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Welcome
by Bev Foster B.Mus, B.Ed, A.R.C.T., A.Mus
Arthur Schopenhauer, the nineteenth century philosopher struggled to define the aesthetic of music. He observed that although all the arts generally affect us, the effect of music is stronger, swifter, more compelling and infallible…its imitative relationship to the world must be very deep, infinitely true and really striking, for it is instantly understood by everyone. Music has been called the most elusive and intangible of the art forms. Visual arts like painting, photography, sculpture are representational expression. Poetry and drama are means of expression through words and verbal language. Dance expresses directly through movements of the human body. Music is a purely abstract expression and is not representational in and of itself. The sounds of music may mirror our feelings or our natural rhythms and in this way have a symbiotic relationship with human life. By including song lyrics i.e. “I will remember you” or suggestive titles like in programme music i.e. “The Witches Flight”, music may be representational providing semantic meaning to experiences. Music may be associative and trigger memories about people, places, feelings and events through the re-membering of specific neural pathways. Music is temporal not static. Live musical performance can be uniquely created and re-created in time each time, a substantial factor for using music in therapeutic process. Its meaning may be influenced by perception, preference and mood. These are important when considering approaches using music as care because the meaning of artistic experience is highly individualized. Caring intentions may lead to unwanted outcomes if perception, preference and mood are not taken into account.
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Living in Music
Dr. Colin Lee, Wilfred Laurier University - Professor, Music Therapy, Head of Music Therapy Program
This article has been reprinted with the express permission of author, Dr. Colin Lee and editors Cheryl Dileo and Joanne Loewy, Jeffrey Books 2005, Cherry Hill NJ, Music Therapy At End of Life, chapter 15. “I think of a great work of art as like a moon shining in the night sky; it illuminates the world, yet its light is not its own but borrowed from the hidden sun of the absolute.” (Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, 1992, p351) Handel’s aria, What passion cannot music raise and quell? From ‘An Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day’ (HWV76) (1739), is a piece of exquisite beauty. The solo cello, representing Jubals’ lyre, and the soprano, blend to form a dialogue that is intimate and mystical. In listening to the music, one is ravished by the sheer beauty of sound and intensity of passion that lies beyond the notes. Is it possible to capture this kind of strength and bring it to the music therapy relationship?
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Creating Healing Gardens and Sacred Spaces
Virginia Burt B.L.A, Professional Landscape Architect, Owner of Visionscapes, member: Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) and American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
Have you ever found yourself outside in nature and felt a sense of belonging, a sense of our connectedness to all things? Imagine gardens designed to encourage these feelings, gardens that trigger early memories and engender spirit, allowing a deeper connection to nature. Imagine gardens that reinforce, stimulate and encourage mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual balance. Imagine your garden as a place that fills you with greening refreshment, stops you for a moment to admire just the way the light catches a particular view or a favourite plant. I have a passion for creating gardens for people that become beautiful places in nature where we can live our lives fully, richly. Where attention to detail holds a sacred proportion, where the event of a snowdrop blooming, the flash of a cardinal’s wing, the sound of the wind in a white pine or of water gently tumbling in a brook, become important events in our busy lives.
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Music and Hearing Loss
Judy A. Keith, MSc, Reg. CASLPO, Audiologist, Owner and Operator Chemong Audiology and Hearing Aid Centre
Music is an important part of our daily lives. It influences our mood, sometimes providing us with a sense of calm, lifting our spirits, or energizing us. Occasionally, music serves as a catharsis in turbulent times, giving us a way to express or release stress, frustration, anger, sorrow, and pain. Music is known to have therapeutic value. Music captivates our minds and emotions through incredible acoustic detail: variations of pitch, timing and intensity. Full appreciation of acoustic detail in music involves normal processing through an intact human auditory system. So then, can deafened individuals appreciate music? The answer can be yes.
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Book Review: The Four Things That Matter Most
Ira Byock, Free Press, 2004, 216 pp
The Four Things That Matter Most by Dr. Ira Byock gets us back to the fundamentals of living and dying well. Byock retells his stories with clarity and poignancy from his extensive experience in hospice and palliative care. His message is simple and bold: to die well means to leave nothing important unsaid, and the four most important things are “I forgive you” or “will you forgive me?”, “thank you”, “I love you” and “good-bye”. He claims these are universal keys to dying well, regardless of who we are or where we come from.
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A Drop in the Ocean: Reflections from a Medical Mission to Northern Ghana
Margaret Van Dyck, R.N, B.Sc.N, CHPCN
During spring 2007 a medical team from the town of Uxbridge, Ontario, began to take shape. The team considered how it could partner with Northern Empowerment Association (NEA) / Ghana Rural Integrated Development (GRID), its Canadian counterpart, an international development organization which manages numerous sustainable development projects in northern rural Ghana. Our hosts, Dr. David and Brenda Mensah, worked with us to identify our team goals: acquiring exposure to the needs of the third world, supporting NEA's goal of improving health on a consistent basis, and working alongside Ghanaian health professionals to address some of the area’s medical needs. The plan was to run a mobile clinic in five locations in the Deg region of northern Ghana. Although we were excited to go to Ghana, the team – aware of the huge needs of northern Ghana – felt at the outset like our two weeks of donated time and resources would prove just a drop in the ocean.
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Rooms Around the World
Profiles hospices, hospitals, long term care facilities and people using or beginning to use music in therapeutic ways. If your organization would like to be featured in Rooms Around the World send us a picture and share a unique aspect of it with our readers. This issue: Singing for Baby Violet, Threshold Choir
Virtual Musical Instrument, Bloorview Kids Rehab
The Sandwich Generation: Room 217 Music Helps
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Music Note
Music Note tells the story behind the songs on Room 217. Moonlight Sonata (Classic Comfort) – Piano Sonata No. 14 in c-sharp minor, op. 27 #2 Beethoven composed the famous Moonlight Sonata in 1801 and dedicated it to Countess Giulietta Cuicciardi, a pupil of Beethoven with whom he had fallen in love. It is believed that Beethoven proposed to her; although she was willing to accept his proposal, the Countess was forbidden by her parents to marry him. The Piano Sonata No. 14 in c-sharp minor “Quasi una fantasia”, op. 27 #2 was named “Moonlight Sonata” several years after Beethoven’s death. German music critic Ludwig Rellstab wrote that the sonata reminded him of the reflected moonlight off Lake Lucerne in 1836 and since then, the official unofficial title of the work has been the Moonlight Sonata.
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Our Rituals, Our Music
Eric & Lilian
Wrapped in a Shawl of Love
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Newest additions: Warm Breezes (especially for boomers) and Classic Comfort. Click here to order all of the Room 217 therapeutic music resource CDs.  
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About Care Pages?Offering free personal websites, CarePages help families stay connected, informed, and supported. When a loved one is hospitalized or receiving care it can be difficult to communicate. With CarePages, updates are shared via email automatically and visitors can leave messages for the patient and family on the Web page. CarePages give families an emotional lift that is hard to deliver in any other way. 
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About Isabelle’s Dream?Telling the true story of Sophia and her big sister, Isabelle, Isabelle’s Dream is a comforting story, art and activity book for bereaved siblings which encourages communication and understanding through art therapy. Its message of hope and love will bring solace to bereaved siblings, family members, friends and communities facing the devastating heartache of a child’s death. Author Betsy Bottino Arenella’s proceeds are donated to the Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood Program. Quality of Life Publishing 
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About The
Room 217 Box Set?The Room 217 Box Set includes all 6 CDs therapeutic CDs in a convenient box for easy storage. It is the perfect addition to every library, nursing station, hospice/palliative care suite, long term care facility, church, grief centre, funeral home, yoga and massage therapy setting. Professional, family and volunteer caregivers will appreciate having the full selection available to provide supportive care, soothing relief, spiritual encouragement and self care. 
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Wise WordsTake a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body. Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1809 – 1894)
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