Mental health charity First Fortnight invited composer, musical director, and musician Norah Walsh to compose a choral piece to end the stigma associated with mental health.

As part of First Fortnight’s festival, which is running until January 18, the composition will be performed by Laetare Vocal Ensemble, with conductor Róisín Blunnie, associate professor of music at DCU in St Patrick’s Cathedral on January 16, as part of an evening of song.

The event will celebrate the positive effects of group singing, which has been shown to reduce the stress hormone, and increase the comforting hormone, resulting in lower stress levels and improved mental health.

Laetare Vocal Ensemble will perform a selection of uplifting choral music by composers from past and present. Each of the pieces explore the notion that “music can express - music can reflect - music can connect”.

It will finish with the world premiere performance of Norah Walsh’s composition, ‘Out From Under The Overwhelm’.

Speaking to Hot Press about the event, First Fortnight CEO Maria Fleming commented: “Norah visited four different community choirs around the country in Armagh, Kildare, Dublin and Kerry.

"She held workshops which addressed how they deal with their own mental health and how community singing or group singing or singing in a choir has helped them. She's taken that content and created a choral piece of music that will be sung by the Laetare Vocal Ensemble in St. Patrick's Cathedral on January 16."

“We know that being a member of a choir gives people a sense of community and connection, which already is brilliant for your mental health,” explains Maria. “But there's scientific proof that singing lowers cholesterol and increases oxytocin. So what's not to love there?"

Tickets for the evening of music are available here.