Singing through work stress hits a high note

They’ve directed choirs at Britain’s Got Talent and been on the BBC, yet The Workplace Choir Company welcomes you whatever your harmonic abilities. For those that attend, they feel that little boost of wellbeing magic for their efforts.

You don’t have to be able to sing, to enjoy the Workplace Choir – that’s a promise, so says Craig Lees, Director of the choral company. Given that I can’t, he has a job persuading me but by the end of our call I’m thinking about hitting those high notes. This is a workplace wellbeing offering in which you can get the feel good factor in an hour’s lunch break or when you knock off after work – it’s a slice of old school magic – less karaoke not quite church evensong – a filling in the middle in which you can simply pitch up but not be pitch perfect.

I meet Lees and Declan Davies, his co-Director, on a day in which I am feeling less than sunny – I’m full of cold and a bit wrung out – to be honest I could do with a wellbeing boost that’s instantaneous. I’m hopeful they can help me.

Lees is everything you’d expect of a choir master – he smiles as he talks and the two that are a little bit like the Ant and Dec of the singing world, one even has the name, make you feel instantly better just by saying good morning.

My first question is of course based upon my own terrible tone deafness – could they even persuade me to open my vocal cords and blast out Tina Turner, ‘You’re Simply the Best’ just as well as the CEO can (or possibly can’t) ‘yes’ they say in union, it’s an affirmation that is so clear that I believe them.

I’m shown a slide which is a scroll of the top ten reasons a good old sing-along is good for your stress – there are the usual suspects – release of feel good hormones and a reduction in cortisol levels but there’s also a few wild cards – ‘sparks joy through shared achievement’ (I thought I was in it for myself) and ‘creates a sense of belonging’ (I believed I already had one).