When the Carols Ring: How Gathering for Song Boosts Our Well-being

There’s something magical about the hush just before the first notes of a carol. The air holds promise, the lights glimmer softly, and for those of us who sing - or even simply gather to listen - it’s as though time pauses and something larger lifts us. Recent research is beginning to show that these moments of communal music-making, particularly during the festive season, carry more than just atmosphere: they carry measurable benefit for our mental health and happiness.

The Godalming Jazz Choir performing carols - December 2025

The Evidence: What the Research Shows

A study based on over 1,000 attendees at Christmas carol services at Liverpool Cathedral found that people’s happiness scores rose significantly from before to after the service, as measured by the established Oxford Happiness Inventory. 

Specifically, in 2019, 383 attendees of a “Holly Bough Service” and 802 attendees of carol services were surveyed. The research team concluded that attending such services “has a positive impact on mental health and well-being.” This supports what many of us sense intuitively: when voice meets voice, when community gathers, we feel more connected, more alive, more seen. The research gives us language - and numbers - for that truth.

Why It Matters for Choirs & Singing Teachers

Since you, lovely readers, are deeply involved in singing (as a choir member, a singing teacher, a festival-helper), this research is for you. Here are a few take-homes:

• Communal music-making is more than performance: It’s participation in something emotionally and socially nourishing. You’re not just giving a concert - you’re facilitating an experience that changes people’s inner state.

• Singing matters beyond the voice: The well-being gains aren’t limited to those who sing - those attending, engaging, experiencing the service benefitted too. That means outreach events, informal carols, or community singing, all count.

• We can lean into this truth: As you build your singing or teaching practice, as you help run music festivals or volunteer with choir charities, you can frame your offering not just as skill-building but as well-being-building. That’s powerful and persuasive.

• Use evidence to support funding, outreach, impact: When you talk to trustees, donors, festival partners, you have concrete research to say: “This is good for people’s happiness.” It helps shift the narrative from ‘just another choir event’ to ‘an essential contribution to community mental health’.

So next time you step into that church or hall for a carol event - or lead a singing class - pause for a moment. Think of the stillness before the first chord, the gathering of voices, the breath shared in song. You’re not only making music - you’re weaving a thread of well-being. And that, in our opinion, is one of the most beautiful things we as choir folk can do.