Community Choral Singing is good for you — and you’ll love it

Community choirs are one of the simplest, most joyful means available to turn strangers into neighbors. These choirs lift moods, tune bodies into a shared rhythm, and give every participant a front-row seat to the miracle of harmony. As composer John Rutter says, “Choral singing is not a frill — it’s the heart of our humanity."

Walk into a community choir rehearsal and you’ll feel the energy immediately: a soft buzz of conversation, pages rustling, a pitch given — and then, the first chord. Dozens of ordinary voices lock together and suddenly everyone is part of something bigger, brighter, and brimming with purpose. This is the open-door world of community choral singing, created by neighbors, teachers, tech professionals, students, retirees — people who show up to breathe together, listen well, and build harmony from scratch.

Generations of musicians have proclaimed that singing together is good for you — and extensive research confirms the benefits. Singing together lifts the spirits and calms the stress system — fast. It supports the immune system, increasing immune activity even after choir sessions. It sparks social bonding and boosts the brain’s endorphin levels, improving pain tolerance. When people sing together, their breathing patterns line up and heart-rate variability synchronizes, especially in music with long, shared phrases — part of why choirs can feel so powerfully “in sync.” Singing together can help keep minds sharper and improve memory as we age.

All kinds of group singing are important, but choral singing adds the electricity of harmony, making it uniquely thrilling. You learn a single “part,” then trust others to sing theirs — and the room blooms into chords no one could make alone. The careful listening, shared breathing, and give-and-take to refine tuning are intensely social and quietly athletic. That’s why community choirs feel like a team sport, a workout for the ears, heart, mind, and body, with every member highly valued. As composer Alice Parker said, “Singing is our most human, most communicative, and most personal means of musical expression.”

For 34 years the Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa have provided a lively opportunity to sing high-quality choral music, to grow in musicianship and friendship together, and to enthusiastically share our singing with the Southeast Iowa community in two annual concerts (holiday and spring) and other community and university events. If you would like to add your voice to the Chamber Singers — and experience the joy and benefits of choral singing — contact Elaine Reding at 641-919-1952. All singers are welcome to audition; tenors and basses are especially encouraged. Make this a memorable year of song!