Advocacy and Resources
“The music department is an alternate universe where pupils are often unrecognizable from who they are outside of it. The shy become confident. The agitated become calm. The lonely become included and the lost become found. Music reveals the real child.” – Vaughan Fleischfresser, music educator, University of Edinburgh
Choir and ensemble singing is good for individuals and for communities, and more people need to hear about it! This page will be updated with information and resources to help you advocate to school administrators, civic leaders and other decision makers to support ensemble singing where you live.
Why singing is surprisingly good for your health
"From the brain to the heart, singing has been found to bring a wide range of benefits to those who do it, particularly if they do it in groups. It can draw people closer together, prime our bodies to fight off disease and even suppress pain. So might it be worth raising your own voice in good cheer?"
#BenefitsOfSinging
Focusing on why singing can and should matter to all who live in Canada, the #BenefitsOfSinging campaign highlights some of the scientific evidence for the many and varied ways that singing together contributes to our psychological, physical, spiritual, social and emotional health.
It is more than a choir campaign. It is a healthy community campaign whose goals are to:
-Share research on the benefits of singing together.
-Educate the public on the benefits of group singing.
-Provide a toolkit for choral leaders to advocate for their programs, recruit singers, build connections with decision- and policy-makers, attract donors and supporters, support grant writing, and strengthen choral communities in Canada.
-Promote the idea of group singing as a social prescription for the medical community.
#BenefitsOfSinging is a good news, proactive campaign.
More information about the campaign
SingWell
Based at Toronto Metropolitan University, SingWell brings together world-leading researchers examining the benefits of group singing, alongside partners across Canada with a role to play in activating them.
Their research network is deepening scientific understanding of the specific factors that make group singing impactful for different populations, with a special focus on people living with communication challenges.
We also share knowledge and resources to inspire and equip professionals, volunteers, policymakers and the public to participate in and help grow the practice of group singing in ways that intentionally promote wellbeing.
Eric Whitaker:
The Inside Voice
The power of music may be discovered at any age. Choral superstar Eric Whitacre always loved music, but did not read music or sing chorally until he was in university. In this short video, Whitacre recounts how an encounter with choral music in early adulthood inspired a journey of discovery and changed his life.
The Myth of the “Bad Ear”
Why do some people struggle to sing in tune? A longstanding assumption the music world is that it is linked to an inability to hear notes accurately, so-called “tone deafness.”
Dr. Sean Hutchins of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, in a post from 2021, says that, on the contrary, poor singing is much more often a matter of physical coordination, and that most people can hear pitches and tunes “just fine.” Singing, according to the evidence, is for almost everyone a learnable physical skill that improves with training and practice — especially in a group setting where a person can learn from others.
Read the full post here