Changing the world one voice at a time: philanthropy and community choirs in Australia

This paper explores the intersections between social entrepreneurship, corporate philanthropy and community engagement. The Melbourne-based not-for-profit organisation Creativity Australia oversees With One Voice choirs that offer 20 programmes with about 3000 participants. Creativity Australia fosters community music engagement and seeks corporate funding to support this work. Data were gathered via documents and semi-structured interviews with the Chief Executive Officer, the Community and Partnerships Manager, the Principal Conductor and older members of two choirs. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings are presented thematically and report on participant understandings of social benefits that foster a sense of well-being. This Australian case study is an example of the potential of private philanthropy to offer significant benefits to quality of life of individuals, strengthen the social fabric of communities and to address the needs of older people (aged 55+) who seek social connection through music engagement.