The Score | Music Pathways

More and more orchestras are launching initiatives that use music to assist people with memory loss, following multiple studies showing that music can provide a pathway for those with memory impairment to connect with their past, and that participating in music-making can help reverse cognitive decline. Among recent orchestral activity in this area is the Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s “Generations in Unison” program for memory-care and assisted-living residents at retirement facilities in southeastern Virginia. The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra gives short concerts at assisted-living facilities, and also works with a music therapist to help residents suffering from dementia tap into long-term memories. North Carolina’s Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is partnering with two local universities to study how people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease respond to live orchestral music. In California, small groups of musicians from the Pacific Symphony perform informal concerts for seniors and developmentally disabled adults in a program designed to encourage interaction among people with cognitive and other impairments. The B Sharp program at Colorado’s Fort Collins Symphony provides people living with dementia and a caregiver season tickets to concerts. The orchestra has also partnered with scientists at Colorado State University to study the effects of music on people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts launched a free six-concert “Moments” series in 2017 for people with dementia and their caregivers.