“Music is what brought us together and it’s what keeps us together,” is a statement you’ll often hear either one of them say. Hans and Lisa met when they were invited to be members in a “throw-together band” for a single musical performance event. It’s there where their friendship began. As years passed and their friendship grew, a deeper bond was formed and 18 years later, they are still “making beautiful music together”. They have held countless musical sing-along parties at their Santa Barbara homes, for their friends’ parties and hired for holiday events. During the Pandemic and when all were on lockdown, they found ways to offer group singing outdoors. This helped not only themselves endure the isolation of Covid lockdown, but also helped neighbors and friends get through an otherwise very difficult time. 

They wanted to connect more with their community upon their retirement, and wanted to offer more singing events, but Covid caused a delay. When asked about how this all came about, Lisa said, “Starting these services as an actual business has been a dream of ours for a while. Bringing people together through the power of group singing seems to be needed now more than ever!”

“We get such incredibly uplifting feedback from people every time we hold one of these events,” she said, “so we thought it was time to really go for it and bring the joy through group singing to ours and our surrounding communities. Singing in groups is good for your health!” she said enthusiastically, “It’s scientifically proven!” 

Indeed, upon further research, group singing has been proven to:   

• Create new connections with people

• Foster a sense of well-being and belonging

• Release the “Feel-Good/Happy” endorphins in the brain, which stave off depression

• Increases oxygen throughout the body, which leads to better circulation and healing

• Enhances lung function

• Helps to beat stress and increase relaxation, leading to better sleep

• Lowers blood pressure

• It is just plain FUN!

“A really significant health benefit of group singing for me personally,” Starr said, “is the reduction of chronic pain.” She is a chronic migraine sufferer, “When I sing in a group, even if I start out with having a horrible headache, 75% of the time, my pain is reduced significantly. Sometimes astonishingly, it can make pain go away completely.” 

This is another big reason that Hans and Lisa began offering these Sing-Along events regularly. “It’s for selfish reasons too! I get to enJOY the benefits, both physiological and psychological.”  

Hans and Lisa love to connect with people and bring people together through the power of music and song. It brings them a lot of happiness, knowing that people come together and forget their worries and cares, at least while they are singing together.