​​“The sense of community and belonging when singing in group settings, even over Zoom, can have a huge impact on stress reduction and can even synchronise your heartbeat and regulate your breath, so you’re all breathing as one huge lung.” - Marie Claire Breen, Choral Learning Team (Opera North, 2023)

 

​Brisbane-based singer, Christopher (Chris) Sims has performed with several choirs and vocal ensembles, ranging from more technically challenging groups, like the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) Choir, through to non-auditioned, community choirs, like the Brisbane Pride Choir or Soul Song. Each group is there for differing purposes and fulfil differing needs, but with the same common goal, to make music.

 

It's through these groups that Chris has honed some of his interpersonal skills, like discipline, respect and teamwork, alongside his vocal skills. He now feels he has reached a point in his journey that he wants others to gain from their journey also.

 

The next project for Chris is sharing his passion for singing with an older crowd, allowing people to be a part of a choir in their retirement communities, dubbed Ageless Voices. He aims to offer the same material within each retirement community, allowing a bit more connection to those in other communities as they will be able to sing along to the same songs.        

 

For those in these communities who may be singing in a group for the first time, Chris hopes that he can open the door to personal growth. He also hopes to allow them to experience the best sort of therapy that only singing in a group can offer.