The Bankstown World Music Choir meets once a week in a hall at the Bankstown Arts Centre to sing everything from Chinese love ballads and Greek folk songs to lullabies from Africa.
A love of music has brought the group together and there is no doubt that for those gathered joy is on the agenda.
Marge O'Connor is a member of the Bankstown World Music Choir, who has lived in the Bankstown area for more than 40 years. She says that she grew up with the folk songs and musical traditions of the British Isles.
"I've always loved to sing, yes. My mother, my brother and I used to sing in the kitchen doing the dishes," she says.
"We'd sing harmonies. So, it would be from England, from Ireland ... Some sea shanties, one teacher taught us. And I've always loved music in general."
Art reflecting life
The choir sings songs from around the world and in languages ranging from Hindi to Khmer, Arabic and Greek, as well as the occassional sea shanty thrown in. The diversity of the choir's repertoire is a reflection of the Bankstown community. Just over 54 per cent of the Bankstown City area's population speaks a language other than English at home, as compared with the Greater Sydney average of just over 32 per cent.
Lebanese- and Vietnamese-born migrants make up the largest groups from non-English speaking countries, with those from China and Greece next.
Choir facilitator Linda Marr says the group, which has perfomed at a range of places since starting in 2012, is now gearing up for one of its biggest performances yet.
"We're going to be part of a combined choir project, singing at the Opera House with the Opera Orchestra, under the directorship of an opera conductor. It's going to be very exciting."
Ms Marr says learning a language you don't understand is made easier when done with music.
"One of the good things about learning a language within a song is that you hear it entwined with the melody and you repeat it with the melody. That helps you to remember it and get the pronounciation right as well."
The Bankstown World Music Choir will be part of Opera Australia's Community Choirs program, where more than 400 people from Sydney's western suburbs will combine to form one of the largest community choirs ever to perform at the Sydney Opera House.
Seema Gare will be one of those singing at the Opera House. Someone who has always loved to sing but has never had an opporunity to do so before, Seema says that joining the choir has allowed her to appreciate the musical traditions from her own homeland.
"The old classical music, it's just so beautiful, and India has so many languages. But any music from any region is just beautiful. And once you understand the meaning of the words, it's just so good. I've always loved to sing, but I guess I never had the opportunity."
Seema Gare says she enjoys the process of learning how to sing in other languages and tries to use the random words that she learns in the choir in her day-to-day life.
"Whenever I meet people in the street or where I work, if I see an Italian I will say something in Italian and if I see someone who is German, I will try and say something in German."
Psycho-social benefits of singing
There are measurable psychological and social benefits to singing, especially in a choir.
Creativity Australia, which has run choirs for years, says neuroscience can now demonstrate exactly how singing connects the pathways in the brain that release endorphins, making people happier and healthier.
Alejandra Rojas, a town planner, says singing allows her to express another side of herself.
"I feel like it's just the full expression of your emotions. Especially when you work in your job, day-to-day, it's all very monotone type of talk that you do sometimes. And I just think you get to really use your vocal chords. And when everyone's singing together, it's very moving."
Ms Rojas grew up with music. Her parents were in a Chilean folk group, so she has had singing around her since she was a child. But it was only as an adult that she decided to rekindle her love for it.
"I like learning any of the songs in their original language. I think that's really exciting and fun for me. You don't get to do that very often. It's just very exciting to learn to sing a song in another language and understand what it means as well."
The Bankstown Community Choir will make up part of a mass community choir concert and will perform at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday the 1st of November.
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