What do you think?
Why We Sing: A memoir about the power of singing to make connections, to heal and expand our lives
A memoir celebrating the power of song to lift our mood and restore our sense of connection to other people and the world.
Singing makes you feel good. Everyone who sings in a community choir or just in the shower knows this, and relishes the sense of liberation, connection and sheer joy that singing can bring.
In this inspiring and thought-provoking memoir, singer and community music teacher Julia Hollander celebrates our impulse to sing, from the beginning to the end of life. Drawing on her personal experience as well as the fascinating recent findings of neurological research, she shows how we are hardwired to sing. She explores how our bodies create song, and how singing helps children acquire language. She shows how singing is an integral part of faith, and how it is embedded in political activism. She shares with us her experience of running singing groups with people with dementia and disability, and how learning singing can open up a new world for teenagers.
More than ever, singing has become important to people of all backgrounds as a way of dealing with the sense of hopelessness and loneliness in our busy, digitally focused lives. Julia describes her book as a singing memoir, and Why We Sing is for anyone who loves to sing.
'This book (and singing) is so great for the mind and soul!' - Jonathon Welch AM DUniv, Founding Artistic Director of Choir of Hard Knocks
'A passionate, personal and impeccably researched love letter to singing' - Astrid Jorgensen, Pub Choir
'A wonderful read. To sing is to be happy and it feeds the soul.' - Peter Coleman-Wright AO, Pacific Opera
Singing makes you feel good. Everyone who sings in a community choir or just in the shower knows this, and relishes the sense of liberation, connection and sheer joy that singing can bring.
In this inspiring and thought-provoking memoir, singer and community music teacher Julia Hollander celebrates our impulse to sing, from the beginning to the end of life. Drawing on her personal experience as well as the fascinating recent findings of neurological research, she shows how we are hardwired to sing. She explores how our bodies create song, and how singing helps children acquire language. She shows how singing is an integral part of faith, and how it is embedded in political activism. She shares with us her experience of running singing groups with people with dementia and disability, and how learning singing can open up a new world for teenagers.
More than ever, singing has become important to people of all backgrounds as a way of dealing with the sense of hopelessness and loneliness in our busy, digitally focused lives. Julia describes her book as a singing memoir, and Why We Sing is for anyone who loves to sing.
'This book (and singing) is so great for the mind and soul!' - Jonathon Welch AM DUniv, Founding Artistic Director of Choir of Hard Knocks
'A passionate, personal and impeccably researched love letter to singing' - Astrid Jorgensen, Pub Choir
'A wonderful read. To sing is to be happy and it feeds the soul.' - Peter Coleman-Wright AO, Pacific Opera
- GenresNonfictionMusic
Kindle Edition
Published January 31, 2023
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 11, 2023
Julia Hollander is a singer, performer, teacher whose passion is singing. This is a personal and professional memoir which is underpinned by singing but ranges well beyond.
The memoir covers Hollander’s earlier life and first forays into singing, but quickly moves to her adult life as a professional and as a mother, documenting occurrences during the recent pandemic to today.
Throughout the book Hollander weaves a wealth of information related to singing: potted history, anthropology, physiology, mental health, social science, and more, most (but not all) of it anchored in the Anglo and European traditions of her background. She is a deft observer of human behaviour and her professional work gives her ample opportunity to illustrate the science in action.
The memoir itself contains some deeply personal experiences which any reader could not help but be moved by, and for particular readers Hollander’s frankness will be validating and empowering.
For the rest of us, there is food for thought in the observations of the benefits singing conveys, which far outweigh the effort, investment (both low) and social reluctance needed to engage.
Limber up, and get singing!
The memoir covers Hollander’s earlier life and first forays into singing, but quickly moves to her adult life as a professional and as a mother, documenting occurrences during the recent pandemic to today.
Throughout the book Hollander weaves a wealth of information related to singing: potted history, anthropology, physiology, mental health, social science, and more, most (but not all) of it anchored in the Anglo and European traditions of her background. She is a deft observer of human behaviour and her professional work gives her ample opportunity to illustrate the science in action.
The memoir itself contains some deeply personal experiences which any reader could not help but be moved by, and for particular readers Hollander’s frankness will be validating and empowering.
For the rest of us, there is food for thought in the observations of the benefits singing conveys, which far outweigh the effort, investment (both low) and social reluctance needed to engage.
Limber up, and get singing!
January 19, 2025
The book was enjoyable enough to start, but I gradually lost interest. Eventually, even the singing element wasn't enough to keep me hooked. My favourite part of the book was gaining insight into the thought process and techniques behind teaching singing and leading a choir. I suppose I wanted more of that material and less memoir. Speaking of which, the cover does include the word 'memoir', but I agree with other reviewers that the title could be misleading.
March 4, 2026
An interesting mixture of pop psychology, memoir, some bits of biology and politics... and very very time-specific, clearly written in 2022.
April 12, 2023
Sadly not what I expected, all a bit technical for me and not the euphoria I expected, but probably great if you are that way inclined
July 13, 2023
Absolutely incredible. Very easy read. Brings the science into singing in a very approachable way. I think every singer should read this book to fall even more in love with our art.
January 16, 2024
“Why We Sing” is well written from someone with clear expertise in the field. It covers a lot of ground on the value of singing from the author’s personal perspective, which is inspiring to an amateur chorister. The book carries a QR code to a Soundcloud playlist, which is a nice addition to a good read.
Covering many aspects throughout the lifespan, Hollander can only give a broad brush in a book of this length. It is however very much her personal priorities that gets the most attention, so the book fails to live up to its promise; it shows “why I sing” rather than “why we sing”. This is ok, once you know.
Hollander is well-travelled but ultimately Anglo-centric. It’s lazy to equate the strong choral tradition of Wales with choirs in the English industrial areas. Paul Robeson’s links with Welsh miners and the experience of McCarthyism being an obvious example in the area of work.
The area of political singing is given inadequate space when you consider the Clarion movement, which still exists in choirs in the UK. This would be addressed by reference to “Singing for Our Lives” by the Campaign Choirs Writing Collective (HammerOn Press, 2018 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...), which would make a good companion piece for a more comprehensive view of why we sing.
Covering many aspects throughout the lifespan, Hollander can only give a broad brush in a book of this length. It is however very much her personal priorities that gets the most attention, so the book fails to live up to its promise; it shows “why I sing” rather than “why we sing”. This is ok, once you know.
Hollander is well-travelled but ultimately Anglo-centric. It’s lazy to equate the strong choral tradition of Wales with choirs in the English industrial areas. Paul Robeson’s links with Welsh miners and the experience of McCarthyism being an obvious example in the area of work.
The area of political singing is given inadequate space when you consider the Clarion movement, which still exists in choirs in the UK. This would be addressed by reference to “Singing for Our Lives” by the Campaign Choirs Writing Collective (HammerOn Press, 2018 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...), which would make a good companion piece for a more comprehensive view of why we sing.
June 11, 2023
52 Book Club: #19 Typographic cover
June 17, 2023
Enjoyed this book! Interesting memoir filled with fascinating research about the unexpected benefits of singing. I feel it could have had a better title to reflect the personal story telling side.
January 25, 2024
Best book!!! Loved it all. So thoughtful and well researched. Amazing for any music educators or any educators. Can’t wait to buy the hard copy and reread it with underlining and notations.
August 26, 2024
Wonderful expansive book on the power of song. Well written and researched. A must read for any keen singers and choralists out there, or anyone who loves music.
November 9, 2025
interesting. too much detail generally. goes on a bit when you've already got the gist.
August 8, 2024
I loved reading this book because it shows that singing is good for everyone, no matter how you feel about your voice. Julia Hollander enables the readers to understand and her writing gives lots of tools and covers many topics like music, science, health, and religion. It also talks about different communities around the world. The book includes personal and touching stories. I highly recommend it to both singers and non-singers. It's a great read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews