For just a song, you can trigger the release of feel-good endorphins, build stamina and lower your blood pressure.

So says Bonnie Mc-Kibben, master director of the all-female Honolulu Blend Show Chorus.

“Singing releases tension and creates a sense of well-being,” McKibben said.

While members appreciate the purported health benefits, most women join the chorus for the sheer love of singing.

“We are standing up during rehearsal for about three hours, which builds stamina,” McKibben said. “Not all of the members are spring chickens.”

She flies in from Kauai every other week to coach the group and was named a “Queen of Harmony” by Sweet Adelines International for being part of a world-champion quartet from Southern California. (McKibben sang bass.) The Honolulu chorus is in the process of becoming a chapter in Sweet Adelines, an organization that promotes the musical art form of barbershop harmony.

McKibben will increase her visits to ready the Honolulu group for a regional competition in Pasadena, Calif., in April.

“It’s exciting to work with this brand-new group that’s growing right here on the islands. It’s a place where people can achieve levels of stardom in a healthy environment. It’s good, clean fun,” she said.

Women interested in joining the chorus are required to attend two to three rehearsals to learn and record a song that will help determine whether they can sing in a quartet.

McKibben recalls her audition back in 1973 for a chorus in Los Angeles. “I was nervous even though I had a solo album and songs playing on the radio,” she said.

She began singing professionally in high school and was performing in Hollywood clubs on weekends at age 17.

The diverse Honolulu Blend Show Chorus includes those with experience in musical theater and others who haven’t sung since high school. Members range in age from 20 to 80 and run the gamut from housekeepers and teachers to judges and corporate CEOs.

“When we walk through the door and sing, all of the bad things of the day are gone. If people are preoccupied, I ask them to write down their troubles on a piece of paper and throw it away,” McKibben said. “It’s a time to put worries on the shelf.”

CHRISTINA Smith, the group’s vice president and assistant director, started the chorus in 2007 as a group of women who enjoyed singing four-part harmony a cappella. She is a retired retail manager from Kapolei who moved here from New Zealand.

“Myself and some of the others in our small startup group had been members of other Sweet Adeline choruses,” she said.

“Over the years more have joined us as they moved to Oahu. Some have come from other choruses, and some are brand new with no knowledge of the art form. We have all sorts of ladies, all backgrounds, many different cultures.”

The group sings for all types of functions, from birthdays to holiday concerts at malls and military change-of-command ceremonies.

Judy Sadoyama, a teacher at Farrington High School, joined the Honolulu Blend Show Chorus four years ago.

“I had no musical background. I learned everything from coaches and the Sweet Adelines workshops,” she said. “I’ve created lifelong friendships. It’s been such a huge part of my life.”

Sadoyama said her interest was piqued when she watched a male barbershop quartet perform while attending college.

“I like the quartets — the idea that you can get three other people together and make really cool music.”

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The Honolulu Blend Show Chorus holds rehearsals at 6:30 p.m. Mondays at the Fleet Reserve Association, 891 Valkenburgh St. (on the corner of Nimitz Highway). Call 277-4439, email honolulubsc@gmail.com or visit honolulufemale harmony.com.