Social and emotional wellbeing in an Australian choir of people with disabilities

This paper analyses some of the social and emotional impacts of active participation in a choir of people with disabilities in Brisbane, Australia. The article begins by outlining an approach to the history of the group before moving on to consider the effects of singing together. It frames this process as one of an ‘imagined community’ performing for one another and then examines how the lyrics of the songs support various imaginaries. It is argued that these imaginaries play into the formation of multiple possible selves, which support belief in singers’ abilities, not disabilities. Imagining the self brings past, present and future together and, whilst constituting a separate element of becoming, it plays into the realisation of the present self. The past shapes possible selves through its mix of positive and negative influences, while the imagined state of the future self is fashioned in the projection of idealised hopes and fears. It is posited here that the specific form of participatory music making that is utilised by those with disabilities facilitates various imaginaries of possible selves which, in turn, improves senses of communitas and well-being.