In May 2020, the Spheres of Singing conference, which was initially intended as an in-person event,
was instead hosted online. A key ambition was to make the conference accessible for both
practitioners and researchers from various disciplines. The conference exceeded in its aim in several
ways. It was free and featured contributions from around the world, including 45 presentations, four
workshops, six open discussions and three lecture-recitals. The interdisciplinary array of sessions
included: health and wellbeing, practice research, musicology, teaching, conducting, pedagogy, and
virtual choirs. In terms of attendee interest, all 450 live attendance tickets sold out in 24 hours, with
additional tickets made available to allow asynchronous attendance. Such enthusiasm demonstrates
an interdisciplinary event on singing was both timely and necessary.
The organisers developed a survey to gather feedback, measure impact, and help determine future
directions. A significant finding is that practitioners were motivated to attend, specifically because it
was an online event. However, there were challenges caused by moving the conference online,
particularly when it came to relying on technology and integrating live singing activities. By analysing
the feedback gathered from delegates, the article will consider three areas: creating an inviting event
for practitioners and researchers, technological challenges when hosting an online conference on
singing, and integrating live, synchronous singing activities into an online conference