Grammy-award winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre joins chair of the UK’s largest COVID-19 social study and UCL professor Dr Daisy Fancourt to talk about the power of community. They explore how people bound by common experiences can improve their health through non-clinical methods, looking at how singing and music can form a part of that process, and the wider implications that has on the health of the public.

“Every single person feels part of something larger than themselves.”

Communities are vital for a functioning society, but in an ever-changing world, has the concept of what ‘community’ means evolved into something new? Can virtual choirs really help with regulating emotions and coping with stress in the same way that singing live in a room full of people could? And is social prescribing of arts through linked support services the answer?

Grammy-award winning composer Eric Whitacre, and associate professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at UCL Dr Daisy Fancourt, seek to answer these questions and more, from studying the social factors on health such as loneliness and isolation, to how singing can help regulate emotions and cope with stress, and the physiological benefits that belonging to a community can bring.

Dr Fancourt’s research focuses on the effects of social factors on health, including loneliness, social isolation, community assets, art, cultural engagement, and social prescribing. She leads the team running the UK’s largest COVID-19 social study into the psychological and social impact of the virus. She also established and chairs the International Arts Help Early Career Research network, the UK March network, and is a consultant to the World Health Organization. You can find her on Twitter @Daisy_Fancourt.

Nevada-born Eric Whitacre is a multiple award-winning composer, conductor and graduate of New York’s prestigious Juilliard School of Music, whose work is recognised worldwide. Eric also established groundbreaking virtual choirs that have united singers from more than 145 countries. He has been the artist in residence at Los Angeles Master Chorale and University of Cambridge. You can find Eric on Twitter @EricWhitacre and at: https://ericwhitacre.com

Public Health Disrupted with Rochelle Burgess and Xand Van Tulleken is produced by Buckers at Decibelle Creative, find her on Instagram: @decibelle_creative and here: https://www.decibellecreative.com

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