Striking a chord – Astrid Jorgensen is making choir cool again

Astrid Jorgensen was on the verge of becoming an air traffic controller when a school called with an offer: run their choir on measly pay, for 500 teenagers who didn’t care. Not exactly a dream job, but she said yes anyway.

Staring down that sea of bored teenagers, Astrid realised she knew exactly how to win a room — how to move, when to crack a joke, how to get even the most apathetic kids to sing.

And if she could get kids to sing, could she do the same with adults? She turned up at a pub - lyric sheets in one hand, a pint in the other - and taught complete strangers to sing in three-part harmony.

Pub Choir was born. And it exploded.

But then COVID hit and live music collapsed overnight.

From Kate Bush sing-alongs to America’s Got Talent, Astrid is now one of Australia’s most successful live performers.

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Astrid Jorgensen is the creator of Pub Choir and her book is Average at Best.

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This episode was produced by Unity Jackson-Muir, editing by Luci McAfee. Kellie Riordan is host and Executive Producer.

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