Straining to Hear the Singing: Toward an Understanding of Successful Intergenerational Singing Curriculum

Abstract

Assuming that intergenerational singing curricula can facilitate well-being through the production of expansive learning opportunities and relationship-building between skipped generations, this study aimed to discover the prevalence, form, and characteristics of intergenerational singing programs in a 50 kilometer radius of one urban center in Ontario, Canada. Of the 170 organizations serving children and older adults with the potential to offer intergenerational singing programs, the study found that only 36 had offered some form of intergenerational singing activity. Informants from seven of these organizations were interviewed to probe deeper into the initiators, sustainers, and potential for future programming.