When the world feels to be anarchic or overly chaotic, I believe that music can serve as an asylum—a safe space. Music draws you in and pulls you into a world unimaginable.
From my experience in choir to traveling across countries, I have learned that singing isn’t just about performance, it’s about understanding, culture, and sharing a love of music. I always had a strong passion for reading, writing, and bringing people together. This is how the idea of this newspaper came to be.
This space is to celebrate choral music in all of its different forms: the friendships, the rehearsals, the festivals, the culture, the history, and all the voices that have participated in changing the course of music.
Here, you’ll find stories from choirs around the world, reflections on musical experiences, festivals, and conversations with musicians from various cultures, but who share the same passion I do. I want this place, whether you’re an avid musician or a newcomer, to be a space where people feel welcome.
You don’t need experience to be a musician, as long as you have a voice, you have training. It doesn’t matter what country you come from, the language you speak, or the religion you are. Music is a universal language that we all speak.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I’m excited to share stories with you as well as continue singing, laughing, and harmonizing together.
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UNITED WE SING!
Sarah Khan-Akselrod
Editor-In-Chief
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When overwhelmed with emotion, many people turn to music—whether it’s playing an instrument, listening to music, or writing music. If you find yourself turning to music in times of uncertainty, if music interests you, and if you often find yourself humming a tune, then this is for you.
When people think of choir, they think of the stereotypes they might’ve seen in movies. If I had no prior knowledge of choir and you were to ask me what choir is, I’d probably say something like, “Choir is singing boring, old, unexpressive, and outdated songs.” Maybe people think it’s beautiful, but boring—I want to debunk this myth. But honestly, choir is so much more than that.
With my extensive knowledge of choir, I will tell you that choir is also laughing with friends during warm-ups, the feeling after getting the music wrong and finally getting it right, learning about other cultures through music, that chord that sounds just right, and the final note of the song, with the applause echoing throughout the resonant building.
All choirs are different, and I am very thankful that my choir gives us the opportunity to be ourselves, to travel, and participate in cultural exchange. With my choir, I travel all over the world and have made a lot of great friends in different countries. I will tell you all about it, as well as introduce you all to them to you
In the summer of 2024, we went to England and Wales to participate in an international music festival. In spring of 2025, we went to Eureka, California, to premiere a choral opera my conductor wrote about the Chinese immigrants who were expelled from Humboldt County. Most recently, we flew to Finland and Estonia to participate in one of the largest choral festivals in the world, the Laulupidu. This summer, we will be going to Canada, and when we return to the Bay Area, my choir will be hosting our 13th triennial Golden Gate Festival—a festival where choirs from across the country and around the world come and engage in friendly competition, but most importantly, build bridges and connect with people who you otherwise might not have known.
I am very grateful to have the opportunity to be in choir and experience all these music moments. Even if instruments cost money, your voice is free. We all have a voice, and thus, we can all be musicians. I truly believe that music can change the world if we use our voices in the right way.
I will be writing about my experience in choir, including festivals, choirs around the world, conductors, and many other choir-related things.I invite you to join me on this journey to learn about the harmonies of music. My letters to you will be about friendships—friendships started with the love of music. I will tell you about choirs all over the world; you will learn about various choral festivals and much more. In my podcast, I will have a lot of interesting interviews with different choirs from around the world.
Stay tuned, and I promise you will love choir as much as I do.
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UNITED WE SING
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