For Barry McMahon, singing in a choir is cathartic.
“It’s like a tonic,” he says. “It’s very uplifting, it’s a beautiful thing to belong to.”
The 79-year-old Keilor resident has been a member of the Victorian Welsh Choir, called Cantorion Cymreig, for 17 years. The group travels all over the world to perform.
The former landscaper joined his junior school choir when a student at St Monica’s and he fondly remembers winning the Victorian Eisteddfod.
His mother sent him off to opera lessons in the city as a teenager, but he said the passion wasn’t truly ignited for group singing until he joined the Welsh Choir as an adult.
According to new research by Curtin University and the University of Melbourne, there are numerous benefits of being part of a choir for older people.
The research found that those who had been part of a singing group for a long time found the group activity gave them strength to overcome their age and ailments.
Mr McMahon said he was required to learn Welsh when he first joined the choir, and he now performs without written lyrics.
“You have to remember it all, which is great – especially when you’re my age – when you’re getting old, and you have to remember all the words.”
The Victorian Welsh Choir’s next performance is with Silvie Paladino at the Melbourne Recital Centre on October 30. To purchase tickets, go online bit.ly/2cMCMv2 or call 9699 3333.
