Kay Norton

Kay Norton, associate professor of musicology in the School of Music, recently published the book "Singing and Wellbeing: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Proof" (Routledge, 2015). The book offers evidence that a beautiful singing voice provides more than just pleasure and delves into the reasons why singing can actually promote optimal health."Music (and the arts) have tremendous potential to improve the human condition," says Norton. "Newer research in neuroscience and behavioral psychology offers evidence of why that's true, and I tried to make those facts accessible to a broad readership within and outside academia.

"Norton's book has chapters on singing in human evolution, singing and the mother's voice, why singing helps groups bond together, the power of singing in reaching people with dementia, and the widespread presence of singing in experiences of spirituality and religion. "Writing this book allowed me to do what I love best—think across disciplinary boundaries and discover what's fascinating," says Norton.