Lila Bhattacherjee Reflective Essay for Musicians in Healthcare Mentoring Programme Delivered by rb&hArts and Sound Connections

As soon as I saw the Royal Brompton and Harefield Arts (rb&hArts) Musicians in Healthcare Mentoring Programme advertised I was keen to apply and knew that it would be an ideal opportunity for me. I come from a performance background as a flautist, but at the time I applied for the Music in Healthcare programme I was coming to the end of a year in an arts administration role at Spitalfields Music where I had the opportunity to work on a variety of learning and participation projects. My time at Spitalfields Music really sparked my interest in community-based music, and whilst I loved working in a behind-the-scenes role, I realised that I was itching to get involved as a musician. This programme came at the perfect time as it offered musicians like me, with an interest but limited experience of working in a healthcare setting, the opportunity to shadow and be mentored by experienced musicians-in-residence.

Since I had never worked in a hospital setting as a musician or otherwise, I didn’t really know what to expect when I started the programme. I hoped to gain experience and confidence as a musician in a hospital setting, and in my final weeks as a mentee, I can definitely say I gained this and more. Over roughly six months, I shadowed and participated in at least one session of each of the music projects run by rb&hArts, including Singing for Breathing, Vocal Beats, singing for adult inpatients, and violin for adult inpatients. Each of these projects has pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me invaluable skills as a musician, but what I’ll remember the most are the human interactions I’ve been lucky enough to experience as part of this work. In this essay I would like to reflect upon some of my favourite and most memorable moments over the last six months.

The first project I participated in was Singing for Breathing, a weekly group workshop for adults with respiratory conditions led by Elisa Jeffery at Harefield Library and Ed Jeffery at Royal Brompton Hospital. During the sessions I attended I was struck by the warm, welcoming and community feeling of the group and the individual initiative and group ownership over the music they were creating. It was really interesting to see breathing techniques that are fundamental to aiding with the health of participants being taught in such a fun and musical environment. I was fortunate that my visits coincided with the groups working on a special project to celebrate ten years of Singing for Breathing called The Singing Hospital. Working with composer Victoria Hume, the groups contributed to a piece which was based on their experiences living with respiratory conditions and how singing and being part of the Singing for Breathing group has helped them. The performance was a triumphant celebration of Singing for Breathing, featuring participants from both groups at centre stage, singing lyrics they had composed, and using breathing and vocal techniques learned from the workshops, and interviews from participants and hospital staff talking about their experiences playing on speakers. This was an important moment for me, as it communicated in a very direct way the importance of music in healthcare settings from both a health and a social point of view, and it highlighted just how empowering music, and singing especially, can be.

I have also thoroughly enjoyed working on a range of singing projects for inpatient adults, young people and children. Singing is an area I lack confidence in, and before starting the programme I hadn’t fully considered how it might form part of my practice as a community musician. From the projects that I participated in with Heather McClelland and Stac Dowell, as well as Singing for Breathing workshops, I’ve been able to experience the impact singing can have and how effective it is in getting people actively involved and engaged in music. Some of my favourite memories from my time on the programme have involved people singing along to songs they recognise and the sense of community and joy that it can create on a ward. In a session with Stac singing for adult inpatients, we went into a room with four patients who were very much separate from each other and started working with one of the patients and their visitors. They asked for happy songs as it had been a tough day, and by the end of the session everyone in the room was singing along, requesting different songs and chatting. It felt very powerful that the music had united those four patients in that moment, and possibly given them the space to continue talking and form relationships after we left. I had a similarly moving experience with Heather on Rose Ward, the children’s ward at Royal Brompton Hospital, where we had a lovely interaction with a group of children who were sharing a room. While Heather played ukulele and sang children’s songs, the children all joined in and we sang along, played different percussion instruments, and even had a go at conducting. There were some really beautiful moments between the children of laughing, dancing and sharing instruments, and there was a real sense of community and connection between the children and parents too. Joining in and singing in these contexts has really boosted my confidence, as I’ve had to let go of feeling self conscious and worrying about it being perfect, and instead focus on the joy of being able to communicate musically in such a direct way and bring people together through singing.

The project I was most interested in shadowing was with violinist Adrian Garrett at Harefield Hospital performing for adult inpatients, as this is similar to the kind of work I see myself doing in the future. I participated in my first session at the very beginning of the Musicians in Healthcare Mentoring Programme, and I think it’s safe to say I was thrown in at the deep end – I brought my flute along thinking I would play a few notes but mostly just watch, but I actually ended up playing alongside Adrian for the entire three-hour session! This was a real challenge and definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone – Adrian has a huge range of repertoire memorised and often takes requests from people, so I ended up trying to think of pieces I had memorised that felt appropriate, figure out pieces by ear that people requested and improvise some duets with Adrian. I’m happy to say that I had a few more pieces memorised for my next session and more awareness of popular songs/pieces people ask for (almost any genre you can think of), but I’ve definitely still got a long list of music to learn!

During the sessions, Adrian visits a variety of adult inpatient wards and plays to as many people as possible during the three hours, often spending 5-10 minutes with each person. Most of the people we saw were quite visibly ill and were living with serious conditions, which I found quite difficult to adjust to at the beginning and to figure out how best to interact with people. This kind of session is quite different to something like Singing for Breathing in the sense that participants haven’t decided to go along to the session and often aren’t expecting any musicians to be there, and also because we are visiting places like the High Dependency Unit where people are very unwell. Being able to observe the techniques Adrian used to engage participants as an experienced musician in residence was really helpful for this, and I once again saw how valuable the social element of this work is. Having conversations with participants about how their day was going, how they were feeling, what kind of music they like or really anything they wanted to bring to the discussion, was a crucial part of each interaction and creating a safe and relaxed atmosphere to hopefully introduce some music into. Sometimes people asked for a particular song or piece, a specific mood, or just left it up to us to decide. Other times people said they didn’t like music, but when they heard us play they really enjoyed it, and others just weren’t up to it at all.

I had some really lovely musical and social interactions in both sessions I attended, that I will definitely hold with me as reasons why I want to continue working in healthcare settings. I met a woman who asked if we could play ‘Clair de Lune’ by Claude Debussy – Adrian didn’t know it, but I had played it on piano before so decided to see if I could figure it out on the flute. Luckily it went well (and I didn’t play any horrible notes while I was trying to create a calm atmosphere!), and I was heartened to hear that it reminded her of a time she lived abroad by a lake when she was younger and that it brought her to a peaceful place, away from the hospital. On the same ward we met another woman with a keen interest in classical music, so Adrian and I had a really nice time playing classical duets while she sang along, even though it was clearly very difficult for her due to her illness. We also spent some time with a patient Adrian had worked with for quite a while, which was interesting as almost all of the other people I had seen on the wards were new to both of us. He told me about the effect Adrian’s sessions had had on him over his time on the ward, and about a period of particularly bad illness that he can’t remember much of, but how he remembers Adrian’s music – he thought this might be because it was such a positive memory. He asked for me to choose some music to play him, and I decided on some beautiful pieces for flute by Gabriel Fauré. He had never heard of the composer or the pieces, and enjoyed them so much that he made a note of the titles to look up later.  I found these interactions to be incredibly moving both musically and personally, and there were so many more that I haven’t had time to mention here.

Last but not least in my highlights of the programme is the amazing support I’ve received from the rb&hArts team, musicians in residence and my mentors. It has been an invaluable experience to have the opportunity to learn about music in healthcare and experiment with new techniques and ideas in such a safe and supportive environment. I have learned so much from my time on the programme as a person and as a musician, and have received really helpful practical advice on what my next steps might look like from my mentors at rb&hArts and Sound Connections. I’m really looking forward to taking what I’ve learned into my future career and developing my practice further, and would recommend the programme to anyone with an interest in music and healthcare!

Get in touch with Lila via email.

rb&hArts and Sound Connections are currently recruiting for the next cohort of music mentees with five spaces available. 

Learn more and find out how to apply here.

DEADLINE EXTENDED to 23rd October 2019.