Singing is said to improve your mood, relieve stress, help you sleep better and produce pain-relieving endorphins - as well as improving posture and boost immunity and lung function! Kim Chakanetsa finds out more about the benefits of singing together, and the strange world of choir competitions.

Adwoa Dickson is from Jamaica. She is Choir Director for The Amies Freedom Choir, in the UK, which supports women who've survived trafficking. Singing in the choir helps the women relax and regain confidence as they explore songs and musical styles from each others' cultures and languages.

Finnish choir director, Marjukka Riihimäki established the women’s choir, Philomela in 1984 and has taken their distinctive sound around the world, working with a composer and choreographer to give them a unique stage presence. Philomela won the Female Chamber Choir competition at the World Choir Games in Riga in 2014. Since retiring as a music teacher Marjukka also works with people in sheltered housing who have dementia.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Marjukka Riihimäki, credit Maarit Kytöharju. (R) Adwoa Dickson, courtesy Adwoa Dickson.)