UK study finds that choristers feel warmer about their teams than footballers.

Anyone who has sung in a choir will tell you that not only is it a great way to meet people, it’s also a great deal of fun. But now a recent study in the UK has found that people singing in choirs report significantly higher psychological well-being than solo singers. Not only that, it turns out that choristers feel their choirs to be more meaningful social groups than, for example, footie players consider their teams.

Brett Weymark, Music Director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concurs, citing a wide range of repertoire available as one of the reasons choral singers might find more fulfilment than soloists. But in the end, he says, it is all about other people: “as a chorister, it is always about the people you are singing with – singing in a choir is actually about bringing people together, creating a sense of community with music as raison d’être.”

Richard Gill, the new Chief Conductor of Sydney Chamber Choir, describes the particular pleasures of singing as a group: “Good choral singing requires, at the very least, a number of skills involving heightened listening abilities, very strong...