HeartStrings reaches beyond traditional learning environments to bring live, interactive performances by some of the MSO's best players into healthcare and residential facilities. The sessions have demonstrated extraordinary physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes for residents of all ages, and they have reached more than 3,400 people this year. HeartStrings has been recognized for innovation and excellence by the National Endowment for the Arts, the League of American Orchestras and the International Society for the Arts in Healthcare, and by the Madison Area Rehabilitation Centers as a model community program.
This season, Michelle Kaebisch and Shannon Lobdell created the
HeartStrings Toolkit, which will enable other orchestras throughout the world to create their own HeartStrings Programs. Last season, MSO Director of Education and Community Engagement Michelle Kaebisch worked directly with music therapists and partnered with the International Society for the Arts in Healthcare and the Waisman Center to develop and implement a HeartStrings curriculum specifically designed for children with disabilities and to expand our evaluation methods and deepen our understanding of the program's impact on participants and caregivers.
The Rhapsodie String Quartet, the program's resident quartet, includes MSO Co-Concertmaster Suzanne Beia, Principal Viola Christopher Dozoryst, Principal Cello Karl Lavine and violinist Laura Burns. These superb musicians make monthly visits to our community partners, bringing a full season of activities to residents and caregivers. Participants are engaged in music-making and movement activities that are grounded in the principles of music therapy.
The Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) and Johnson & Johnson chose HeartStrings from among 320 international programs to receive a three-year grant, recognizing it as an innovative model program that uses art to advance healing and preventative health. As part of this grant, the MSO is partnering with SAH and the
University of Wisconsin Waisman Center to develop a HeartStrings program specifically for children with disabilities and to expand evaluation methods and deepen understanding of the program’s impact on participants and caregivers. Kaebisch gave a presentation on HeartStrings at the Society for the Arts in Healthcare’s 21st international conference. She spoke as part of a consortium of similar programs that receive grants from SAH and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, the
National Endowment for the Arts has recognized HeartStrings with three Access to Artistic Excellence Grants, and the MSO was one of only two symphonies in the nation to receive the
League of American Orchestra's 2008 MetLife Award for Excellence in Community Engagement.
For more information about HeartStrings, please contact MSO Director of Education and Community Engagement Michelle Kaebisch at
mkaebisch@madisonsymphony.org or 608.257.3734 x225.
