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20th and 21st centuries

In the United States, development of mixed choirs was pioneered by groups such as The St. Olaf Choir and Westminster Choir College. These groups were characterized by arrangements of hymns and other sacred works of christian nature which helped define the choral sound of the United States for most of the 20th century. Secular choral music in the United States was popularized by groups such as the Dale Warland Singers throughout the late 20th century.

The Big Choral Census online survey was established to find out how many choirs there were in the UK, of what type, with how many members, singing what type of music and with what sort of funding. Results estimated that there were some 40,000 choral groups operating in the UK and over 2 million people singing regularly in a choir. Over 30 percent of the groups listed described themselves a community choirs, half of the choirs listed sing contemporary music although singing classical music is still popular. Most choirs are self funding. It is thought that the increase in popularity of singing together in groups has been fed to some extent in the UK by TV progammes such as Gareth Malone 's 'The Choir'. In 2017, the Purwa Caraka Music Studio Choir of Indonesia began the trend when they covered children's songs in a choral arrangement for the film Surat Kecil untuk Tuhan.

Apart from their roles in liturgy and entertainment, choirs and choruses may also have social-service functions, including for mental health treatment or as therapy for homeless and disadvantaged people, like the Choir of Hard Knocks or for special groups such as Military Wives.