Feel Good in These Challenging Times

There are a few things going on that I would like to bring to your attention to this week. Unfortunately, some of them stem from the ongoing nightmare down in Columbus with the state budget, but others are things to feel good about in these challenging times we face. I'll start with the tough stuff.

As we know, the State of Ohio is facing an unprecedented budget deficit, and the balancing process is going to make life harder for all of us. There are two funding areas close to my heart, though, that are in dire straits and on which I ask you to seriously consider taking action - The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) and your public libraries!

• The OAC is facing yet another round of significant cuts, and I'm not sure how much more lean they can get. PLEASE check out the website of Ohio Citizens for the Arts at www.ohiocitizensfortheartrs.org for more information on this critical funding issue for all of us who participate in the arts and arts education.
• Public libraries in Ohio are our educational life's blood - they are the people's university, providing access to knowledge for all regardless of socio-economic status or resources. As the son, nephew, and brother of librarians, I know well their value to each and every one of us. Some of the latest state budget models being floated right now feature huge cuts in funding for these essential resources, and the impact could be truly devastating.

Here's part of a message I received from a friend regarding the situation:

Many of the Ohio's 251 public libraries could close or face significant reductions in operations as a result of the Governor's latest proposal to balance the state's 2010-2011 biennium budget.

Public libraries in Ohio are funded primarily through the Public Library Fund (PLF), which receives 2.2% of the state's tax revenue. Since 2001, public library funded has been on the decline. As a result of the current downturn in the economy and decreasing state tax revenues, public libraries are currently experiencing a drop in funding from the Public Library Fund (PLF) estimated at 20% or more as compared to 2008. At a news conference on Friday, June 19, the Governor proposed an additional cut in the PLF of $112.5 million in fiscal year 2010 and $114.8 million in 2011 as part of his "framework" to fill the $3.2 billion gap in the budget that must be balanced by Ohio General Assembly's Conference Committee by June 30. This will mean a more than 50% cut in funding for many of Ohio's public libraries.

With some 70% of the state's 251 public libraries relying solely on the PLF to fund their operations, the reduction in funding will mean that many will close or drastically close branches and cut hours and services.

The Governor's proposed funding cuts come at a time when Ohio's public libraries are experiencing unprecedented increases in demands for services. In every community throughout the state, Ohioans are turning to their public library for free high speed Internet to access information on employment opportunities, children and teens are beginning summer reading programs, and people of all ages are turning to the library for information and entertainment.

Please contact your elected representatives to fight for Ohio's libraries - they are the heart and soul of the community!

There are also things that remind us to smile and sing. There's a fascinating show on WVIZ/PBS this Wednesday, June 24th that supports the argument that music is not only hard-wired into our systems, but was probably humankind's first language. This is the rare case when it is OK to stay inside and watch TV on a warm summer night!

The Music Instinct: Science and Song
An exploration of the music-mind interaction that delves into the neuroscience of how melodies and rhythms affect and influence the brain, featuring jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin, classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie and rockers Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley. Included: the link between the brain's auditory and motor regions, which can be used to help people with Parkinson's disease and stroke patients. McFerrin and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin host.

And, finally - my family celebrated the first wedding of Generation X in our family this past weekend when my niece got married. This would be a joyous occasion under any circumstances, but it was made even more so because the rehearsal dinner and the reception took place in downtown Cleveland. The venues were Windows on the River and the Key Center, both of which feature walls of glass that invited all to enjoy the cityscape as dusk and evening settled in. Many of the guests were not from Cleveland, and all proclaimed their appreciation for the beauty of our fair city. Say what you will about Cleveland, but when the sun is setting and the bridges, towers and lakefront come to life, it really is an awesome sight.

Let's take some time this summer to remember that Northeast Ohio has many treasures and vistas; the more we make a point to appreciate them, the more we are sure that it's a great place to live.

Have a great week!

Music Therapy - changing lives

Back from a week off - my weekly "blog" is back!

"If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind - Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind..." - Simon and Garfunkel

We hosted an event last week at The Music Settlement at which we highlighted the efforts and talents of our Music Therapy staff and their clients. As the evening progressed, I was reminded once again of the truly significant impact that our Department of Music Therapy makes in our community. The breadth of knowledge and skill represented in our Music Therapy staff allows us to touch so many lives, at all ages and levels of need, and to provide effective and caring service to individuals, families and groups.

At this event, individual therapists spoke about the programs in which they work and introduced the individuals who performed at the event. It was especially touching when parents of the performers gave their own perspective on the music therapy experiences that their families enjoy. In each case, these testimonies vividly illustrated the special qualities and personal victories that our music therapists and programming have brought into their lives. I would like to share one of these stories with you.

William, who is 16, has attended therapy sessions at The Music Settlement since he was four. He performed on several instruments at our event, including piano and drums, and was accompanied by his current therapist, Ronna Kaplan, the Director of the Department of Music Therapy. His enthusiasm and ear for music are undeniable, as is the progress he has made in socialization skills and other identified objectives in his therapy schedule. When he finished his performance, his mother, Tamera, read aloud some reflections she had prepared on their family's experience over the 12 years that William has been with us. There are no words I could write that would summarize the experience of a music therapy family more eloquently than Tamera's. What follows is from her heart, and gets to the crux of what we do every day here on Magnolia Drive.

"Music has the power to charm the savage beast. It also has the power to enrich the mind of a child with autism. Many people with autism have limited verbal expression. They live a life of involuntary silence. ‘After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.'(1) That is the reason why ‘music (became) the shorthand of (William's) emotions.'(2) It gave him opportunities for speech, emotional contact and mental focus.

"From the age of four through his current age of 16, William has taken a music bath once or twice a week at The Music Settlement. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, ‘...a music bath... is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.' Music has flown out, immersing restless feelings, calming William, minimizing his hesitation. Then it ebbed and he met the eyes of the therapist. With the guidance of Ronna Kaplan and other music therapists, William has developed, encouraged to tune his fine and gross motor skills. The therapy program made use of live and recorded music, pre-planned dialogues for the clients and sound effects. While learning to play instruments, William also learned life skills. ‘Music (became the soundtrack of (his) life.'(3)

"Being born autistic makes it difficult to interact with others or communicate verbally. It causes the affected person to be unaware of reacting in ways that others do not commonly react in society. Music therapy provided William a non-threatening environment in which to build relationships with peers, express himself verbally and nonverbally and learn to participate in socially acceptable ways. This was achieved through group therapy, as well as individualized sessions. Both forms were ideal for William, because individual lessons allowed him to learn at his own pace. These lessons were tailored to meet his needs. They helped him to learn to read music, follow a rhythm, and to respect the need to display the proper behavior in the proper situation. Small group therapy required him to learn to take turns and to be a focused member of a team. He had to use proper questions and verbal responses. He had to learn to be both leader and supportive member. This even carried over to life outsider of The Music Settlement, as William auditioned for and earned a position on a regular team of drummers for his school. He was able to perform at the House of Blues in front of a large, noisy audience, with no problem. This was not something that he would have been able to withstand before his experiences in music therapy."

"We are very pleased and thankful for the progress that William has made over the years and we foresee him continuing to flourish with additional music therapy. The combination of an excellent music therapy curriculum and an enthusiastic, care-giving staff, has enabled William not to just, '...go where a path might lead, but instead to go where there is no path and leave (his) trail.'(4)

"I am closing with a short poem, expressing my feelings about The Music Settlement and its staff. It is simply entitled, Thank You."

Thank You

Music therapy teaches
Social skills.
It's about communication.
It's about what William's taught,
In nurturing situations.
He's learned patience
And tolerance,
Growing in many ways.
His social skills developed,
Made him what he is today.
So, thank you for your guidance,
As only music can touch.
Thank you for reaching our William,
Because it means so much.

This is what it's all about; this is what we do every day at The Music Settlement.

Have a great week!

Charlie

1 Aldous Huxley
2 Leo Tolstoy
3 Dick Clark
4 Ralph Waldo Emerson

Proof is the bottom line for everyone

I found the following quote regarding the impact of the arts on education in the National Guild for Community Schools of the Arts’ May 27th e-newsletter:

Training in the arts may change the structure of our brain and the way we think, reports the Baltimore Sun. John Hopkins University and Harvard have both established centers to study the relationship between learning and the brain and recent studies are showing correlations between arts learning and brain plasticity.

“Most of the new research is focusing on the networks of the brain that are involved in specific tasks,” said Michael Posner, a researcher at the University of Oregon. Posner has studied the effects of music on attention. What he found, he said, was that “in those students who showed motivation and creativity, training in the arts helped develop their attention and their intelligence. The next great focus in this area,” he said, “is on proving the connection that most scientists believe exists between the study of music and math ability.”

While many of us like to cite the “Mozart Effect” or “Bohemian Index” or other such studies to reinforce the impact of the arts on children’s academic and social performance, it’s important to understand that much of the scientific community feels that there needs to be more “real” research done to confirm the connection. I don’t dispute that point of view, but I also believe that we who live the process every day feel the connection between art and learning is strong and real and that it is only a matter of time before the weight of evidence is undeniable.

In the June issue of Ebony magazine, there are several articles about the positive impact of music on children, one of which features the story of twin sisters from Cleveland who attend the Cleveland School of the Arts. Keisha Marie Cassel is their class’s valedictorian and plays violin, and Tiesha Ann Cassel is the salutatorian and plays bass. Tiesha says, “In the neighborhood I’m from, there’s not much to look forward to or up to. Then I found music, and after that day, I’ve never looked back. I could do something I love for the rest of my life. With music, I was too distracted to get involved with all of the evils around me.” What better testament do you need to the power of music transforming and lifting up the individual, regardless of circumstances or challenge?

In the same vein, music therapy was considered to be a non-clinical application for many years by the major centers of medical research and thought. While this point of view is no longer valid, it took a considerable amount of time for many in the medical establishment to embrace the healing effects of the arts, and some third party payers still resist classifying it as a valid medical practice. At The Music Settlement, we have experienced the true value of music therapy firsthand for more than 40 years, and have been partnering with many of Northeast Ohio’s leading clinical organizations to bring our programs to those who need them. A great illustration of that effort appears in an article in the summer 2009 edition of Cleveland Clinic Magazine. It’s entitled “Healing Notes,” and it centers on the work of one of The Music Settlement’s most accomplished and courageous therapists, Lisa Gallagher.

The article reports on recent research supporting the positive impact of music on the health of patients, a movement for which Music Therapy has been the standard bearer for a very long time. It cites Lisa’s work with the Clinic and her published research and specifically refers to music therapy’s positive effect on individuals with advanced disease. There is also quite a bit of information on the study of “neuromusic,” or the measurable therapeutic impact of music on brain activity. Dr. Oliver Sachs, a professor of neurology at Columbia University, is quoted as saying, “I expect and hope that music therapy will become a therapeutic option at every hospital over the next few years. It is not only efficacious for many, many patients - it is extremely cost effective, and it contributes to the quality of life for all of us.”

I hope you have the opportunity to check out these fascinating stories, for they touch on the validity of the vision of The Music Settlement in the clearest terms possible. You can find more about these articles in the current issues of Ebony and Cleveland Clinic Magazine, or online at www.ebonyjet.com or www.clevelandclinicmagazine@ccf.org . Surely we all know in our hearts the impact of music and arts-based education on ourselves and the people around us. It allows us to grow, to heal, to succeed, and to excel.

Have a great week!