In January, we got to help facilitate a music therapy session with a group of students from Connellsville Area High School. We joined our friend, Dr. Krista Boyer, in a discussion about the positive benefits music can have on mental health. It was a great feeling for us to have these students all playing together in a percussion circle, and to see them really lose themselves in the music and watch aspects of their personalities open up.
We experience music from two sides, as the writers/performers and as the listeners. Listening to and playing music are a release for us, and its very rewarding to see this release happen in someone who is picking up an instrument for the very first time. We can feel it in a room when we’re performing, everyone riding on the same energy and sharing in a positive experience.
So much of what we do is within the context of writing, recording, and performing, so it felt great to play music without any expectations, and blend in as participants of the percussion circle.
This presentation was recorded in the CAHS TV studio, along with an interview with student anchor, Ryan Craig. Video of the session will be posted here soon.
