Addressing the Global Crisis of Social Connection: Singers As Positively Energizing Leaders Who Create Belonging in Our Communities

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social connection is fundamental to good mental and physical health, yet globally we are experiencing a crisis of connection. Singers exhibit leadership qualities which can be harnessed to rebuild social connections through community group singing activities. Increasingly, music and singing are understood and enacted as a practice of care. Despite this, and partly due to the predominance of performing and teaching within singers’ working lives, community music practices such as group singing for social connection remain on the margins of singers’ career portfolios. This article introduces a range of perspectives not often considered within the singing voice research literature—from leadership theory and social psychology—to position singers as “positively energizing community leaders” who can help address this crisis of connection. Singers’ embodied, aesthetic practice, coupled with their natural desire to connect with others and share human experiences, enables them to build positive, caring relationships and health-enhancing social identities within community singing groups. The article concludes with discussion of the opportunities and challenges for singers in taking up the mantle of positively energizing community leadership, and a call for robust research to establish how singers contribute to addressing the social connection crisis across diverse contexts.