About this item
Why do we sing? For Stacy Horn, singing in a community choir--the Choral Society of Grace Church in New York--is the one thing in her life that never fails to take her to a transcendent place and remind her that everything good is possible. She's not particularly religious and (she'll be the first to point out) her voice isn't exactly the stuff of legend, but like thousands of other amateur chorus members throughout this country and the world, singing with other people makes her happy. As Horn relates her funny and profound experiences as a choir member, she treats us to an eclectic history of group singing and the music that moves us, whether we're hearing it for the first time or the hundredth; the dramatic stories of conductors and composers; and discoveries from the new science of singing, including the remarkable physical benefits of song.
About the Author
In the 19th century, New York City's poor, insane, sick and punishable were thrown together and warehoused on the same narrow, two-mile-long island in the East River. It didn't go well. I spent a few years researching just what went on in the insane asylum, prisons and hospitals there, but it was quite a challenge. Most of the records were destroyed. I lucked out here and there however, like coming across diaries from former wardens, and prison records thought to be lost.My new book Damnation Island reads like a horror story, but it's all true.
