Worcester – UMass Memorial Medical Center – Amidst the usual beat of a busy day at the Memorial Campus at 119 Belmont Street, the unexpected sounds of violins, cellos, violas, and flutes are professional musicians at lunchtime in November was heard expertly played by 18.
I had to walk through the hospital corridors to find the source, but in the alcove outside the cafeteria, several members of the Worcester Chamber Music Society were giving a free “Music Heals” concert.
The alcove was a small oasis with a few tall tables and chairs on one side of the wall and a few more chairs in the middle with space to stand as pedestrians constantly coming and going along the adjoining corridor. At the other end of the corridor where the concert was taking place was the Muldoon Total Joint Replacement Education Room.
The concert may have been as per the doctor’s instructions.
A one-seat program of concerts was available at the table. “The power of music to elicit a healing response is well-documented,” said a note at the bottom of the program. I hope you will be free from the trauma.”
The Worcester Chamber Music Society has launched a “Music Heels” concert series. The series began as a way to thank medical professionals for their challenging work during the pandemic, and is also based on the belief that music can actually heal. increase. The November 18 concert was his fourth in a free series and was free to anyone who was in the hospital at the time, including medical personnel, hospital staff, patients and visitors.
WCMS violinist Peter Sulski announced at the outset, “I will play music that you will enjoy.” He pointed to programs “around you”.
Later, Sulsky, Christa Backlund Leisner (violin), Rohan Gregory (violin), David Russell (cello), and Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, composer of 18th-century French creole music. I embarked on String Quartet No. 5 by The musicians wore masks like everyone else in the hospital (except when eating or later playing the clarinet in the case of a WCMS concert).
A bright string quartet was played to about half a dozen people seated in tall chairs and tables in the alcove. There were people walking in the corridor all the time. A person wearing a medical uniform pushed what appeared to be a monitor into the hallway. However, one man stopped in the alcove with his lunch, saw what was going on, and lingered. There are other pauses and complete stops throughout the concert.
Applause broke out at the end of the first movement of the string quartet, and the musicians entered the second and final movements of the work.
The timing of the concert was just six days after Thanksgiving was approaching, and it was played at a time when it felt like the holidays were approaching. It was also a time when the UMass Memorial was about to be postponed again due to an influx of respiratory illnesses.
When the string quartet finished, there was more applause.
Backlund-Reissner introduced her next work, a duo for violin and viola by contemporary British composer Kate Whitley.
The work is “very inspiring,” she said. Performances by Backlund Leisner and Sulsky included musical dialogue between violin and viola.
John Mahoney, who works in the housekeeping department of UMass Memorial, sat at a tall table for lunch at the start of the concert, but had to leave.
Did he enjoy what he heard?
“Of course. It’s a nice break from the pace here,” he said.
This was the first time he was part of a “Music Heals” concert by WCMS.
“Great experience”
“I enjoy classical music a lot, so this was a great experience,” Mahoney said.
UMass Memorial Medical Center uses music as therapy. Mary-Carla MacDonald is a music therapist in the palliative care department, and she works with other patients, including those who have suffered stroke.
“We use music for many reasons: for emotional support, anxiety and pain relief,” McDonald said in an interview separate from the “Music Heals” concert.
According to McDonald, a lot of research has been done to show how we respond to music. Music is a very powerful medium in many ways,” she said. “I have had music therapy for many years. It can be curative or end-of-life (support).”
McDonald plays guitar and drums, sings along with some patients, sings with them, and sometimes plays music tapes for both to hear.
She gets to know her patients through what they like about music.
“I always ask, ‘What is your music? What is your musical story?'” she said.
“We all have a personal relationship with music. When they talk about music, they talk about themselves. They always have friends and they trust music. We’re working on the positive relationship they have with music,” she said.
Create a sense of security
“I play guitar, I use my voice. I have an old tank drum and I have my patients play with me. take them to a place that brings
On the other hand, “If someone is seriously ill, you don’t necessarily have to be overly emotional,” she said. I will adjust.”
I think it’s great to work with terminally ill patients. “
She had one patient who said to her while listening to music. I think it’s beautiful, and she’s one of the reasons it’s so powerful.
Music healing, on the other hand, includes helping restore brain and nerve function after trauma such as a stroke, McDonald said.
“Music is part of how we evolved neurologically. We use music to relearn things. To relearn to walk, clockwork clicks.” Music has an immediate impact,” she said. A person might listen to music and say, “‘It helped me remember things.'” “
Of concerts such as “Music Heals,” McDonald said, “Great. Very good for caregivers. Music is therapeutic. More is better.”
For years, scientists have studied the “Mozart Effect,” which appears to link listening to the music of Wolfgang Amadeum Mozart to healing.
The “Music Heels” concert concluded with Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major. Guest artist Eric Thomas, clarinet, joined Buckland his Leisner, Gregory, Sulsky and Russell.
At this point over half an hour into the concert had passed and some of the original audience members had left to return to work and other responsibilities, while new audience members sat and ate, watched and listened instead. Eagerly.
Someone was moving what looked like a giant trash can in the hallway.
Mozart’s work sounded complete and confident, with the clarinet echoing around the alcove.
The people applauded again between the movements, the fourth and final movements had different joyful melodies, and at the end everything seemed to come together.
The Worcester Chamber Music Society was founded in 2006, and Mr. Sulski says he has always taken the words “Worcester” and “society,” as well as “chamber music,” seriously. With its core of acclaimed musicians and guests his artists, his WCMS has become an award-winning cultural institution in the Worcester area with its diverse music programs and programs such as Neighborhood his Strings for inner-city youth. It has also become a symbolic existence.
“I love doing it,” Backlund Leissner said of the “Music Heels” concert after the performance on Nov. 18.
“What I love is that you can take a space and completely transform it. Something happens in people’s minds. They are removed from their minds.” .
“The pandemic was traumatic. I think music is a good way to combat trauma. It’s an honor to be in an environment like this,” said Gregory.
“I give you a ‘thank you,'” said Backlund Leissner.
The musicians put away their instruments. The alcove was a lively place to rest, but there were a few more empty tables and seats than during the concert.
WCMS executive director and flutist Tracy Kraus said that beginning in January, WCMS will host “Music Heels” concerts at venues such as Abby’s House in Worcester, which provides shelter and affordable housing and advocacy and support services. He said he plans to hold it in other locations as well. , to homeless, ragged, low-income women with or without children.
“I think it could be even stronger. We’re in their community space where people come together,” Krause said.
For more information about the Worcester Chamber Music Society, please visit https://worcesterchambermusic.org/.
