King's College London

The “Singing for Wellbeing” project brought together Edward Nesbit (Department of Music), the South West Essex Choir, Andrew Sackett (South West Essex Choir’s musical director), The Choir of King’s College London, Dr Joe Fort (The Choir of King’s College London’s musical director) and Samuel Buttler (Music PhD Candidate) in a creative partnership. The collaboration aimed to explore how choral singing can boost well-being and create a sense of community among participants, connecting people across different generations and backgrounds through the shared experience of music-making.

The project saw the community-led South West Essex Choir engage in a series of rehearsals guided by Andrew, with input from Edward. This collaboration culminated in two public concerts featuring a newly composed choral work by Edward, specifically designed to facilitate collaboration between choirs of different abilities.

The project demonstrated significant potential for ongoing exploration, with plans to further develop this collaborative model. Edward is seeking future performance opportunities for his composition and intends to write more music for community choirs. These efforts will further develop the ideas explored in this project, with the goal of expanding its positive impact on well-being and community engagement through choral singing.