Music In Prisons
Sing Sing is a workshop made for people in prison. They work both individually and in groups to create and learn about music, no matter your musical background. In the video above, they are working with professional musician and composer, Daniel Levy, to create music for a woodwind group. Men can prove their willingness and commitment to learn and will be invited onto the course. Then, the prisoners regularly meet to work on music together, and they perform at the end of the year. Sing Sing helps 1,200 inmates and guitars every year.
Music in prisons is important because it helps reformation. This means that prisoners have a higher chance of not reoffending once they leave prison and are more included in society. It also gives them a better chance of getting a job, especially in creative fields, when they leave as they have been learning and improving on many different skills whilst in prison. Music also allows the prisoners to express their emotions through the different pieces they create. It gives them hope and something to look forward to both in prison and once they leave. Because they are working in groups and with external people, it gives inmates a sense of community instead of having them sit in a cell all day. Finally, it improves confidence in inmates as they are performing to audiences and peers; something they may not be used to doing.
Music In Hospitals
Music and Memory is an organization that works with people that suffer from neurological conditions such as dementia, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism, cerebral palsy and many more. They help these people through the use and listening of music. The video above introduces Henry, who has been in the nursing home for 10 years, suffers from seizures and is very unresponsive. After he has been given an iPod containing his favourite music, he suddenly becomes very animated and has different facial expressions. He is also humming along to the songs and moving his arms and legs as a way to dance to the songs. After he takes the headphones off, he is like a new person. The music made him more responsive and allowed him to answer questions about his memories with music and what his favourite music is.
Music in hospitals is used for many different things. In this case, it was used to bring back memories for people with neurological conditions. However, it can also be used for young children, to help distract the young patient as being in a hospital at a young age can be quite a traumatic experience. Also, patients needing an MRI scan will have the option to listen to music (often they are allowed to suggest music that they would like to listen to) as having an MRI scan is a very long process and the machine is quite loud throughout.
Music In Schools
In Harmony is a programme put on across the country by Arts Council England and the Department for Education. This workshop helps children in schools to fulfil their musical potential in music by learning about and performing orchestral music. It mainly supports children from deprived backgrounds or in poor communities. Music is not a well-funded subject in school, so this programme helps students get into music in a fun and inspiring way. Students learn new instruments, rehearse in groups alongside professional musicians, and perform in ensembles.
Music in schools helps team and group work, as they are always working in ensembles. As well as this, it allows them to work and collaborate in different communities and learn from professional musicians. These ensembles teach patience as learning their part could take a long time or other students may be struggling. It also introduces respect and support for peers (for example, many older students help the younger peers to improve and students of the same years help each other in class). Finally, it improves confidence and encourages children to engage more in class, for example answering questions, or going to the front of the class to present something.
Music For Homeless Communities
Streetwise Opera’s motto is ‘Giving Homeless People a Voice’ and this is exactly what they do, in more ways than one. It is a charity that uses different forms of arts, such as music, drama and opera alongside homeless people with an aim to improve their self-assurance and pride as a member of society. They work with around 600 homeless people every year. As well as workshops and activities, they offer trips to concerts and theatres, work placements, volunteering in the arts and performances/productions in the creative industries.
Overall, one of the most important aspects of Streetwise Opera is the fun. Without the fun, homeless people wouldn’t enjoy participating and there would be almost no point in running the workshop. It also helps with confidence, for example, quality of life, emotional wellbeing and self-worth. Being involved in a workshop like this helps homeless people get back into society, secure a job, accommodation and make friends. It improves social skills, so they can go to interviews and put trust in people. Motivation is enhanced to give them more determination to improve their lives and resilience to deal with life’s challenges and give them the confidence to face these challenges head-on. Finally, creative development improves as the group will learn and evolve their interest in the arts industries, and many will leave homelessness and join the creative industry.