“Medical offices can be sterile, intimidating places—environments that make the already-unpleasant task of waiting to see a doctor even more stressful. Young classical musicians, faced with a difficult economic reality … are looking for new places to hone their art, and new ways to connect with an often indifferent community,” writes Tom Jacobs in Tuesday’s (4/28) Pacific Standard (California). “Newly published research describes an innovative initiative that may help solve both: live classical music in the waiting areas of medical facilities. In the journal Musicae Scientiae, Michael Silverman and Jon Hallberg of the University of Minnesota describe a small program they created and implemented in which … classical pianists and guitarists spent time performing in a primary care clinic waiting area…. Subsequent interviews with staff members of the clinic found their reaction was overwhelmingly positive. So much so, the researchers write, that ‘all participants desired an increase in the frequency of live classical music in the clinic.’ The program began in November 2008… Another unanticipated result, [researchers] add, ‘was that patients often remained in the clinic after their appointments to enjoy the live music.’ When was the last time you hung around your doctor’s office after an exam?”
Posted April 30, 2015
