Music Therapy Gateway In Communications (MTGIC), Inc. announces that the organization has received a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission, locally administered by ArtsBuild of Chattanooga. The 2016-17 “Arts Build Communities” grant will support the continuation of a concert series designed to highlight the value of music in therapy. This year’s grant project will bring additional performances directly into medical venues and also offer additional information on biomedical music techniques to the Chattanooga community with lecture and workshop sessions designed to be educational and informative.
The chamber music event will take place on Nov. 18 at the Roland Hayes concert Hall in the UTC Fine Arts Center.
Martha Summa-Chadwick, pianist and MTGIC executive director, will collaborate with Huntsville Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Mark Reneau, UTC Department of Music clarinet professor Nikolasa Tejero, and cellist Heather Anderson for a 7:30 p.m. performance, with pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m.
The concert, “Chamber Music for Body and Soul IV,” will feature Olivier Messiaen’s chamber music masterpiece, “The Quartet for the End of Time.” Messiaen had a condition called synesthesia, an odd fusing of the sensory system wherein he could see sound and hear color. In addition, this year is the 75th anniversary of the Quartet premiere, originally written and performed in a German POW camp in WWII. The presentation will enlighten the audience to the benefits of music for the central nervous system, and also provide them with an outstanding aesthetic experience.
An additional initiative of this year’s grant brings collaboration with several other regional musicians joining MTGIC in the continued effort to raise awareness for the benefits of music in therapy. Musicians from the Chattanooga Harp Ensemble and Southside Studio’s Bryony Stroud-Watson and David Dunn will be joining Summa-Chadwick in bringing informal performances to Erlanger Hospital throughout the year. MTGIC has been actively working with Erlanger’s “Inspired Notes” program to bring music onto the Erlanger campus and is also offering informational sessions about biomedical music technique to doctors and medical staff as part of this effort.
All events will be free of charge and open to the public. A listing of all concerts, informational sessions, lectures, and workshops will be posted on the MTGIC website as the schedule becomes available. As an ongoing part of this grant effort, MTGIC is available for presentations, lectures, and workshops for organizations wishing to learn more about the benefits of music in a therapeutic environment. Interested organizations or groups who would like more information regarding the use of music in therapy can contact Summa-Chadwick at either website to request presentations for such groups as therapists, educators, musicians, parents, or caregivers of persons with special needs.