Music helps people. In a study conducted in 2016, two researchers found that children with autism who struggled to interact and face their therapists were able to do so once music was playing, saying that in some cases, “the client runs and jumps around the room often in synchrony with the music.”

 

   As quarantine orders linger for the third month, people have turned to the arts to keep themselves busy. For those who participate in and teach music therapy, music’s healing properties have always been known. For everyone else, this is a time that has shown the power of music, and how it can be used to aid those going through difficult periods of life. 

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   The American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship.” Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist who studied patients with Parkinson’s disease, once stated that prior to 1980, music wasn’t being looked at as a way to cure people. Now, the American Music Therapy Association, the largest music therapy organization in the United States, represents over 5,000 music therapists. The Association says that in 2010 alone, over 1,000,000 people seeked out music therapy. 

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   Kim Best, a board-certified music therapist located in Rochester, NY, said music’s accessibility has allowed her to connect with those who can’t speak or move. To Best, that is what makes music therapy a powerful tool.

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  “Music is something you can do and engage in when you can’t speak, when you can’t move, even when your cognitive ability is very low. It’s fun, and it crosses languages. I don’t speak Spanish but I can sing in Spanish, so with my Spanish-speaking clients, the music does all the talking,” said Best. 

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   Best, who specializes in hospice care and dementia patients, has been forced to work remotely, and says some of the most important aspects of music therapy, like body language, are lost when sessions are over the phone. As she plans for a virtual workshop with her clients and colleagues, Best said she is trying to make the experience as similar to normal as she can. 

Best’s husband and fellow musician and producer, Greg Best, said the pandemic has a mixed effect on his profession. 

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    “I can’t play any gigs right now, and I typically had 2-3 gigs a weekend. But, I’m still able to work on production. I was going to release a new album this summer, and now I have more nights to work on that,” said Best. 

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    Greg Best continued, saying he hopes the music industry, which “has been damaged for a while now” will undergo a change that will support artists more than it has in the past. 

Both Kim and Greg Best said that despite the hindrances COVID-19 has placed on their professions, the reward of seeing music better the lives of others makes their recent adjustment to remote teaching/production worth it. 

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   “When I see one of my patients, and the strides they’ve made… seeing them sing ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ as their family members sob in the corner because they thought they would never speak again, it’s rewarding. People always ask how I can work in hospice care, but I have lots of fun, lots of laughter. I’m showing my clients that there’s still life to live,” said Kim Best. 

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   For the clients of music therapists, it has been a difficult adjustment. 

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   “Music has given me a place to go during the most stressful parts of my life. Now that I can only speak with my therapist over the phone… I don’t know, it’s not the same. I have my guitar, but it was the part with playing with others that I found most soothing,” said Cami Ortiz, a sophomore at the County College of Morris, and an avid musician. 

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    Since quarantine began, Ortiz said she’s been keeping busy by learning new songs and watching past concerts on YouTube. 

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   Music for the Mission, a non-profit organization located in Central New York, raises money for the hungry and homeless through fundraisers and concerts. The organization uses the money to give out small grants to other nonprofits.

 

   Christina Cole, the executive director of the organization since 2017, and a member since its inception in 2009, described Music for the Mission as the “umbrella” organization that encompasses and supports smaller nonprofits. 

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   “We disperse probably $25,000… $28,000 and then at the end of the year, we have just about $14,000 to give out as mini grants.” Cole said. 

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    Despite being unable to hold events due to COVID-19, Cole said they’ve been more successful than in previous years, and expect to see an influx of organizations requesting mini grants. 

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  “We’re not going away. So far this year, we’ve been doing really well, and we’re helping people, believe it not, in a bigger way than in the past. The virtual donations that have been coming in have been great. I think people really are understanding that there’s just such a dire need more than ever, because of the story we’ve been telling and how proactive we are,” said Cole. 

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    Earlier in April, Bob Halligan Jr., the musician behind the song “We Are One” and a Syracuse native, held a live week long concert over Facebook, aimed to collect donations. Cole said the money raised from the concert, as well as the upcoming virtual food drive, will provide enough money so that Music for the Mission can continue giving out mini grants to organizations that apply for them. 

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    Noting music’s ability to connect people, Cole said music felt like the right tool to use to encourage community outreach and support. 

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   “When you go to a concert, you can meet someone you’ve never met before and you leave and you’re like the best of friends, even if only for that concert,” said Cole. 

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    Although part of a concert’s appeal is being in the presence of one’s favorite musician, artists around the globe have tried to give that special experience to their fans, despite the pandemic. On April 18th, Spotify hosted “One World: Together at Home” global concert that hosted big names in the music industry, like Lady Gaga and Céline Dion, that encouraged people to remain hopeful. 

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   “All the little things, going on trails and eating out, have been taken from us. But, I think it’s not so bad. I think how we’re living, it really just shows that we are still able to connect. I know I said it’s not the same, but I always think ‘at least I still have my music,’” said Ortiz. 

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    Music may not fix the pandemic, but it has provided comfort in uncertain times. It serves as a lesson to those who seek to defund the arts; it is music, books, paintings, and other art forms that people turn to in times of crisis. The world has learned many things over the course of this pandemic, but maybe the most important one has been obvious all along. Everyone is not as different as it seems, and music can prove that. 

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