The motley program the YouTube Symphony Orchestra will play at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday evening was devised partly to ensure every section a place or two in the sun. So after full-orchestral rehearsals at the Juilliard School on Monday — led by Michael Tilson Thomas, its artistic adviser and conductor, and Tan Dun, who composed a piece for the occasion — the orchestra split up starting at mid-afternoon for smaller sessions.

Stephen Paulson, a mentor, took a dozen players — mostly winds, a cellist and a bassist — next door to the Kaplan Penthouse to rehearse Dvorak’s wonderful Serenade for Winds, or part of it: a conflation of the first movement and the finale.

If the players thought they were doing well to get away from the painstakingly — make that painfully — detailed work Mr. Thomas had just been subjecting them to in a patch of the scherzo from Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, they may have had second thoughts. As principal bassoonist of the San Francisco Symphony, Mr. Paulson plays regularly under Mr. Thomas’s direction, and he evidently shares his work ethic.

Playing first bassoon here, Mr. Paulson led the mostly young players haltingly through the piece, shaping lines and sharpening rhythms everywhere and tending to the piece’s overall contour. Some laggard attacks suggested that a certain weariness might be setting in. (“I seem to be always the first person playing the second beat,” Mr. Paulson said. “See if you can play it right with me.”) If the players weren’t tired then, they probably were by the time the session ended, 10 minutes late.

And there was more for everyone to do on Monday evening. Seven youngish musicians — mostly percussionists, a guitarist and an okarina player — gathered in Juilliard’s Willson Theater to rehearse Lou Harrison’s “Canticle No. 3,” with Edwin Outwater, a Thomas protégé, conducting.

Or rather, increasingly, not conducting. First he had to win the confidence of the players. “If I don’t give you a cue, it’s better to hold up,” he told an overeager percussionist. “I usually don’t miss.” (On the other hand, you can appreciate the nervousness of a young player clanging on brake drums with metal hammers; it’s hard to paper over a false entry.)

But as the piece went on, with its extended stretches of tricky rhythms, Mr. Outwater found that things fell into place more quickly when he conducted minimally and had the players listen more closely to one another. “If I feel you guys are together,” he said, “I’m not going to interfere.” In the end he was offering little more than those all-important cues.

Many conductors entreat orchestra players to emulate chamber musicians, and listen to one another. Mr. Outwater put the matter into a formula, asking the players to listen 80 percent and watch 20 percent. “No conductor wants you to watch 80 percent,” he added.

Ted Atkatz — a former principal percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who popped in and out as mentor — concurred with Mr. Outwater. “We’re trying to get where we can just sit in the audience,” he said.

Well, he can, at least.

Every Sunday afternoon our Healing Music 101 class looks at a different aspect of healing with music. Today we talked about the tremendous benefits of music with preemies. These babies are so tiny that they actually can’t be touched very much. The harp music provides a sensory experience for the preemies and their caregivers that is gentle and nurturing and helps to stabilize their blood pressure and heart rate.

Beginning after Christmas, Healing Music Enterprises will begin a class for expectant mothers and other family members who want to learn more about music during pregnancy and the many benefit that are there for mother and unborn baby. If you’re interested in this class for yourself or a family member contact me ASAP as the list is already forming. Time will be decided once we have at least 6 people signed up!

On I-Doser, the digital drugs are purchased by downloading free software and clicking on individual tracks. For $3.95 users can download “Astral,” which claims to aid in out-of-body experiences; for $3 they can buy “Extend,” which supposedly prolongs sexual encounters. I-doses are anywhere from five to 30 minutes long. What you hear might sound like a wind tunnel, or mating whales, or Yanni.

The effects are made possible, purportedly, through “binaural beats,” where a tone of one frequency is played into the right ear and a slightly different frequency is played into the left. Believers say these beats synchronize brain waves, replicating the experience of being high on anything from alcohol to true love.”

To me, kids who are attracted to this are kids that are trying to escape something and alter their mood in a way that could lead to experimentation with other drugs.  As a therapist, I would strongly encourage parents of kids expressing an interest in this to have a long conversation about what that child or teen is looking for with this product and concept.

it could be genuine curiosity and provide an excellent springboard to a needed discussion.  

What does the National Institute on Drug Abuse have to say?

“At this time, we are aware of no scientific data on this phenomenon,” reads a statement, “so NIDA cannot establish the validity of the claim that you can get high listening to these sounds.”   Stay tuned!

I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Deforia Lane.  Actually, many people feel the same way and I wanted to share with my readers another wonderful article that was written about her.   I met her early in my journey toward the filed of music medicine.  I consider Deforia to be a dear friends as well as a mentor and she is currently using some of my Surgical Serenity Headphones with patients she works with.  Thank you Deforia!

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sweet and soothing sounds fill hospital rooms and hallways as Dr. Deforia Lane hits the piano keys to keep up with her tapping toes.

“Patients don’t expect music when they walk into a hospital,” said Lane, Director of Music Therapy at University Hospital’s Case Medical Center.
 
Her angelic voice reaches ears from the cancer wing to the rehab facility, ONN’s Harrison Hove reported.

“Music therapy is a field that is growing enormously,” Lane said.
 
Lane has a gift, whether it’s her welcoming smile, rich voice or the power of her profession.

“Music can draw tears. It can create laughter. People can reminisce. It goes where words cannot,” she said.

It was the music, not words, that led Lane into battle on her own personal journey.

“I was diagnosed with cancer at age 34. I ended up volunteering to bring music to others here and was hired within six months. And that was back in 1983,”  said Lane.
 
Twenty-seven years later, Lane still pushes an aging music cart up and down the hospital halls as part of the music therapy staff.

“There’s everything on that cart from A to Z.  Drums, tambourines, there are tone chimes,” Lane said.

The instruments, the songs and the love and laughter help heal.

“It makes it so much easier to move your hurting parts when you’re doing it to a rhythm rather than jerking through the pain,” said Hinda Apple.

Apple is a  patient at Hanna House and is undergoing three weeks of intense rehab to help regain movements in her arms and legs after a fall.
 
“I used to dance to that,” Apple remembered during one song. A memory from the past brought to the present once again. 

In the Ireland Cancer Center, another brave soul awaits the next round of chemotherapy.

“Pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer,” said patient Daniel Herod. 

Herod and his family are fighting.

“It’d been two months almost. I’ve been going through a terrible sickness,” Herod said. 

But for a few minutes, his own sounds drowned out the beeping machines. The bandages and tubes were forgotten while a family leans on one another and Lane.

“They feel themselves and I can ask for nothing more than that,” said Lane.

“Hallelujah,” exclaimed Herod. “I needed to get that out. That needed to come out.”

Many people sing Lane’s praises.

“Deforia is incredible. She really is,” Apple said.

She continues introducing people to the power of music as medicine.

“It has been the joy of my life,” Lane said.
 
Even though names might eventually be forgotten and faces blur over time, it’s the sounds of Lane’s songs of healing that will stay with these patients forever.

More Information:

Music Therapy At University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Deforia Lane, PHD, MT-BC

Deforia Lane is a dear friend of mine.  I met her when I was on the threshold of stepping into the world of music as medicine back in 1990.  Deforia was just finishing up her Ph.D. in music therapy and was speaking at a conference in Cleveland about her doctoral research on music and the immune system.  After hearing Deforia speak, my decision was made and, thanks to Dr. Arthur Harvey, I  was able to cross over from the world of music performance to music medicine!  Deforia has been a huge influence on me and her ongoing work with music therapy in the hospital setting inpires me to do my work!

It’s easy for others to see why Deforia Lane received the Ohio Hospital Association’s Health Care Worker of the Year award.   Medicine program at University Hospitals in Cleveland, was so surprised by the calling of her name during the awards presentation, that it took several seconds for her to respond to it.

“I went there thinking, ‘This is a free meal tonight.’ That’s all,” Lane laughed during a telephone interview on Tuesday, a handful of hours after the three-hour drive back to Cleveland. The hospital association honored 84 “health-care heroes” on Monday night.

Lane is a certified music therapist. She has bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in vocal performance and music education. But her most rewarding education has been at the bedside of sick or dying patients at University Hospitals.

There, Lane and her staff of seven music therapists work miracles. They sing, play instruments and compose songs for patients who have lost their voices to illness, tragedy or age.

“We all respond to music,” said Lane, who has witnessed its ability to reduce anxiety, physically relax and create hope for patients. ”Music inspires the soul,” she said.

Lane started the program in 1984 after her second bout with cancer. She attended an American Cancer Society support group at University Hospitals’ Ireland Cancer Center called I Can Cope.

“In short, cancer patients come there to learn what they can about the disease process, the treatment options, etc.,” Lane said. “They are usually six weeks long, about an hour a week, and I was with about seven other patients. We all told our stories and learned a lot.”

Lane was so encouraged “by having been with people who were walking a mile in my shoes” that she asked whether she could compose and sing a song for the last group session.

“I wanted to show my gratitude,” she said.

She received a “yes” from the facilitator, but forgot about her promise until minutes before the final session began. Lane composed her song in the ladies’ room. “I flushed, ran to the group, sang it, we all hugged each other and that was that,” she said.

Soon, Lane was asked to record her song and make a presentation with it at an Ireland Cancer Center employee education seminar. Almost on the spot, she was asked to join the staff — part time — to create University Hospitals’ music therapy program.

Now, 25 years later, Lane looks back at her ongoing journey as a blessing. ”It’s been nothing short of a story made in heaven,” she said.

Mary Vanac is co-founder of MedCity News and serves as its vice president and Ohio bureau chief.

NEW YORK – Former Sgt. David Clemo understands the power of music.

Although he wasn’t in combat, as a telecommunications specialist stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, he had to dodge plenty of gunfire and mortars going off around him. When it was over, he would turn to music to help him relax.

Now, as a member of the 4Troops, Clemo hopes to bring that same kind of ease to others with the new group’s self-titled debut album, a mix of patriotic and uplifting songs.

“That’s what made music so important,” Clemo said in a recent interview. “It helps take you another place for a while.”

4Troops is comprised of Clemo, former Capt. Meredith Melcher, retired Staff Sgt. Ron Henry and former Sgt. Daniel Jens. The group is the creation of Army veteran Victor Hurtado, who serves as the production director for the Army Soldier Show, which provides entertainment for soliders and their families (Hurtado has the same job originated by Irving Berlin).

“We have such a good chemistry, people can’t believe we’ve only been working together since December,” Henry said.

But even before they came together for Hurtado’s group, music was a big part of their lives.

Melcher and Clemo participated in the Army Soldier Show, Henry performed in “Military Idol,” the talent competition for U.S. servicemen and women, and Jens appeared on season three of “America’s Got Talent.”

Melcher is the lone female member of the group, and held the highest rank. She, along with Clemo and Jens, were honorably discharged. Henry retired after a twenty-year hitch.

Henry recalled a lot of combat over his career, which began in the infantry. He later became a transportation manager, responsible for deploying troops to the field.

As a field artilleryman, Jens, who was stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, seemed to have the most close calls. His detail was responsible for convoy escort, supply missions, and making sure VIPs moved safely through the country.

“We caught small arms fire. A rocket-propelled grenade flew over the trunk of my car. Another time I had a rocket fly over my head and it landed thirty yards away,” Jens said.

Melcher was spared from direct contact with the enemy, but as a health care operations officer, she couldn’t escape the war’s residual effect.

“I saw a lot of wounded, Americans and Iraqis, including some that had been deceased on each side, so that was a little bit harrowing,” she said.

Some days were harder to cope than others for her and her unit.

“We are all a little bit scared, so we’re going to use whatever we could to get through it,whether that’s music, whether that’s humor, whether that’s just sitting down together to talk about what you’re seeing each day,” Melcher confided.

Their debut doesn’t reference those difficult times directly. Instead, there are songs like the inspirational “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to Toby Keith’s in-your-face “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”

But the group shies away from expressing their opinions on the nation’s conflicts.

“We are not concerned about the politics, we just want to focus on the service members and their families who have paid a great price,” Henry said.