Mags GarganMags Gargan visits a choir for people suffering from memory loss
Music is a powerful thing. It has the capacity to overcome physical and mental limitations and encourage engagement and social interaction. This is the philosophy behind the Memory Lane Choir for people with dementia and memory loss, which operates out of St Agnes’ Community Centre for Music & the Arts in the Dublin suburb of Crumlin.
The centre is run by Sr Bernadette Sweeney, a Religious Sister of Charity and the former school principal of the neighbouring St Agnes’ Primary School.
Sr Bernadette is better known for her inspiring violin project for pupils which has today expanded beyond all early aspirations and becoming a success story for the Crumlin area. The St Agnes School Violin & Orchestra was started in 2006 and saw all 400 pupils at the primary school receive violins. By 2010 the level of interest being shown by parents and grandparents saw Sr Bernadette create a specific music project for them in addition to the children’s project. St Agnes’ Parents’ String Orchestra has 96 members and the majority began with no musical experience.
Since 2012 Sr Bernadette has been operating out of the new St Agnes’ Community Centre for Music & the Arts in a refurbished building belonging to the Religious Sisters of Charity at the rear of St Agnes Primary School. With Sr Bernadette as director, the centre offers a range of opportunities including dance, arts, crafts and various musical instruments.
“There are about 270 attending the centre. We have about 80 learning the keyboard and we have about 50 doing guitar,” she says.
Dementia
Her latest project, the Memory Lane Choir, came about from a request from Dublin City Council to offer support to those living with dementia.
Dementia is a term which describes a range of conditions which cause damage to the brain. This damage affects memory, thinking, language and a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.
“The choir started in May of this year,” Sr Bernadette explains. “I visited the Alzheimer groups around the area to see if there was a need. Some come from the Alzheimer’s centre and some are brought by friends and family from their own homes.”
Funding for the initial set up of the choir was provided by Dublin City Council and the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, and the centre now fundraises to keep it going. Singing in the choir enables those with memory loss to participate in a creative, community activity in a friendly and positive environment.
“For people suffering memory loss, the last thing to go is the musical memory. Some of our members may not remember what they did yesterday but they remember the words of the songs. It is extremely therapeutic because music is a soulful expression of who they are. It is a real release. It is also a way of integration into society,” says Sr Bernadette.
“It is amazing how it has built up people’s lives. The biggest plus is that families can see loved ones with Alzheimer’s and memory loss in a happy state, whereas at home they are worried about them.”
Avril Easton co-ordinates the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland’s ‘Dementia Friendly Communities’ project, which funded the set-up of the Memory Lane Choir.
“The benefits are really obvious for people with dementia. Music is the key thing,” she says. “It is such an equal platform. Whereas normally things are being done for them, this is a space where people are given the opportunity to be themselves and to just perform. You can’t tell the difference between the person with dementia and their carer, everyone is equal. The people feel engaged and like they belong. It’s something they enjoy and contribute to.
“All of that may have been lost and social isolation may have been setting in and they may have started disengaging with different groups they were involved in because of their dementia. This is an opportunity to remind people that they still have something meaningful to offer and it is such a socially engaging way to do that.”
Dublin’s Lord Mayor recently asked the choir to perform at a function at the Mansion House and their numbers were boosted by members of the Crumlin Community Choir. The day The Irish Catholic visits, the combined choir was rehearsing for their performance.
One of the about 20 members of the Memory Lane Choir is Fr Pat Dwyer, an Oblate priest who used to sing in musicals in his 50 years of teaching in Australia. “The singing was not as good as this,” he jokes. “I enjoy being in the choir. It is the being together in a jovial space and the great atmosphere. Our director is wonderful. He really lifts us up, where to, I’m not sure! To the high notes!”
Gerry Noonan has been director of the choir since its official launch at the start of October. He is an experienced performer and teaches singing at the Leinster School of Music as well as directing the Crumlin Community Choir.
“I was very moved when I came to this initially,” he says. “I have been surprised that the choir is able for more and I am challenging myself to come up with more.
“Like any choir we start with a physical warm-up, a vocal warm-up, scales. It is a choir, not a sing-song. While I wouldn’t do very elaborate harmonies we would have a lot of songs where we have two melodies. We also do a few rounds and call and response songs.”
Gerry says the main difference when directing the Memory Lane Choir is that he has to bear in mind that the choir members “are not going to necessarily remember what you have done from one week to the next”. “It’s important they have the words in their books because you can’t expect them to learn them off. I would focus mainly on melodies that are easy to sing and also because many of them have sung in the past the musical memory doesn’t actually leave, so they very quickly remember the words and music of songs they have learnt before,” he says.
“They always go out feeling quite happy and I know from talking to professionals dealing with people with memory loss something like that which raises their happiness levels, keeps them in better form for the day. I think it is something that they look forward to.”
For more information on the Memory Lane Choir see http://www.stagnesmusiccrumlin.com/ or for information on the Dementia Friendly Communities see http://www.alzheimer.ie/Get-Involved/Dementia-Friendly-Communities.aspx