Choirs are Healthy

New intake sessions coming January 2019.

MFYC was part of the Port Credit Caroling in the Park because more than other social activities such as team sports, group singing seems to have the ability to generate feelings of social connections. This is according to Dr. Frank Russo, a professor of psychology at Ryerson University. He holds the Hear the World Research Chair in Music and Emotional Speech. Singing in unison, he says, synchronizes singers’ breathing and heart rates.

Russo goes on to say, you may not typically think of singing as movement since it doesn’t involve the larger kinds of actions that sports or dance requires. But there are hundreds of muscles involved in controlling one’s voice – all of which need to be exercised in unison when singing in a choir. Also, choir activity may remind them they’re not on their own, and thus they may feel stronger and more resilient against adversity. If you are nervous about singing with a choir, don’t be too concerned.
He notes only about 3 per cent to 4 per cent of the population is actually tone deaf, or unable to perceive differences in pitches. “There’s a lot of folks out there who have learned to not sing at the holidays,” he says, but there’s no reason to hold back.

Singing!

Don’t be surprised if you see the young choristers of the Mississauga Festival Youth Choir out  and performing in the city more frequently than in years past.

In the summer, they performed at the Streetsville Bread and Honey Festival for the first time. This December, the singers were in Port Credit to lend their voices to the annual Caroling in the Park event and also performed at their A Cup of Kindness concert at Cawthra Park United Church.

They will also be at the Festival of Friends in February and the Peel Music Festival in April, among others.

Attributed to Chris Clay, Mississauga News.