Be part of research & storytelling
on the power of singing with others.

Saturday, September 20th
9AM – 12PM
St. Cyril’s Church • 237 Sackville St. • Toronto

Join SingWell and group singing leader Uria Tsur for a pioneering investigation on how singing together influences heart rate variability and brainwave synchrony.

This study will use wearable technology to understand how singing together influences heart rate variability and brainwave synchrony — two physiological measures of wellbeing and social connectedness that have been underexplored in research on the benefits of group singing.

While we gather data from Muse headbands, we will also be inviting participants to share their firsthand accounts of what it feels like to join voices with others in song. Data, testimonies, and footage of the session will become part of a documentary short film that will educate the public about the benefits of group singing and the science behind them.

As a thank you for your participation, you will receive a $10 Tim Horton’s gift card and the option of 3 months free access to Uria Tsur’s online monthly vocal freedom workshops.

We also encourage participants to sign up for Uria’s vocal freedom workshop from 1–8pm at the same location. See details here.

What will you be asked to do?

The study will involve your participation in a 3-hour session. The session will be recorded using audio-visual equipment.

  1. When you arrive, you’ll be asked to fill out a self-report questionnaire about yourself (including providing consent to participate). You will need a smartphone to do this. The questionnaire will take 15–20 minutes to complete.
  2. We will explain how the study and singing session will unfold and answer any questions you may have.
  3. We will collect a saliva sample from you using the (quick, non-invasive) passive-drool method. This requires that you do not eat, drink caffeinated drinks, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes for one hour prior to the session. Light refreshments will be provided after the sample collection.
  4. You will be fitted for a Muse headband. Then you will be asked to sit quietly for 5 minutes to establish baseline measurements of heart rate variability and EEG.
  5. Participants will then engage in approximately 1.5 hours of singing songs as a group led by Uria Tsur. During this time the headbands will be collecting heart rate variability and brainwave data.
  6. After singing, participants will be asked to sit quietly to allow for the headbands to record a post-singing rest period.
  7. Finally, participants will remove their headbands, be asked to provide a second saliva sample, and complete a second 5 to 10-minute self-report questionnaire.

Who we are

Uria Tsur

Uria Tsur is the creator and facilitator of the world-renowned Vocal Freedom workshops and Voice Medicine Retreats. He is also founder of the School for Singing Circle Leaders, producer of the Sacred Journey Festival, and lead singer at Orotband.

Through workshops, ceremonies, festivals and retreats, Uria has cultivated a global community exploring the transformative power of group singing. Uria’s events regularly draw hundreds of global community members who are curious and passionate about consciousness, connection and emotional healing through music. 

SingWell

SingWell is an international network of leading researchers deepening scientific understanding of the benefits of group singing and the mechanisms behind them. Building on substantial research on music as medicine, SingWell researchers are uncovering the social, emotional, physiological and biological processes that make group singing such a powerful practice for wellbeing.

SingWell is also a hub for partners across Canada with a role to play in building up the practice of group singing, including health practitioners, music and speech therapists, choral groups, leaders in social prescribing and others.

Sign Up

You’ll receive an email one week before the event with everything you need to know.

This research has been reviewed and approved by the Toronto Metropolitan REB (REB 2025-277)

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