Imagine you are going to a concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. Instead of sitting in a chair, you are invited to sit on soft floor cushions or a yoga mat. Instead of being shushed, you are encouraged to engage with your neighbor. And the moment the first musical notes are about to begin, the host invites you to breathe deeply. Even the lighting is softer and warmer.
Designing a Group Musical Experience
Sarah Johnson, director of the music institute at Carnegie Hall (WMI), says, “We hung fabrics to make the space more inviting and comfortable. Given everything people face in our world today, we wanted to design a group musical experience that enhances the health benefits of attending musical performances.”
Wellness Concerts
The ongoing series of wellness concerts at Carnegie Hall aims to provide tangible health benefits. According to the World Health Organization’s comprehensive report from 2019, making and listening to music is associated with reduced stress, anxiety, and loneliness.
Using Culture to Enhance Wellness
Reasons to Be Cheerful looks at how this legendary venue in New York is using culture to cultivate wellness.
A Unique Experience
Artists and attendees experience wellness concerts very differently from traditional music performances. Instead of watching artists on a raised stage, attendees are on the same level and form a circle around the artists. “It feels much more connected,” describes Charles the difference. “We are really trying to create the space for the audience to have as rich an experience as possible during the concert. It’s a really great way to explore the meaning of the content.”
Expanding the Series
Carnegie Hall experimented with these wellness concerts this spring primarily for healthcare providers and individuals affected by the judicial system. The response was so enthusiastic that the WMI has expanded the series for this season.
Art and Mental Health
The Carnegie Hall series is not the first to address mental health through performance. The UK has introduced a program called “Art on Prescription” as a psychosocial support for patients suffering from loneliness or social isolation. The program has been operating for over two decades and shows benefits for mental health, chronic pain, and managing acute and chronic illnesses.
Music as Therapy
Quinber says, “The arts in general, and music in particular, can be very therapeutic. Collective meditative listening in the context of a concert can have positive physiological, psychological, and social impacts. For example, it reduces the stress hormone cortisol. Researchers have measured decreases in anxiety and depression.”
Evaluating Impact
The impact of the concert series will be evaluated in collaboration with the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab at UC Berkeley. Under the supervision of psychology professor Dacher Keltner, researchers are studying the experience of live concerts through a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the season.
Impact Beyond Carnegie Hall
The music institute at Carnegie Hall has over 14 years of experience providing concerts in various high-stress public venues, including hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and to individuals living on the streets. “We want to think about how to support wellness concerts beyond the fresh air of Carnegie Hall,” says Quinber.
Music in Prisons
The WMI has offered a program called “Musical Connections” in maximum security prison facilities like Sing Sing. Sarah Elizabeth Charles worked as a vocal coach for women at Rikers Island in New York as part of a project for Lullaby, where she wrote songs for and with the young women. Charles describes the experience of bringing her music into prisons as “life-changing.” The Lullaby project explores the role music can play in relieving stress for expectant families and new parents, proving that music “can stimulate language development and modulate stress.” Charles also helped address the trauma she faced from miscarriage and pregnancy.
Impact
Programs on Employees
Johnson says: “I found the concert really beneficial for me personally. It was quiet, beautiful, and meditative. We who do this work are affected by it as well. With this work, there is the potential for a 360-degree impact.”
Extending the Impact
Johnson’s team knows that mental health challenges are rarely solved by a single concert. The team is looking for ways to extend the impact. Kuipner says: “How can you extend the impact of one event?” They help create resources for the audience, such as curated playlists that attendees can download, and short recordings from the concert that are sent out for several weeks after the concert to extend the effect.
At the end of the concert, Charles and Cheerner invite the audience to sing and lead the room with words that couldn’t be more fitting: “Be here and now, live your life out loud.”
Source: https://www.aol.com/carnegie-hall-concert-series-designed-181000971.html
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