‘Reasons to sing’: singing, spirituality, and the search for meaning

In 1588 as England continued to ride the wake of the Reformation and faced the Spanish Armada, composer William Byrd fought his own artistic battle: to persuade a country in which the value of music was increasingly questioned the benefit of learning to sing. In that year he wrote his ‘Reasons to sing’, in which he outlined the benefits of singing for spiritual and physical wellbeing. While ‘the exercise of singing is delightful to Nature, and good to preserve the health of man’, the ultimate use of the ‘voice of man’ is for spiritual matters: ‘omnis spiritus laudet Dominum’ / Let every spirit praise the Lord. He ends with the couplet: ‘Since singing is so good a thing, I wish all men would learn to sing’.

Even in today’s more secular landscape, singing, including that of sacred music, plays a central role in how people choose to recreate their whole selves and connect with others. 42.6 million Americans and 2.14 million British people regularly sing in choirs. Song is universally occurring in human culture. Some even argue that singing co-evolved with language in the evolution of the human brain. It is clear, especially to those who have experienced meaning in this practice, whether at a football game, church, or in the shower, that singing and human identity are deeply entwined.

Often described as a feeling of being connected to something ‘bigger than myself’, singing as a form of meaning-making has a ‘spiritual’ dimension that is embodied and practiced. ‘Reasons to Sing’: Singing, spirituality, and the search for meaning.

This conference at the University of Birmingham (UK), examines the experience of singing and song and its connection to spirituality and/or meaning making throughout human history. Why does singing give life meaning for so many people? What is the quality of the relationship between singing and the human spirit (loosely defined)? How does it manifest in our behaviours and practices? 

Call for papers

We welcome and encourage papers from any disciplinary background, including but not limited to historical perspectives (incl. musicology), the social sciences, musical performance, philology, medicine (e.g. music therapy, neuroscience), philosophy, theology, science and religion, social policy, linguistics, or any relevant industry experience. Questions for exploration include but are not limited to:

• The physiological, philosophical, or historical particularities of the human voice, including singing and embodiment
• Sacred music and spirituality in secular society
• Ethnographic investigations into singing and spirituality or meaning making more broadly
• Singing, language, and meaning-making historically or today
• Singing and ‘wellness’ or ‘spirituality’, broadly defined
• Western sacred music and multiculturalism
• Group music making and community
• ‘Singing helps people and communities thrive’ – now what? Thoughts surrounding policy, advocacy, and strategy
• Understanding singing’s social-spiritual mechanisms
• Singing as a bridge between materiality and spirituality
  
  

Deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 April 2026.

• To submit a 20-minute paper or topic for consideration, please email a short biography and a 250-word abstract to Ann Evans
• Questions? Please contact Katie Bank and Rebekah Wallace

This conference is supported by the John Templeton Foundation as a part of “Can Beauty Save the World?: Aesthetic Engagement Among The Spiritual But Not Religious”.

The University of Birmingham's UK-based sub-grant explores singing as a 'spiritual' practice, both of the past and today led by Dr Katie Bank, School of History and Cultures.