“Music bypasses the brain and goes straight to the soul.” That, according to student Rosalind Blackwell, is why she says her participation in Missouri Western’s Lingering Melodies program is so rewarding. For more than a decade, students have been bringing peace and solace to terminally ill patients through their music.
In 2000, Sally Schwab, who is currently team leader for spiritual health at Heartland Health and Hands of Hope Hospice, observed a music therapy program in Montana and wanted to start something similar in St. Joseph. Jackie Thomas, clinical pastoral education supervisor/chaplain at Heartland and whose husband was a professor in the music department at the time, thought Missouri Western music students would be a great asset to the program.
So a partnership between Missouri Western, Heartland and Hands of Hope created Lingering Melodies, a program where music students perform for terminally ill patients. Over the years, the musicians have included vocalists, percussionists, violinists and more.
Jackie wrote the first grant application to the Heartland Foundation and the MWSU Foundation to fund Lingering Melodies, and the program has continuously provided comfort to patients since then. Jackie trained the music students until Kari Maag, volunteer coordinator for Hands of Hope, took over the training about six years ago. Kari now coordinates Lingering Melodies with Laura Bodicky from Hands of Hope.
Rosalind, a junior social work major and music minor, has been singing to patients for more than a year. “It is truly an honor. Music transcends cultures, it’s uplifting,” she says.
Sarah Cool ’08, who graduated with a music education degree and is a Suzuki violin instructor through the Western Institute’s center for community arts, performed for Lingering Melodies throughout her entire college career and continues to play at nursing homes occasionally on her own. One social worker told her that she had never seen the patient smile until Sarah played fiddle music and the patient began to laugh.
“It helps them become more peaceful and to enjoy themselves with family members there,” Sarah said of the patients for whom she has performed. “It is a way to use music to make a really big impact on people. I had a lot of good interactions with patients and their families.”
Kari said they currently have four Missouri Western students they can call upon when patients request the musicians – Rosalind, Adrienne Collins, Kyle Minx and Jamie Haffner. The first three are vocalists and Jamie is a percussionist.
“It’s always very emotional. It hits some heartstrings not generally reached,” Kari said. “It communicates in a way that speaking cannot.”