Strike Up The Band

March 8, 2016

After several months of careful planning BSM’s latest partnership involving our neighbor across Broad Street, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and our other neighbors up on North Broad, Temple University’s School of Music Therapy, launched to rave reviews by all involved. Ten guests created delightful rhythms while orchestra members improvised melodies to round out the sound. Then as if by magic the sounds of the Beatles tune, Here Comes the Sun, emerged from the Sunday School Room

While we believe creative, artistic experiences are valuable in their own right, this partnership goes beyond making music together. The idea behind this initiative is also to understand how the act of playing music affects our guests’ hope and optimism, which are key influences on resiliency. So in addition to forming an improvisational music ensemble involving some of the finest musician in the world, music therapists from Temple have designed a rigorous research project to determine the impact that this creative process will have on the well-being of our guests over time.

All of us at BSM are grateful to the members of the orchestra who shared their talent, energy and love of music with our guests. In addition we want to express our gratitude for all the members of the Temple Music Therapy Research Team for their professionalism and their remarkable compassion.

The initiative will continue for about three months, and then the orchestra is off to tour China. We are excited to soon share both the experiences our guests and musician friends are having, and the invaluable research findings from our other neighbors from up the street.