Singing and Spirituality
A UK-based subgrant combining qualitative, historical, & practice-based approaches to better understand non-religious devotion to, & participation in, sacred music-making.
Why do people who are not particularly religious find meaning singing sacred music?
In religious & more secular eras alike, one finds musical-spiritual experience on the periphery of, or central to fundamental questions of human existence, such as the quality & purpose of beauty, being, or community.
Why singing?
Whether at a football game, at church, or in the car, it is clear that singing and human identity are deeply entwined. Singing helps us connect to our whole selves and other people. But how singing contributes to meaning making in our lives is difficult to wholly understand through any single disciplinary lens.
This 3-year study brings together practitioners and academic researchers across a variety of fields to explore the connection between singing and feelings of ‘spirituality’ (broadly defined), particularly for those who do not see themselves fitting within traditional religion.
Is singing a form of ‘spiritual’ expression? What can singing tell us about the nature of spirituality? Can the study of spirituality tell us about how singing, and beauty more broadly, moves us to our core? How is singing fundamental to human identity?
‘Reasons to Sing’: Singing, spirituality, and the search for meaning
A Multidisciplinary Conference
Thursday 17 September - Friday 18 September 2026
University of Birmingham | Edgbaston Campus
“For what reason corporal Music and Consorts of Instruments so ravish and abstract aspirit, a soul, transporting it almost into a Paradise of Joy?”
— Thomas Wright (1601)