OUR MISSION
IMPROVED SELF CONFIDENCE
Music is such a powerful outlet for us. It is a great way to express - both lyrically and musically. It's a way to sift through feelings and emotions and a great therapy to lean on.
TEAMWORK AND TRUST
Members are required to work as a team during our sessions. It requires them to listen to one another, to play a roll in the group, and contribute musical ideas. Working as an ensemble can forge friendships, and develops a team building element of the workshops.
SOCIAL AWARENESS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH
We are not councillors and this is not what we do. Our main focus is to play and create. However we do encourage freedom of speech, acceptance and openness. Everyone is welcome and I am proud to say our members who we see weekly feel open enough to talk about mental health and their journeys. I love that we have been able to create a safe space where freedom of speech is accepted and not discouraged.
FUN
Members always enjoy themselves at our sessions and leave in a much happier head space then when they arrived. We feel very strongly about EVERYONE being able to access music in many different forms. Whether this is an appreciation for listening, playing, writing or producing everyone has a different roll to play. We hope that through our workshops and once our members have left the environments we have seen them in that they will continue to find peace in music and share this passion with friends and family.
Listening to music releases endorphins in the brain. Endorphins give us a heightened feeling of excitement. In addition to feeling euphoric, endorphins quell anxiety, ease pain and stabilise the immune system. With high endorphin levels, we have fewer negative effects of stress.
The benefits our music sessions will have on our members confidence, creative thinking and mental health will effect many aspects of their lives and we hope we can positively impact their wellbeing.
Mentors and Qualifications
All of our teachers are experts in their musical fields. They all hold Diplomas or Bachelors of Music and are mostly working musicians as well.
All our teachers have police checks and all have attended Mental Health First Aid Training with St Johns
Why a Choir?
Group Singing can help promote Mental Well-Being and Health. It can change your life.
There has been much research undertaken in recent years around the health benefits of singing for both your mental and physical health and well-being.
Key findings
Singers reported an overwhelmingly positive response in terms of physical and physiological benefits, social benefits, psychological/emotional benefits and spiritual benefits.
Participants spanned a wide range of ages, from 18 – 90, which suggests that people of all ages find singing to be a beneficial activity for their health and well-being. This highlights the potential for choirs to improve well-being in a myriad of settings, including but not limited to nursing homes, workplaces and educational institutions.
Participants also cited a variety of choral experience, ranging from singing in a choir for all their adult life to singing with a choir for only one year. Irrespective of length of experience, responses remained overwhelmingly positive.
The key benefits of singing in a choir were increased social connection; improved respiratory health; cognitive stimulation; improved mental health and transcendence from everyday worries and pain.