LSO on Call: Health and Harmony in the City, Part 1

On Thursday September 17, 50 Longwood Symphony musicians gathered at Boston Latin School. Rather than sitting in their familiar spots in the BLS Band room --cellos to the left, violins to the right, winds on the risers--they divided into 14 unfamiliar groupings. Three oboes gathered in one room, and octet of winds and strings in another, two horns and string quartet in yet another. In four short weeks, these new groups will be much more familiar with each other, both musically and personally.
- - - Flutist Dany Krause "at play" after performing at Shriners Hospital last spring


Armed with that training, on October 17, they will travel together to health care settings across the Commonwealth.

This is an opportunity for new, shared experiences.
~It is an opportunity for musicians to get to know their patients better
~It is an opportunity for musicians to get to know each other better
~It is an opportunity for musicians to get to know themselves better
~It is an opportunity to consider what difference the experience will make on them as caregivers.

In an effort to measure these changes, LSO has created questionnaires for the musicians, the staff, and the patients. We're exploring our own pre-conceived ideas, our medical perspective, and our expectations.

Midway through the rehearsal, we stopped to gather and each musician shared his/her experiences with music and the intimacy of playing music in a health care setting.



Schubert Octet under Einstein's watchful gaze

One said: "As a child, my family always played music in hospitals and convents. I loved playing my violin for patients. It is one of the reasons I've applied to medical school."

Another shared: "While I have not played in a formal health care setting, I remember performing Bach for my grandmother as she was dying. It was a very moving experience for me."

Many recalled that it had not been since high school that they had the opportunity to play for patients and to play in chamber music groups.

Next step: Matching these 14 groups with patients and health care settings, and matching the repertoire to the audience.

This is a journey. It may not be taking us as far away geographically as our London tour (see June 2008 blogs), but it will challenge our internal compasses nonetheless.