Disclaimer: This is transcribed using AI. Expect (funny) errors.
Mindy Peterson: [00:00:00] I’m Mindy Peterson, and this is Enhance Life with Music, where we explore the ways music can make our lives better and spotlight the resources you can use to enhance your life with music. Most of us have been touched in some way by dementia. I know I have. My guest today has been. And she came to the conclusion that there are certain things music can provide that medication cannot. People with and without dementia want purpose and connection. My guest today is on a mission to provide choral communities of joy and the greatest gift you can give someone a sense of belonging. Eyleen Braaten is Executive Director of Giving Voice Initiative, a nonprofit that inspires and equips dementia-friendly choirs that change lives and community perceptions. The organization brings joy and empowerment to people living with dementia and their care partners. It is based right here in Minneapolis, which means I got to meet Eyleen in person recently, which I don’t get to do with many of my guests, and it was absolutely delightful. Welcome to Enhance Life with Music, Eyleen.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:01:12] Thank you so much for having me, Mindy. I, I’m thrilled to be here. And I’m also thrilled that you did get to come and experience the magic of a giving voice chorus in person.
Mindy Peterson: [00:01:21] It was magical. And it was funny because that evening, or I guess it was the night, the night after that, last night, as I was catching up on social media, I saw on LinkedIn that congratulations are in order for you and giving voice, because it was just announced yesterday as we’re recording this, that you were the recipient of the second annual Renée Fleming Neuro Arts Investigator Award. So congratulations on that. Hopefully, we’ll have a chance to talk a little bit about what that means further on on our conversation, but congratulations.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:01:54] Thank you. It is very exciting to be honored with such a prestigious award and to be in company with such amazing people, doing wonderful things to promote neuro arts.
Mindy Peterson: [00:02:04] Absolutely. Yeah, I think I first heard about giving voice somehow on LinkedIn. And so it was somewhat on my radar. And then at some point after that, one of the owners of Schmidt Music, where I work, Doug Schmidt, announced that our store here in Bloomington, Minnesota, would be hosting weekly rehearsals for a choir for people with dementia. And I was like, ooh, I wonder if that’s the same choir. And one of my colleagues, Doctor Brent Rodgers, would be directing it. So that really motivated me to find out more. And I was so inspired by what I discovered about giving voice. I’ll let you explain to listeners what is giving voice and when and how was it started?
Eyleen Braaten: [00:02:47] Yeah, well, Giving Voice is a innovative nonprofit that you said based here in the Twin Cities that started about ten years ago, um, around the emerging research that, um, really explored the power of music in the brain for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Um, and our two co-founders were, um, they had parents that were living with Alzheimer’s, and they really wanted to do something more to create an opportunity for their, their loved ones to to have a sense of purpose, to to find something that they could do in the art space. And it made sense to them to utilize everybody’s universal instrument, your voice. And so giving voice was started as one choir here in Minneapolis for people living with a diagnosis and their care partners. And, um, was a weekly rehearsal opportunity to learn new songs, to meet new people and to really experience the joy of singing in community. And, um, the experience really was that and so much more. Because what what we realized ten years ago was that social isolation was also very, very real for this population. And and being able to create something that allowed our singers to not only experience all of the benefits of, you know, music and the brain and positive healthy health outcomes from singing. It was also a chance for people to create community, um, and find a meaningful activity that they could do together. So what was one chorus turned into two and then three. And then the question came up of what’s next? And, um, it was decided that being a a leader of a worldwide movement was the big, bold, aspirational goal of giving voice and finding ways to create tools and resources to help other communities launch their own choruses was going to be a priority.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:04:48] So, um, Giving Voice created a toolkit in 2016 and started doing things like educational conferences and trainings and really leaned into this opportunity to to demonstrate through the work we were doing in the Twin Cities, how these types of choirs could exist in every community. And that’s really been a large driving factor of the work that we have done over the last eight years. And we now have over 80 choirs here in the US that have used the giving voice tools and model to create a community like this, or a choir like this in their community, as well as as choirs are popping up internationally. So now we really see ourselves as, um, as utilizing this wonderful opportunity to learn from the choirs that we operate here in the Twin Cities. We now have six, um, two of those are fully Spanish speaking choirs that we have created with some nonprofits in the Twin Cities to really provide a music benefit for people in the Latino population. Um, but we use those choruses courses to be the, you know, the heart of the organization and guide us as we continue to explore ways to, you know, again, lead this worldwide movement, because we know that there could be a choir like this and every community, and it still wouldn’t meet the need that we have.
Mindy Peterson: [00:06:09] Um, I know you’ve mentioned the term care partners. Tell us a little bit more about who gets involved in these choirs, the person with the diagnosis and then their care partner, which could be children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors. Like. Tell us a little bit more about who tends to participate in these choirs.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:06:27] Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, we we use the word care partner because, you know, relationships are always complicated when you talk about living with dementia. And living with dementia is really a term that, you know, that applies to, um, to a lot of people that are engaged in someone’s diagnosis. So we have a lot of people that come to us that are husband and wife, where one of the one of you know, spouses is is living with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or other dementia. And so we also would bring the care partner. But there are many other opportunities for people to come and share the joy together. So I sing with my dad, um.
Mindy Peterson: [00:07:05] Who I got to also meet when we met earlier this week.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:07:09] Yeah, he he is, um, he’s a beloved character, but that’s he’s a character for sure. Um, he’s a lifelong musician and, um, and really enjoys coming to rehearsal every week. But for me, as an adult child, um, caring for a loved one with dementia, it is wonderful to have an activity to to do with him every week. Um, we do have some people that are just good friends or, um, or even, you know, a neighbor. And then we also have people that have forged really strong friendships because we we also include community volunteers. So sometimes, um, and I’ll use the example of me again, we have people that are singing different musical parts, or perhaps are going to be sitting in different parts of the rehearsal space. And so for me, I arrive every week with my dad who sings tenor, and when we get there, he gets to sit with a wonderful, good friend that he sings with every week. That is a community volunteer. That just helps support him in his, um, you know, in his rehearsal. And then I actually, as the care partner, can enjoy the choral experience and know that he is, um, getting everything he needs to be successful. And he’s with really good friends. So those relationships are really important too. So we do really rely on, um, wonderful community volunteers to help make this program really special and create the right type of environment for all of our singers.
Mindy Peterson: [00:08:32] I love that you bring up that relational community aspect and just the the loneliness that a lot of people can experience, because it’s not just elderly people or people with a dementia diagnosis that experience isolation and loneliness. I mean, our attorney general here in the US, issued a sort of an outgoing kind of warning to our country about how epidemic loneliness is in our country. And it’s not even just in our country. It’s global, a global phenomenon. Unfortunately, as people have become so isolated and loneliness has become an epidemic. So I love that you bring in that piece. This program, Giving voice Choirs really is designed, I believe, for people with a diagnosis who are still living at home but don’t have very many opportunities anymore in their community because of their diagnosis. And so this really provides a community relational outlet for them. Um, talk a little bit more about that in terms of why it’s so important for this demographic who is still living at home. And so they don’t necessarily have that sense of community.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:09:45] Yeah. It’s, you know, social isolation and loneliness is is yeah, it’s such a huge issue. Um, you know, in, in the UK, they appointed a minister of loneliness actually years ago to really address some of these problems. And, you know, we find that receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or other dementia, you’re immediately told what you can’t do anymore. So it’s this it’s a narrative of decline. And that can often shape, um, someone’s entire perspective of of what their life could or should look like. And, and really, you know, we, we seek to change that. We seek to change that on a big level in terms of conversations that we’re having, you know, like this where we can just inform people, but also we want to change that within our singers, which is changing the narrative from decline to potential. Because at giving voice, it’s extremely important for us to see the potential in all of our singers, because whether you have the diagnosis or not, you know, it’s an opportunity to remind people that you are far more you have far more potential than you even know. And if it’s something that we can do in terms of singing and community choirs to inspire that, um, to shape that lens of, you know, I am capable, I have a place I belong. We want to do that because when people tend to withdraw, especially living with a diagnosis, it becomes harder and harder for them to see themselves as someone that’s full of potential. So it is something that we can offer that again, we have no auditions. We we don’t need you to sing perfectly. Um, we want to hear.
Mindy Peterson: [00:11:32] No singing experiences required.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:11:37] No singing experience is required. But it’s it’s an opportunity to really learn and grow and develop because our singers sound great. I mean, I, you know, I have to say that they do sound and they.
Mindy Peterson: [00:11:45] I can vouch for that.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:11:48] And everyone there is focused on just simply, you know, working hard and having fun. And we want that to be accessible to everyone. So an example would be, you know, we we do often sing songs in harmony. But if you are, you know, having a hard time with, you know, singing in the rain and you want to sing the melody, that is great. We want to meet everybody where they’re at because we believe that, you know, there’s a place for everyone in the choir, no pun intended. Okay. Kind of, but the ability for us to welcome everyone connects people with their humanness. And a diagnosis like Alzheimer’s or other dementias often tends to break that down. People’s connection with their humanness and what creates value. We always say there’s no wrong in the room at giving voice, because people need to hear that more people need to hear that more that, you know, your value is is sometimes simply just by showing up and being you. So we do that through our music, but we also do that just through, again the community we create and how. How important it is for this to be their choir and their experience. So the choral director you mentioned, you know, doctor, doctor Brent. Um, we have four different choral directors in the Twin Cities that run the groups that we have here, and they all see their goal as providing an opportunity for people to enjoy music, not necessarily to create an, you know, artistic excellence. And I think that that, in turn, has also shaped their lives and given them a different outlook on on what what it means to to lead groups like this. So I certainly know, as has shared that.
Mindy Peterson: [00:13:27] Yeah. Well, I love what you said a moment ago about how music really brings out our humanness and our humanity, and music is really uniquely situated to help giving voice to accomplish these goals, because music really is an expression of our humanity. It’s uniquely, uniquely functions as a social glue. It connects us all. So I really love that you tap into that superpower of music in that way. And also for this population, neuroscience research really substantiates that, that music memory is the last to fade away. So that’s another reason that music is so unique. And it’s superpower in this space is because even if you are non-verbal, I know you’ve had situations where you have members of the choir who are non-verbal, but they’ll show up to rehearsal and they’ll sing every lyric of these songs. It’s really phenomenal. And we can talk a little bit later about some of the neuroscience behind that. But I just I just love those aspects of music that really do provide a supercharged power to what you’re accomplishing with these choirs.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:14:39] I love I love that you said music is a superpower because I couldn’t agree more. And I think that, you know, for us, it really is the vehicle for all of all of the benefits that, you know, people can experience within the work. And it is it’s so wonderfully, uh, human in our ability to enjoy, um, participating in, in, in music and experiencing music and then also experiencing it with others. There was a study that was done a while ago now that I still just can’t help but refer to that talks about how, you know, choral singing syncs, heartbeats. And I think that symbolically that’s just so important because, you know, music itself is is a profound expression of our humanity. And then to know that you can actually share it with others, even when, like you said, even if your connection with the outside world has faded a little bit. So, you know, we do have people that are nonverbal. Um, we do have people that often can’t engage or communicate as well as they used to, but music is still such an opportunity for them to communicate with others. One of my favorite stories and I have many, many. So I can’t go down that track. But my favorite stories is, you know, we have a singer who sings with her mother, and her mother had, you know, kind of progressed on her journey and such that they didn’t they didn’t have conversations like they used to. And it even got to a point where she kind of felt like maybe her mom was slipping away from her a little bit, but they would still come to rehearsal and they would sing every week. And all of those musical memories were still stored in there.
Mindy Peterson: [00:16:13] Yeah.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:16:14] And, um, we sang a song in rehearsal, uh, Elvis’s Can’t Help Falling in Love, which is such a great one, but, um, and, um, after they sang, her mom turned to her and said, you know, I love you so much. Oh, that was the first time that she had, you know, had the opportunity to to sort of communicate with her mom in that way. And, and, and I believe that that is because of this profound connection that people have with music that inspires those, um, those emotional memories and that reminds us that they’re still in there. You can’t communicate with us in the way that we expect them to. It’s our job to figure out how we can communicate them with them in a way that they can, that they can still receive. And music absolutely does that.
Mindy Peterson: [00:17:03] Well, and what a great way for the care partner or the friend, the relative, to catch a glimpse of that old self that’s still in there because music does bring that out. It’s not a cure, obviously, but it can bring back so many aspects of our our innate self in that moment and just kind of bring that back for a moment. And we’ve kind of talked about the the loneliness aspect for people with the diagnosis. But these groups provide such a wonderful respite for the care partners, because when they’re in this room, as you described. They may be sitting with their, uh, their parent, or they may have their parent sitting in the tenor section with a volunteer while they’re sitting in the soprano or alto section. And they’re they’re still engaging in this activity with their loved one, but it’s a bit of a respite to somebody else is helping out, and everybody in the room understands the situation. There’s no explanation needed, and having that loved one with a diagnosis can be isolating for the person without the diagnosis as well. Uh, because not all of our, our community members understand what it’s like to care for somebody in that situation or live with the loss that you’re experiencing in that situation.
Mindy Peterson: [00:18:24] I want to go back to Doctor Brent, too. It was so fun to see him in action in that way, because I work with him and get to see him, you know, in action in other ways. But when I saw him conducting the choral aspect of this rehearsal, I was like, oh man, he’s so good. And you talked about how there’s no wrong in the room and no experience is required. But this is a real directed chorus. I mean, they’re not dumbing it down. Doctor Brent was up there having people do warm ups and, you know, kind of stopping at different points and kind of challenging people. Let’s do a little bit more of this, or let’s slow down a little bit more here and then a tempo and, you know, explains everything but isn’t dumbing it down. And as you said, people sound the choir sounds great. So um, that’s I think that’s really important to note too. Like, this isn’t just a, oh, let’s show up and home together. And it sounds awful, but hey, we’re all doing it together. I mean, this is a real, bonafide choir.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:19:23] Yeah, absolutely. It’s it’s, um, we we have worked really hard to establish, um, some, you know, recommendations of a choral environment that are going to be really helpful for a person living with dementia, but also not take away from the experience of of all choral learners. And we found that opportunities to really meet people where they are, um, exist in many ways. So, you know, I don’t know if you saw our binders, but we use binders where we have the music that has been specially engraved, uh, with dementia friendly guidelines. So if you know some of the notations that might be good for the accompanist or the director, we, we, we clean up and remove for clarity of music score. Um, we also do things like we don’t have repeats. We make sure that the music follows, um, throughout the piece. Um, we have certain ways that we have really adapted the score so that if people are still reading music, they can read music as long as possible, but then if they can’t, we also have lyric sheets for every single song, and we use specific tabs so that the so that the choral leader can say, all right, we’re going to go to song number four For so that if someone is, you know, living with a diagnosis and maybe is not, not as receptive to, you know, a song name, they can find number four because it is very important to empower people to do for themselves as much as they possibly can. What I have, what the chorus teaches me every single week, every single week, is that we are even with the best of intentions we’re trying to do for and and that that’s that’s often not what they want, you know, they want to do.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:21:04] They want to do it themselves. So so everything from the music that we create, um, providing lyrics, we make practice tracks for all of our songs so that singers can listen to it in the car or, you know, create a routine around that. But then also the choral rehearsal experience for us, we’ve learned that creating repetition and routine is hugely beneficial for people to participate meaningfully when they’re living with a It’s a diagnosis. So we do we do warm ups. We make sure the voice is warm and ready to sing. And that’s important for singing. But it’s also important for, again, that repetition. Um, we do things like move and groove. So every week we get some sort of just fun song that maybe someone recommends, and we just take an opportunity to get up and stretch and kind of move around. Um, we also, because we’re a community, we invite people to tell a little bit about themselves. So we take a little a little break about three quarters of the way of rehearsal. And someone offers what we call music and me, which is just a just take a few minutes, five minutes to tell us something about your musical history. Um, so that we’re just learning about each other because the, the bonds that we create as a, as a community are also going to allow people to participate meaningfully as long as possible. That’s our goal.
Mindy Peterson: [00:22:25] I love that you do that sort of like three quarters of the way through the rehearsal, because I’m guessing that if you did it right at the beginning before the singing started, you would get much less participation, partly because once that music gets going and people are singing, it does activate that part of the brain. And I’m guessing you’ve had some surprising, surprising stories that come up as you offer up the floor for people to share. Do you get sometimes people with a diagnosis who just suddenly maybe they’re nonverbal or very uncommunicative in general, but once they’ve been singing for, say, a half hour or so, they suddenly just start communicating and share something about themselves.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:23:05] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we have, you know, we have people that come to us from all stages of a diagnosis. So we have people that are just, you know, that are very early in their journey and have have very little cognitive issues. And then we have people that are later stages. So we have we have a huge variety of singers. But absolutely, we have found that that musical experience, that ability to sing and enjoy music with others, it opens up something. Yeah.
Mindy Peterson: [00:23:33] It’s like a portal somehow.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:23:34] Yeah, yeah. And and and part of it is just, um, a feeling of trust and belonging that helps. That helps kind of foster that. Um, but also. Absolutely. The music, the music and the brain is just such a magical, magical relationship. We, we had we have a new woman singing with us in our Bloomington rehearsal or Bloomington chorus who came because, um, her mom was a singer and, um, she was a little hesitant about being a part of this group because she had not been a singer, but her mom did. And after the rehearsal, she told her partner that was coming with her that she felt like a shell. She described it as a shell of despair was broken because she found something that she could do, because I would guess that she was finding a lot, that she felt she was no longer welcome or no longer able to do. So yeah, The the power of that musical experience opens up a lot in people.
Mindy Peterson: [00:24:35] Yeah, yeah. I got to sit in on the webinar that you did with Doctor Izbicki, who we’ll talk about a little bit later. She is the neuroscientist that’s on a board member. Yeah. And one of the quotes that you included in your presentation really caught my attention. It was a quote from a surgeon from his book, Being Mortal Medicine and What Matters in the end. And I looked up the book afterward. It’s a book about the limitations of his profession, the limitations of medicine when it comes to the end of life, and how as physicians, they’re kind of trained like survival at all costs, when really what most people want is to live to the end with dignity and joy and autonomy. And the quote that you included in your presentation was, uh, him saying, we’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine, we think our job is to ensure health and survival, but really it is larger than that. It is to enable wellbeing. And I think that really does a great job of sort of encapsulating what giving voice provides to people who may be at the end stages of life, and they want to thrive to the greatest extent possible with the days they have left, and to connect with other people, to connect with their loved ones, to experience what they can experience and not just be focused on what they can’t do any longer.
Mindy Peterson: [00:26:01] So I loved that quote and wanted to interject that. I want to go back to to the binders that you mentioned. I got to see the binder. It’s fabulous. It has those tabs, like you said, that are just numbered one, two, three, four, you know, so you can just easily flip to that song. It’s very clear. I think you mentioned that the piano accompaniment is taken out. So it’s just the vocal parts that are included. It’s a very streamlined, easy to follow along. You mentioned that there’s backing tracks for members to practice with in between the weekly rehearsals, and these are just some of the examples of the tools and resources that are provided for your network choirs. Explain a little bit more the difference between the Giving Voice choirs. I think you said there are six flagship choirs in the Twin Cities here, but then also the network choirs that are popping up all around, not just the country but the globe. Tell us a little bit about the difference between those two choirs.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:26:59] Yeah. So the Giving Voice choirs are the groups that we operate here in the Twin Cities area. And they are, you know, largely based on where, where we started, you know, the opportunity to to partner with great organizations here to do this work and, and learn. And um, for us, the some of that learning was that the sustainability and success of these choirs is really dependent on the needs of the community and some of the things that, um, that that community really, you know, seeks to, seeks to utilize. So, um, for example, you know, our choirs here in the Twin Cities look very different than, you know, um, building bridges in Granite Falls, Minnesota, that’s in a more rural community. And so when we when we decided as an organization that we wanted to both inspire this work and then equip people with tools and resources, it was really important that it be a conversation about what was going to fit their community best, and that figuring out first and foremost how their community was experiencing people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s, and how they could bring music that was unique to them. That’s really important because the way we do things here in the Twin Cities is just one example. It’s just one example of how this work can show up. You know, the way we partner with organizations, the way we run our rehearsals. Um, and so we really, um, use the courses that we operate here as an opportunity to continue to evaluate and grow and improve the work that we do, and then take that to other communities, which would be our network choirs, which are choirs that have popped up all over the country that are using our tools and resources, but that are taking them into in a way that’s going to suit them best.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:28:49] So whether that be, um, exploring opportunities with, you know, we have a we have a group in, um, in Iowa that rehearses inside a hospital at their, you know, their volunteer respite center, because they found that that was an opportunity to really benefit that population or the way in which, you know, I kind of mentioned rural or outstate choruses, um, are able to do this work well. So the network choruses belong to the Giving Voice network, which means we are there to provide them training, resources, support, sometimes just be a cheerleader. It’s a very isolating thing things sometimes to be doing this work when you might be the only one for, you know, for 100 miles that has any interest in dementia choirs. So we want to be there for them. But we also celebrate how this work is showing up differently across the US. Um, another example would be there’s a wonderful choir in Victoria, British Columbia, where their model is they’ve, you know, they’ve they’ve used our tools and resources, but then said, you know what, we really want high school students to be our volunteers. We’re going to.
Mindy Peterson: [00:29:55] Partner. Oh, I love that intergenerational aspect.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:29:58] Yeah. We’re going to partner with a high school and we’re going to we’re going to get that support in. So so the the the choirs that we support through our network are out there. They are doing things in a way that suits their community best. And our goal is really to do two things support them with all the tools and resources they need and keep them connected. Because the best way for this movement to really continue and to, you know, gain momentum is by those groups staying connected, staying, um, being able to share what’s working for them, what’s not working and feeling supported. Um, so for example, May 2nd is coming up is our annual conference. And so that’s an opportunity for these groups to come in and just kind of say, hey, you know, what can we learn? What you know, what are some of the new things? Um, and again, that really important goal of keeping them connected.
Mindy Peterson: [00:30:50] Sure. And just be inspired by one another. I mean, that intergenerational idea. Maybe a high school teacher is hearing that and thinking, oh, you know, I don’t have anyone in my immediate life with dementia, but I would love for my high school choir to be able to experience helping out and volunteering and just this intergenerational, multidisciplinary type of a choir. And, you know, how can we get some of them involved? And it would help them with their, their skills, their their choir skills, but also emotional development, emotional intelligence and communication skills and get some volunteer hours and just give back to their community, which is a really cool idea.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:31:35] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there’s so many really, you know, fun things to explore and learn from because, you know, it really reiterates the point that we seek to change the narrative, and that means it should be in the community. And so any opportunity that that these choruses are able to explore ways to get back in community are just, are so inspiring. And ultimately, you know, meeting that goal of changing minds.
Mindy Peterson: [00:32:04] Well, that’s one aspect we haven’t covered yet, is those performances that each of these choirs give. So tell us, I could talk to you about this for like two hours, I know, or more. But tell us quick about the performance component of these choruses.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:32:20] Yeah. So, um, we we feel that some type of community performance is really essential to, you know, meeting some of those goals of of changing the narrative of, you know, being a part of the community. Because really, the opportunity for loved ones, friends, family and community members to enjoy a performance, it really is a profound impact on seeing that potential. Um, I like to say the best place to watch a concert for giving voice is right at the intersection of the chorus and the audience, because that relationship is kind of where the sparks are, you know, the the chorus is up on stage and they’re giving a gift to the audience. And for many of these folks, they don’t get asked to do a lot anymore. You know, they don’t they don’t get an opportunity to give back to them.
Mindy Peterson: [00:33:15] They don’t feel like they have much to offer.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:33:18] Right. And so they’re up on stage and they’re up there giving something to the audience, to the community, and then you. And then again, if you sit at that neat vantage point, you see how much the audience is truly receiving that. Um, and, um, and that’s really where the magic is. It’s that relationship between the chorus and the audience. So the public performances for us are just really crucial to to do that. But also it’s sort of it’s the culmination of all the work that, you know, that’s been done throughout the semester. So we tend to have two performances a year where, um, they, you know, they can they look they can look really different sometimes they’re, you know, big to do’s and sometimes they’re more just, you know, community gatherings or sometimes they really, again, take on the shape and the flavor and the feel of the community that they’re in. But we find that that’s such a fun opportunity to again, highlight this wonderful work that the group has been doing. Um, and also get out there to tell more people that this is the work that we’re doing. Largely, I hear from audience members, first time audience members that, wow, I really I had no idea that you that you guys, you know, sounded this good and that you were going to put on a full performance. Um, and then even more importantly, when when people are up there singing, I couldn’t tell who has dementia and who doesn’t. Um, and you know, what a what a wonderful opportunity for people to be to have their minds changed. Um, so that’s a really fun, fun point.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:34:54] We have done some pretty spectacular big concerts, um, just to celebrate, you know, some momentous occasions. We we did have over a thousand people at Orchestra Hall in June of last year to celebrate our 10th anniversary, where we had all of our Twin Cities choruses on stage at one time. So almost almost 200 singers on stage. Um, and so that’s fun. But, but, but really the, you know, the the concert need not be special or fancy. It just is an opportunity to really showcase again that relationship and that giving back. Yeah, and there’s always something to learn and to take from those concerts. Um, we do a really fun thing where, um, we allow singers to we invite singers to share a little bit of a story before each song. So if we have, you know, if we’re performing 12 songs, then you’re going to get a chance to hear from our duets a little bit about who they are and maybe a connection to the song. So, you know, maybe a minute or two of something that, that they can share to introduce the song, but to also continue sharing the stories of our singers because that storytelling really matters. Um, and it creates a really fun. And also, again, back to that, that center of your humanness. It reminds people that, you know, like dementia is the least interesting thing about these people. Um, they’ve all had fantastic lives and have done amazing things, and that in itself is something that should be celebrated. So we seek to do that at our concerts as well.
Mindy Peterson: [00:36:23] Yeah, well, I think this performance component is so brilliant for so many reasons. I mean, one, number one, we already talked about how this is a way for those with a diagnosis to give back. They have something to offer their community, but also the work that they’re doing during rehearsals. It’s meaningful work, but the performance gives an added layer of purpose to that. It brings me back to like the sports component, like if you’re doing basketball practices constantly and you never have a game, like there’s no, there’s no peak, no, no exciting moment that you’re going for. There’s you’re just kind of missing a layer of that purpose. Or I would use this example with my piano students, if some of them were kind of balking at, I don’t want to do a spring recital, I don’t want to get up in front of people and play. It’s kind of like that gives you a high that you’re not going to experience if you’re just practice, practice, practice with no performance at all. So I love that it gives that extra purpose to the work that they’re doing, and the fact that the audience often can’t tell the difference when they’re up there performing between those with a diagnosis and those that don’t have the diagnosis. I mean, that really helps break down stigma and change perception within the community, which is part of your mission.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:37:43] Absolutely.
Mindy Peterson: [00:37:44] Love that. Well, um, again, I could talk to you forever about this, but for listeners, how can they find a choir in their area? Is there some place on your website where they can look up and see if there’s a network choir in their area, or start one? What are some other ways that they can get involved?
Eyleen Braaten: [00:38:02] Absolutely. So if you go to our website, there are options to find out about what we’re doing here in the Twin Cities and how you can get involved there. There are ways to be connected with the network choirs we have around the country, and then there’s also a lot of resources. If in fact, this is something that that you feel you could champion, because it really does just take a little bit of passion to get this work happening in your community. So the website’s a really good place to start. But we also are we’re here to help. And so reaching out to giving voice will always provide you with an opportunity to talk with someone, whether you have questions about the programs we have or what could potentially be your next step to learn more. Um, we really seek to to be connected with people, so please feel free to do that as well.
Mindy Peterson: [00:38:52] Yeah, I love how the Volunteer Opportunities page on your website has a bunch of options, but then it says you may have considered something we have not. Contact us with that. And I love that because it shows that you’re, you know, interested in innovating and being creative and thinking outside the box. So if there’s somebody who’s like, oh, what I have in mind isn’t listed on this list of volunteer opportunities. Reach out anyway. Share your idea. You also have for. For listeners who don’t currently have an existing network while you’re in the area, you have tons of resources on starting one and launching one. There’s a toolkit that’s a free download, I believe, on your website to create a new chorus. And I’ll just point out to I know Doug Schmidt, who is one of the owners of Schmidt Music, where I work, and he was influential in getting your newest chorus started there at our Bloomington store. He heard you present at his rotary group, and that’s how he discovered Giving Voice and got that choir started at Schmidt Music. So if you’re listening to this and you’re involved in rotary or any other network in your community, promote it with them and just share and spread the word with your whatever network and community you’re involved in and, uh, you know, see what kind of interest there is there. Like I said, we’ve all been touched by dementia in some way and we all have a voice. We all have that instrument. Uh, real quick, can you just touch on a couple little scientific, uh, like, clinical evidence? I know we mentioned briefly that Doctor Patricia Izbicki is on the board of your, uh, your board of directors. She’s a neuroscientist. She’s done a lot of research on this subject of, you know, understanding the brain mechanisms of music training specifically related to aging adults and people with neurodegenerative diseases. So just based I know you and I are not scientists, but based on all of the interactions you’ve had with her, is there something you can share just quickly about the science supporting music’s impact on brain health?
Eyleen Braaten: [00:40:55] Absolutely. So, you know, there is a lot in the neuro arts field that is exploring the ways in which the brain is impacted by participating in music. So we we did see, you know, ten years ago or so, there was a lot of research that was talking about listening to music, which they found is really helpful for for brains that have been impacted by a diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer’s or otherwise. But really, studying that participatory element has demonstrated even more brain activity and ability to stimulate areas of the brain that are lastly impacted by Alzheimer’s or other dementias. So utilizing areas of the brain that are still functioning well, which is why, you know, we see a lot of that. We see a lot of people able to access song lyrics or musical memories, um, you know, far beyond maybe other, other elements. And so right now we’re really interested in following this neuro arts research train that demonstrates how arts programs like these over time can not only improve mood, cognition and have sort of the short term impact which we can see. You know, we can we can see that. I joke that like after rehearsal is when I always make sure that I, you know, make a haircut for my dad or, you know, things like that, but that we’re looking at the research that’s coming out about more long term impacts in delaying progression of the disease and ways in which we can use programs like these as a social prescription.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:42:38] So we mentioned Doctor Patricia Izbicki. She’s been involved in research studies for the last ten years that are understanding, you know, long term, um, musical interventions that they call them in research and exploring how that impacts different elements of brain deterioration based on, you know, lots of different diagnoses, whether it’s Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or Ms.. And, you know, largely it’s it’s coming that this is working. I mean, these are ways in which people can try to preserve some of that. The the way in which I’m not going to say it right, because again, I wish I was a neuroscientist, but like the synapsis and the different elements of the brain that that music is, is working, um, is working on. So giving voice wants to participate in meaningful ways to help continue this work because it is very tangible. Again, music, your voice is an instrument that we all have. It doesn’t, it doesn’t. There’s no studies that talk about, you know, the perfection or quality of your voice. It’s simply just doing it. Yeah. And we’re seeing a lot more of that around around again, this neuro arts movement, which there is a lot of opportunity for these social prescriptions to have a more significant place in healthcare and in the way we address holistic health. Kind of.
Mindy Peterson: [00:43:59] Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. In fact, I’ll include some links in the show notes to some previous episodes on this show about social prescribing, but really an exciting area of development across the globe. And I’ll just mention a couple of things too. Like I said, I was able to sit on an in on that webinar that you did recently with Doctor Izbicki. And I know she talked about one aspect of music is that it uses all areas of the brain. So there’s that reward center of the brain. There’s movement, memory, sensory parts of the brain, attention, focus. So there’s so many all of those are engaged when we make music. I know she talked to you about the fact that music training at any age increases neuroplasticity and any voice or any instrument, including the voice. So some really neat things she had referenced. Also a study, and I’ll put a link in the show notes to that, a study of some of you want to dig into that PubMed article that we’ll have some more information on that too. Well, again, I love geeking out about this stuff. It’s so exciting and so touching. So many questions I wanted to ask you that we didn’t have time for. But I want to respect your time here. And as you know, Eyleen, I asked all my guests to close out our conversation with a musical ending, a coda by sharing a song or story about a moment that music enhanced your life. Do you have a song or story that you can share with us today? In closing?
Eyleen Braaten: [00:45:27] Oh, I have many. I have many, but I would like to share just an experience. I mentioned earlier that I sang with my dad and he’s a lifelong musician. In fact, it has been his lifelong profession. And so I grew up as a kid going to his gigs. You know, this was a different time. This was in the early 80s, so things were different. But I would spend a lot of evenings listening to his band play at all sorts of different venues and, you know, reflecting on what that meant for me. I really saw music and creating music as, um, an opportunity to to really live. So I knew that it was something that my dad liked to do, but I really realized that it was it was it was a part of him. It wasn’t just something he was doing. Um, the music that he was creating was a part of him. And how that impacted, um, you know, the everyone that was listening and how that could create it could take something, um, it could take your emotional state from something maybe sad and lonely to, um, to to more positive or happy within an instant. And, um, so that was a really profound, uh, realization for me in a young age that music lives within us.
Eyleen Braaten: [00:46:46] It’s it’s it’s not just something that we can enjoy listening to. Um, it’s a part of us. And when we figure out whatever way that is to harness that, it’s such a gift. Um, and I feel privileged that I was able to experience that through my dad, who is still making music in whatever way he can, even, you know, even far into his diagnosis, it might not be what it was, you know, 40 years ago. Um, but it’s still impactful and it still exists within him. It’s a part of him. And I think, um, I think we all have that. And if giving voice can be an organization that helps inspire that in others, I feel very privileged to be a part of that. So I think that continuing to look for that and celebrate things when you find it, even if it’s just something really small, like you’re driving in your car and a song comes on that you had long since forgotten, and you can sing every note, and it reminds you of some place in your life or some time in your life. Those feelings and memories are so important because it’s a reminder that it’s a part of you. And so I just encourage people to celebrate that when you can. It’s very important.
Transcribed by Sonix.ai