  In this note, we briefly introduce singleton representations and discuss
their relevance to the study of string and brane configurations in AdS space,
their tensionless limit and the connection with higher-spin gauge theory. We
then discuss the main properties of subcritical SO(D-1,2) WZW models featuring
singletons and their composites as primary fields. After a suitable gauging,
these models are good candidates for a fundamental, partonic description of
tensionless branes in AdS. Their massless sector provides an affine
Lie-algebraic setting for the study of higher-spin symmetries. Based on
hep-th/0508124, hep-th/0701051 and work in progress.
