1091828

research-article2022
IJM0010.1177/02557614221091828International Journal of Music EducationClark

Atheist public school choir directors

and their views on religious music
performance

Christopher L. Clark
Case Western Reserve University, USA

Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the religious development, life
experiences, and perspectives of six atheist high school choral music teachers on their current
attitudes about performing sacred choral music within the public school education system. Six
atheist choir directors participated in eighteen semi-structured interviews, resulting in 608 minutes
of data. Main analysis occurred through first- and second-wave coding, with horizontalization
within the process. Analysis revealed five main themes that defined atheist choir director
experiences: youth religious participation largely motivated by community and vibrant music,
moving away from religious teaching throughout adolescence and college, feelings of other as a
non-Christian minority, stepping into a role to participate in religious rituals, and programming
religious music by presentation rather than proselytizing. Additionally, there was intersectional
overlapping between the sexuality of a participant and their development as atheists. The essence
of atheist choir directors is that of a lived contradiction between religious music and a non-
believing music presenter.

Keywords
Atheist, choir director, programming, religion, religious music, music education

According to current demographic data, the United States is becoming less Christian. The 2021
Pew Research Center’s National Public Opinion Reference Survey lists the United States’ two larg-
est religious groups as Christian (63%, divided into various denominations) and Unaffiliated or
Religious None (29%). Other religions included 1% who describe themselves as Jewish, 1% who
are Muslim, 1% who are Buddhist, 1% who are Hindu, and 2% who identify with a wide variety of
other faiths. Both the Christian and Religious Nones showed a substantial shift from the 2007 Pew
Religious Landscape Study, in which numbers of Christian identifying individuals fell from 78.4%
of the population to 63%. Conversely, people identifying as Unaffiliated grew from 16.1% of the
population to 29% over the span of 14 years (America’s Changing Religious Landscape, 2015).
Church membership is down sharply from approximately 70% of Americans in 1999 to 50% in
2019 (Jones, 2019). Current trends in individual religiosity are related to age, with each younger
generation becoming less Christian and are not gaining in religiosity as they age (Jones, 2019).
These demographic shifts are part of a larger trend of fewer people identifying as Christian and
more people identifying as Unaffiliated or irreligious over the last few decades.
Recent court cases between an educational entity and a member of the religiously pluralistic
American society frequently conclude with the courts siding with a secular platform. In the land-
mark case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), the US Supreme Court unanimously agreed that laws
allowing local governments to fund education programs that taught Christian-based lessons were
unconstitutional. From this ruling, Chief Justice Warren Burger formulated the Lemon Test. The
purpose of the Lemon Test is to determine if a law will violate the Establishment Clause of the
Constitution. From the opinion: “First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second,
its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; finally, the
statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion.” Many of the Supreme
Court’s First Amendment decisions since 1971 have used this test to determine constitutionality.
Since Lemon v. Kurtzman, judiciary of other important cases ruled between appropriate and
inappropriate use of religion and religious music within public schools. “. . .it is the advance-
ment or inhibition of religion that is prohibited. Hence, the study of religion is not forbidden
when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education” (Florey v. Sioux Falls
School District, 1980). The school administration has the right to prohibit religious musical per-
formances, if it feels that it is in the best interests of the public (Nurre v. Whitehead, 2009).
Music has purpose in education beyond the mere words or notes in conveying a feeling or mood,
teaching culture and history, and broadening understanding of art. Thus, the singing of songs is
not an explicit religious exercise (Bauchman by and Through Bauchman v. West High School,
1995). The judges’ rulings in these cases legally demonstrate that singing religious music does
not advance a particular religion, but school districts can make curricular judgments about reli-
gious music programming. However, many school districts do not enforce a variety of religious
programming on a consistent basis (Drummond, 2014). A deeper analysis of these cases is pre-
sented by Perrine in his doctoral dissertation Sacred music in public school curriculum: A philo-
sophical inquiry into selected case law (2015).
Choral music has a large sacred component due to the historical patronage of religious (espe-
cially Christian) organizations, the current proliferation of church choirs, and entire genres of
American music that is largely Christian (gospel and spirituals). As a position, the National
Association for Music Education (NAfME) has stated that “the study and performance of religious
music within an educational context is a vital and appropriate part of a comprehensive music edu-
cation. The omission of sacred music from the school curriculum would result in an incomplete
educational experience” (Sacred Music in Schools, nd). NAfME recognized that the sacred nature
of music, in which the church had been the main patron behind the creation of music, is important
from an educational standpoint that looks past the religiosity of a piece of music. The American
Choral Directors Association also has a position statement on Music with a Sacred Text:

While public school teaching objectives and criteria for repertoire selection should not include religious
indoctrination, the selection of quality repertoire will invariably include within its broad scope music with
a sacred text. To exclude from a public school curriculum all choral music which has religious meaning
associated with the text is to severely limit the possibilities of teaching for artistic understanding and
responsiveness (Music with a Sacred Text, nd).
Using similar philosophical viewpoints, several authors have advocated for sacred music perfor-
mance in educational settings if the music does not violate the Establishment clause and districts
have an opt-out policy for students who do not want to sing religious music (Drummond, 2017;
Perrine, 2015). Benedict (2021) argues that no pedagogical space is neutral (religiously or other-
wise), and the neutrality that secular education strives for often results in the sanctioning of reli-
gious individuals.
There is a general belief that the views and backgrounds of all students are important to the
educational process (Benedict, 2021; Hoffman, 2011; Rideout, 2005). The same belief could be
true of teachers. Within public education, researchers have studied the religious views of math-
ematics teachers (Chan & Wong, 2014; Chan et al., 2012), science teachers (Aflalo, 2013;
Mansour, 2008), and the need for religious diversity in pre-service teacher-training programs
(Subedi, 2006). However, there has been little empirical research on the religious views of
music educators and how these views interact with their pedagogical practice. Research on
spirituality within music education is growing (Boyce-Tillman, 2017), but this research makes
an important distinction between engendering spirituality and advancing an organized religion.
American public school education is a secular entity, legally prohibited to advance one religion
over another. Yet, choral music, the textbook of the choral classroom, is often sacred in nature
due to the history of church patronage and religiosity of certain important genres of choral
music. Choral directors who identify as atheist, who by definition believe in a secular society
(Dawkins, 2006), can provide interesting phenomenological (Creswell & Creswell, 2018)
insight into the intersection of secular public school education and the performance of religious
music by choral ensembles. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perspec-
tives and experiences of six atheist public school choral music teachers on their current atti-
tudes about performing sacred choral music within the public school education system. The
study is guided by three research questions:

1. How did the non-religious identity of the atheist participants develop from their religious
or non-religious youths?
2. What are the experiences of atheist choir directors within a profession that is largely cen-
tered on Christian religious music?
3. In what ways does being atheist public school choir directors consciously manifest itself in
the classroom?

It is important to note that while the term “religious” is used throughout the paper, it largely
designates Christianity. Christianity is the dominant religion in the United States, and religious
choral music in the United States is largely centered on Christian texts. Clark (2021), in a survey
of United States public school teachers, found that 100% of the religious music programmed dur-
ing the 2019 to 2020 school year was from a Christian viewpoint. Despite the small sample size of
the survey, the vast majority of the religious music performed in the United States is Christian.
However, to exclude the non-Christian music being performed would be inaccurate. Thus, the term
“religious” is used throughout.

Methodology
Participants in this study were six secondary-level choral directors who identify as atheist
and located in the United States. I placed a general post on the state American Choral Directors
Association Facebook pages of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut, attempting to bind the study to the New England area. As that posting did not
yield enough participants, I posted the same call for participants on the American Choral
Directors Association Eastern District Facebook page, and the I Am A Choir Director
Facebook page. Participants contacted me via email or direct message to volunteer to partici-
pate in the study.
Data collection occurred via three semi-structured interviews with each participant (Creswell
& Poth, 2018). During interview one, I focused on obtaining life history and addressing research
question 1. In interview two, I focused on details of the atheist choral director experience and
addressing research question 2. During interview three, I focused on reflections on the meaning
and practice of being an atheist choir director (Seidman, 2013) and addressing research ques-
tion 3. Most interview questions were pilot tested by two music education researchers, although
the interviews generated spontaneous questions. All interviews were completed face-to-face or
by digital telecommunication (Skype, Google Hangout). Interviews were recorded on an iPhone
6 and a 2017 Macbook Pro, and transcribed using Express Scribe software. Most interviews
took between 30 minutes to an hour. The 18 participant interviews resulted in 608 minutes of
data, collected over a 1 month time period. I transcribed the interviews within 48 hours of
completion.
As there are no other phenomenological studies on atheist choir directors, I used open cod-
ing in the first round of data analysis to avoid any preconceptions I might have about the
participant data. Throughout the data collection and coding process, I engaged in horizontali-
zation, to be “receptive to every statement of the co-researcher’s experience, granting each
comment equal value” (Moustakas, 1994, p. 122). Statements that seemed to be significant to
the participants or that connected multiple participants became the basis for second-wave cod-
ing. I discussed the various first- and second-wave codes with two other music education
researchers to refine and prepare for the second-wave of coding (Creswell & Poth, 2018). By
the end of second-wave coding, I had compiled a list of themes that continued to be refined by
peer reviewers and myself. During the final interview with participants, I read a list of themes
that I believed were emerging from the data and asked the participants to comment on them.
One of the final questions was “Do you feel represented by this list of themes?” Every partici-
pant answered in the affirmative.

Findings
The six high school choir directors participated in the interview process were religiously diverse in
their background. All but one of the interviewees grew up attending regular weekly Christian ser-
vices with their parents: Lindsay1 and Tobias attended Catholic services, George was Mormon,
Lucille was baptized Catholic then attended an Episcopal church, a non-denominational Christian
Church, and a Unitarian Church at various times, while Michael attended Muslim and Christian
services. Byron’s parents raised him in a non-religious household. Although each interviewee
answered the questions from their own religiously diverse background, a number of interesting
similarities emerged from their conversations. Many of the participants expressed appreciating the
community and musical aspect of their religious communities, rather than the religious aspects.
They moved away from their religious teachings at different times, some as early as age 12, and
some not until college. They all participated in religious rituals as adult musicians, but often had
feelings of “other” while participating. To fit into the religious environment, they often had to “step
into a role,” a role that to the casual observer or listener would pass for a Christian believer. Finally,
when they presented religious music to their students, they often tried to present it from the histori-
cal or musical aspects, rather than the religious aspects.
Allure of community and vibrant music
Many interviewees discussed what attracted them to religion. Lucille said that it was a combination
of music and community that she enjoyed, rather than any overt Christian feeling.

I really went to church because of the music, going to when I switched and went to the Unitarian church
where the Christ Church United, it was because someone invited me to go make music there. I wouldn’t
say that I was actively believing or not in what they were saying at the time. . . just one more chance in a
week to get to sing. And I like singing with other people. (Lucille, interview one)

Lucille eventually rejected the community that she had found there. She replaced it with her music
community (which does include religious people).
Five of the six participants attended religious services on a regular basis in their youth. Their
participation ranged from singing in the choir or being part of the praise band, to learning the organ
to play at services, to watching a parent lead an important part in the service. For some, they truly
felt that they believed in a deity during this time. Others found their faith to be more of a façade
and attended for the music and community. All participants eventually detached from religion,
moving away through their late adolescence and early college years.

Questioning: Moving away from religious teachings

Every interviewee described moving away from religion at different times. Lindsay grew up
Catholic, her mother was a well-respected Cantor, and her family included former nuns.

I was about 12 years old, I was like. . .it’s not for me. It’s not my thing. I don’t believe anything that they
are saying to me, I didn’t have any connection to any of this. It kind of rubs me the wrong way. I don’t even
think I can tolerate being here in the church. (Lindsay, interview one)

However, she continued to attend Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), but eventually
declined to go through with Confirmation.

I said I just can’t do it. I told my parents, I said, I can’t be a hypocrite. You want me to say that this is my
belief, or this is what I’m going to be for the rest of my life, and I have no interest in that. I am a black and
white kind of person. If I say I am, I damn well better believe it. (Lindsay, interview one)

Tobias and Lucille began moving away from religion in college. Lucille stated:

You start to realize “I don’t have to do everything just like my parents did.” I don’t know if atheism came
as some realization to me, I think it just crept on. I didn’t find meaning in church when I was there. I didn’t
have that part of the connection. I found community there, I found it was a welcoming place. I didn’t have
that divine connection that other people did. (Lucille, interview one)

Participants defined atheism as “no belief in a God.” They added the caveat that while they see
the evidence as skewing toward “no God,” they recognize that future research might prove them
wrong. “just because we cannot measure it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist” (Michael, interview one).

Questioning: Intersectionality of sexuality and gender

Tobias and George began embracing their homosexuality as they moved away from the religion of
their youth. According to George, “being raised gay in the Mormon church is like a whole thing. I
think there was a lot of self-loathing and self-doubt and lying for self-preservation. I associate a lot
of shame with religion in general” (interview one). When asked about the intersection of his athe-
ism and homosexuality, Tobias stated, “I think that it went hand in hand with the whole coming out
process. Accepting that and telling people” (interview one).
Lindsay also discussed how gender in the Catholic Church contributed to her atheism.
She remembers being in CCD with male teachers smiling and shaking their heads in bemuse-
ment when she asked them pointed questions about Biblical contents and why Catholics believe
what they do.

It was always taught that you may have questions, and you might even be able to say them, but you are
going to be wrong. These are just the teachings, and this is just the way it is. The men have all these
powers. You’re a young girl, so you just go along with it. (Lindsay, interview two)

Her mothers’ criticism of the Catholic religion also influenced her own criticism.

She (her mother) has always believed that women should be able to be priests, we are just as good as you.
Nuns do way more work, way more of the dirty work than the priests would, and also that priests should
be married. How can you minister to me about what my life is like when you can’t experience three
quarters of my life? (Lindsay, interview one)

All participants who grew up in religious households eventually left that religion. For some, it
happened when they were young, which made for tough conversations with their family. Others
waited until college when the stigmatization of atheists was less acute and family was no longer
consistently present (Greska, 2015). However, all the participants had accepted their atheism by
the time they graduated college and entered the choral field as atheists.

Feelings of “other”
All participants agreed that they often felt like an “other”: being the minority in a majority
Christian society. Byron, who lived in a very rural area, discussed the worry he felt for himself
and his family, “I feel like a minority. I definitely don’t feel as other races or religions do, but
atheism is . . .the largest minority right now, and with the violence that’s going on in the world,
to have that. . .yeah. It’s scary (interview two).” George, also from a rural area, agreed: “I feel
like there would be social repercussion if I were to be vocal about it. Not that I would lose my
job, but maybe that certain people would make it uncomfortable enough that they hope I would
leave (interview three).
The other interviewees did not worry as much about repercussions, but still felt as if they had to
speak carefully. Lucille said, “Not that I’m scared for people to know that I’m an atheist, but it’s
not a comfortable conversation for me, so I avoid it. (interview three)” Michael agreed, “I just
avoid it. I avoid posting it, I avoid it. Because people have some irrational attachments. I don’t need
that negativity. Plus, I like getting hired. (interview three).”
There is some intersection between Feelings of Other and Stepping into a Role, the following
theme. Participants discussed that they generally did not think of their atheism every day, rather,
only when prompted by a stimulus. That stimulus might be a person asking them what church they
go to, a student asking why they have to sing religious music, or when looking at a composition
and weighing the programming possibilities of a sacred work. Participants often stepped into a role
to avoid feeling uncomfortable and to put others at ease. In this way, they could continue perform-
ing music that they found beautiful and getting paid.
Stepping into a role
Some interviewees reported stepping into a role when they attended church. Michael attended both
Muslim and Christian services in his youth. His father was Muslim and aimed to raise his son into
a Muslim as well. “My father would have loved it if I was a good Muslim, but he wasn’t, so it
wasn’t really the best example. (Michael, interview one)” He lived in a community where there
were very few Muslim people and many Jewish people, a minority religion within a minority com-
munity within a majority Christian country.
George, raised Mormon, lived the role until he went to college. He highlighted the fact that a
person can seem to believe one thing, but might be putting on a show for self-preservation.

I played it pretty convincingly through high school. I was chosen always for the leadership positions. I was
pretty picture perfect. I think it was just lying the whole time. It was like a self-preservation thing. When I
went college, I went to church once, the first Sunday, and then I never went back. (George, interview one)

All interviewees reported performing in religious rituals for compensation. These roles included
vocal soloist, section leaders, choir conductors, and music directors/organists, most frequently at
Christian churches. The clergy in charge sometimes knew of the participants’ atheism, sometimes
did not. Atheist musicians have had to find a way to perform music that has a religious message
they do not believe in. Lindsay advised finding a “nugget of truth” to communicate the meaning of
the piece to the audience.

I think when you yourself don’t feel that what you are saying is true, you have to find a way to communicate
that, in a way that is meaningful for the people who are listening, for the people who are there for the
purpose of worship. It does feel just like being in a show or even in a concert or something where you are
stepping into music you didn’t necessarily choose, and you were commenting on some of the things you
did with voices, or one of the pieces, and having to find something in yourself that you can bring to it. But
you do the same things when you are in a theatrical role. You find one little nugget of something that you
can grab onto, that you can turn into what they need. So, the feeling is definitely that I am not myself in
the moment, because I can’t be. If I was, then it wouldn’t do the job that it is supposed to do. (Lindsay,
interview three)

Byron agreed by equating performing religious music to singing musical theater: actors find ways
to portray roles regardless of belief in the content.

(It’s) just like a play, to me. I’m not professing my faith. Or a faith of any type or believes, I’m just singing
the music that other people have put their heart and soul. The same if I sang a love song, I may not believe
it, or be singing to an individual person, but the emotions behind it, kind of like a make-believe type thing.
(Byron, interview two)

Participants felt that they stepped into a role any time they participated in religious services.
This includes when they were younger and began questioning their faith. They maintained the
façade until they found people and situations in which it was safe to be themselves. The façade
continued to their career, as all participants performed in religious services at various times in their
career. Atheists stepped into a role that gives them the ability to participate as fully as they can.

Selecting religious music: Presenting not proselytizing

Every atheist choir director interviewed except one programmed religious music. Those that did
program it did so for the musical content, historical content, to explore variety of religious
viewpoints rather than the mainstream Christian viewpoint, or as inclusion of the “Western choral
canon.” The programming of religious music was important to most directors. Tobias thought that
programming religious music was important to a well-rounded choral curriculum.

It doesn’t negate anything with religious music, or to not program it would be robbing them of a well-
rounded choral education. There is so much great music that has religious texts of all different religions,
be it Christianity, or Hindi, or Hebrew. I think it’s important to expose students to music that has those
texts. (Tobias, interview one)

Michael, however, did not program religious music beyond “the odd gospel piece.” He dis-
cussed how much of the religious music was not accessible to his students and did not directly
connect to many of their lives.

(It’s) not fine in a public school because then the state is establishing religion. Which the state cannot do.
If we can’t have, nor should we have, prayers in football games, then do not tell me to program the
Hallelujah chorus in summer. (Doing it) means that we are beholden as music teachers to things that are
something outside of the curriculum. And you don’t do that to Math teachers. You don’t do that to English
teachers. You don’t do that to PE teachers. You don’t do it to Art teachers. It’s not like they tell Art teachers
“Why don’t you paint pictures of crosses at Christmas time (Michael, interview two)?

When presenting religious music to students, all interviewees discussed the music from whatever
context would be most salient. Lindsay discussed programming Bobby McFerrin’s Psalm 23: “I’m
not teaching it to the kids as a psalm. I’m teaching it to them as a text. This person believes it and he
poured his heart into composing this music for it because it was something that was meaningful to
him (interview one).” Some participants programmed a variety of religious music with their students,
with an eye toward a variety of religious thought. They also discussed how they often worried about
their minority-religion students and their comfort, such as Jewish students having to perform Christian
music. George talked about the interaction of his music programming with sacred music.

I think that most Christian teachers are just like “well, there’s sacred or their secular, and sacred is Catholic
and Christian and all of this. But it’s like, well, I try and do a Buddhist chant or a Muslim text or Islamic
text, or I’ve done some pagan stuff. I think that that has made me more conscious because I’ve been on the
receiving end of being uncomfortable about music text. (interview two)

Every director had also received objections from various stakeholders on their religious music
selection. Some received objections from students when they modified a composition to be more
inclusive. George had three students complain when he used an alternate text that was included in
the octavo. It turns out, the objections were encouraged by a local youth pastor.

I did Prayer of the Children, and there’s the alternate text of “Crying who will help me” instead of “Crying
Jesus help me.” I just said, we are going to do the text at the bottom. . .Then three weeks later, three girls, all
in different classes, came and talked to me, and said “I can’t sing this song. You changing the words is
discouraging my belief in Jesus.” And then I found out they all go to the same church, and there was a youth
pastor who caught wind (of the alternate text), and told them they all needed to (talk to me). . .so I told them
what the alternative assignment was going to be. Two of them quickly realized they didn’t care that much and
sang the song, and one of them walked off stage during (that song in) the concert. (George, interview two)

Teachers having students sing songs from other faith traditions can be tough for parents who
don’t know choral music’s traditions. Lindsay had a Jewish parent who called on the administra-
tion to fire her because she programmed the Huron Carol.
 I got dragged into the office the week we got back from break, because one of the second graders is Jewish
and that parent called the school and said “How dare she tell my child that he has to sing about Jesus my
king is born. This can’t happen. She should be taken out, fired immediately, this can’t happen, she needs
to approve these songs, how did she get away with this?” What??! I’m not pushing religion on anybody!
(Lindsay, interview two)

Lindsey goes on in the interview to discuss how she now gets permission from the administra-
tion for every religious song she programs with her students.
Each of the participants programed sacred music on a regular basis except Michael. Participants
discussed the point that when they present religious music to their students, they do talk about
where the text and music come from the same as they do for non-religious music. However, when
they make the decision to program the piece, they never do so for religious reasons. When the
teachers program religious music, they program it for the musical or historical content, to highlight
a non-mainstream religious viewpoint (in America, any non-Christian viewpoint), or as inclusion
of the “Western choral canon.” Perrine’s (2015) philosophical dissertation reinforced this rational
for music selection.
It is important to note that the problems associated with programming religious music may go
beyond mere student discomfort. Some religious observances restrict or ban performances of
sacred music, or conversely only allow performances of certain religious music. This may speak
for the need for greater religious education in the profession.

Discussion
Research question 1: How did the self-images of the atheist participants develop
from their religious or non-religious youths?
Most atheist choir directors grew up in households that attended religious services weekly but
moved away from their religious upbringing for a variety of reasons. Feelings of “other” permeated
this minority group; directors rarely talked about their atheism to the greater public for fear of
repercussions, especially when young. This corresponds with Stroop’s research into the “exvan-
gelical” movement, and the break and trauma suffered by individuals who questioned or left organ-
ized religion (2019). The music and community that the church offered was the main draw for
many participants, with the music aspect still important to many of them in adulthood. However,
when questioning religious leaders led to insufficient answers, most participants took it upon them-
selves to look for answers that were sufficient to their rational minds.
George and Tobias left the church as they embraced their atheism and homosexuality. These
stories differ from that of Zeke. In his study of LGBTQ identity, Taylor (2018) tells the story of
Zeke, a young man from Alabama who grew up a fervent church devotee and future choral musi-
cian. As he began to embrace his homosexuality during adolescence, he found that the church was
no longer a welcome place for him. Rather than turn from the Church, he looked for a deeper
understanding within the scriptures, and still identifies as Christian. Zeke stands in sharp contrast
to George and Tobias, choral music educators in this study who found their homosexuality at odds
with church. They could not rectify their identities with religion, and so left the religion in which
they had grown up. Both choral music teachers program religious music, as it is important for their
singers to sing specifically Christian music. However, it is not music that the teachers identify with.
Data from this study expands and confirms earlier research on atheist identity formation. Greska
(2015), in her study of college atheists, posited that most adopted their atheist identity in college,
after an adolescence of questioning. The current study aligns with that data, with most participants
questioning throughout their adolescence and confirming their atheist identity later in adolescence
or in college. This data also expands on that research by continuing to examine the atheist identity
after it has been developed and internalized.

Research question 2: What are the experiences of atheist choir directors within a
profession that is largely centered on Christian religious music?
All interviewees participated in Christian services on a regular or semi-regular basis, as soloists,
section leaders, and choir directors, with money and aesthetic experiences being the motivating
factors. When performing religious music, interviewees described it as “stepping into a role” much
like in musical theater. They tend to feel “othered” by individuals in the profession that frequently
chooses to elevate the religious over the non-religious. Because of this, they don’t discuss their
non-belief for fear of repercussions. This data corresponds with the Secular Survey, a study of
34,000 non-religious Americans sponsored by American Atheists (2019) and several other atheist
organizations. Researchers found that,

almost one-third (31.4%) of survey participants mostly or always concealed their nonreligious identity
from members of their immediate family, the rate of concealment was much higher for extended family
members (42.7%). Nearly half of participants mostly or always concealed their nonreligious identity
among people at work (44.3%) and people at school (42.8%) (p. 19).

Research question 3: In what ways does being atheist public school choir directors
consciously manifest itself in the classroom?
Programming music can be one of the most important tasks of a choral director. The music chosen
is the material through which students will learn the curriculum for that year. Perrine (2015) agreed
with participants on programming of religious music, but only for a non-religious rationale.
Directors can honor the Establishment clause; yet still select religious music as part of the curricu-
lum. In an article on navigating religious diversity in school music classrooms, Hoffman (2011)
states another rationale.

. . .Teachers promote student learning by acting as a cultural accommodator. While affirming the cultural
resources students bring to the classroom, teachers must also help students navigate the school structure.
In a school music context (and specifically regarding religious diversity), this may mean providing students
with background knowledge about the religious-based texts sung or the cultural context of Christian
holidays around which historical pieces of music literature were written. (Hoffman, 2011, p. 58)

All atheist directors had chosen religious music for their choirs to perform, but chose that
music for historical, musical, or emotional content, or for non-Christian or different cultural
viewpoints. When presenting a religious piece, directors did discuss the religious text in-depth
with students. However, the directors also communicated that they were not proselytizing, and
students were free to believe whatever they chose to believe. Despite this, atheist choir directors
have received objections to their music selection from both religious and non-religious students
and community members.
When viewed holistically, the essence of atheist choir directors is that of a lived contradiction
between presenting religious music and being a non-believing musician. Atheists do not believe in
God, yet atheist choir directors have chosen a profession in which religious music is traditionally
included. Atheist choir directors defined atheism as “no belief in a god.” Despite this shared defini-
tion, the group expressed their atheistic beliefs in a variety of ways, from being spiritual but not
religious to being “militantly atheist” (George, interview one).
Implications
The United States is becoming less religious. The choral music field, however, remains stalwartly
religious, centered on Christianity, and entangled in the traditions that helped form it. The larger
American organizations within this field (e.g. ACDA, NAfME) need to continue having conversa-
tions around the power that they wield and whose voices they choose to magnify. These entities
have been largely silent on a number of progressive issues within the field. Will there be a session
at a conference on programming music that reflects the non-religious portion of society?
Alternatively, a session addressing the legal ramifications of religious music programming might
help teachers. Choral methods professors could discuss the trials and tribulations of performing
religious music with their pre-service teachers, to better prepare them for some of the discussions
they may have with various stakeholders when they begin teaching.
Current music educators, regardless of religious identity, need to understand the liabilities
associated with programming religious music excessively, especially at the public school level.
A community that is predominantly Christian should not perform exclusively Christian music,
as one of the goals of a public school education is the introduction of a variety of viewpoints and
music that students will encounter in the larger world. Alternatively, a community that has a
plethora of viewpoints should perform some religious music, as religion is one of the viewpoints
that exists in the world and comprises a large part of existing choral music. Our students may
have broader viewpoints if we program a variety of music rather than different genres of music
all expressing one viewpoint.
All of the study participants discussed not having a policy on music selection in their schools,
with most having supportive administration that will champion the teachers’ decisions on program-
ming. It would behoove all public school administrations to have a written policy on the perfor-
mance of religious music. A written policy protects choir directors from stakeholders who do not
understand the religious traditions that choral music has and should also hold the teacher account-
able should they use their podium as a pulpit.
This study had several limitations that may have influenced the data collection. First, the geo-
graphic location of the interviewees centered on New England and Alaska. Interviewing atheist
choir directors in more Christian parts of the country such as the Midwest or the South may reveal
different points of view. Second, a greater number of interviewees may also modify or clarify the
data that emerged from these interviews. Finally, interviewees self-selected to participate in this
study. These atheists were thoughtful, relayed detailed memories that illustrated their religious and
atheist beliefs, and were accomplished choral directors. Other atheists might not be as thoughtful
about their religious conclusions, and different themes might emerge.
There are several avenues for future research. I did not ask questions about public school con-
certs that take place in churches, or scheduling concerts around religious holidays. Perrine (2015)
discusses how performing in religious venues might break the establishment clause, especially if
there are other fine acoustics available for performance. Where are choir directors largely perform-
ing? Researchers could also interview religious public school choir directors about their feelings
regarding performing sacred music in public schools. Finally, an interesting avenue of research
could be the students’ view of performing sacred music. Does the singing of a religious piece of
music influence how a student feel about that religion? Future research could consider these topics
to expand our knowledge of the interaction of religion and public education.
Atheist choral directors live a contradiction. They do not believe in a God, yet often perform
music glorifying a God. They perform in religious venues, take part in religious rituals, and may
even put on a religious façade to fit in. With their students, they generally feel that sacred historical
music is important to the choral music curriculum. They present that music in a way that attempts
to be faithful to the original intention of the work, yet includes varying viewpoints and historical
context so that all may find the work aesthetically pleasing. More research examining atheist choir
teachers and the intersection of their beliefs and teaching could be useful, especially as non-reli-
gion in the United States continues to expand.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD