For more than 20 years,Musicians On Callhas brought the joy and healing power of music to hospitals across the country, with volunteer artists going room to room giving intimate performances for patients, caregivers and family members.
Just as it has silenced live music in arenas, theaters and clubs, thecoronavirus pandemicforced Musicians On Call to press pause on its signature Bedside Performance Program.
But the organization hasn’t skipped a beat, marshaling its corps of volunteers to produce a video compilation of healing songs, recorded ad hoc in living rooms and home studios.
The initiative, called#MOCHeals, features over 100 videos covering a broad swath of musical history, from a Bach cello suite to Tin Pan Alley, 60s rock and soul standbys, and recent hits like Kacey Musgraves Rainbow.
The playlist has been shared with the charity’s approximately 80 partner hospitals for streaming on their closed-circuit TV systems and can be viewed in full onYouTube.
The effort is part of an expansion of Musicians On Call’s virtual and digital programs (see sidebar), which have helped the organization and its hundreds of volunteers maintain their musical mission to patients and homebound seniors, and to reach a larger public dealing with isolation and worry.
“Our volunteers that had been used to doing in-person programs wanted to do more, says Pete Griffin, president and CEO of the Nashville-based charity.
They wanted to share their music with more people, knowing that not only patients and caregivers were going through tough times, but everyone was really struggling with the situation.”
Songs that connect
In keeping with that goal, Musicians On Call aims to share songs that are uplifting, they’re happy, they have a positive message in them, Griffin says.
For #MOCHeals, volunteers were asked to select favorites from their hospital repertoires that really seem to connect with patients."
