REACHING isolated audiences with music is probably something most of us never think much about, but for Live Music Now musician and mentor, Hannah Murray, it is her job as well as her passion.
The Lisburn trumpet player is now helping mentor 16 new musicians recently recruited by the charity which has been piloting a new scheme working with dementia patients across Belfast. ‘Music for People Living with Dementia’ has been developed in consultation with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust - there are hopes it will be expanded to other areas in the near future - with funding through the National Lottery Arts and Older People Programme 2023/24.
Results so far, have been enlightening. Group music sessions, interactive one-to-ones and participatory concerts – the final ones taking place this week at Carlisle Day Centre in north Belfast and Knockbracken Day Centre in the south of the city – have unlocked memory, enhanced mood and improved social engagement skills, while simultaneously creating “a real sense of community” among service users and staff.
“The project aims to tackle loneliness as well as promote positive mental health, but it really goes to the heart of something much deeper,” says Hannah, who has been working with Live Music Now, along with her musician boyfriend, Will Brown, since 2019 (the duo working under the name, ‘AMPlify’).
“I have seen the amazing effects at first hand, how the music sessions have brought real joy to everyone involved – and have also shown a side to people living with dementia that has remained largely hidden by the illness.
“When we bring movement and music together – even shaking an egg shaker, things like that – you are connecting different parts of the brain. Using song, speech and movement and bringing all those elements together is really healthy for the brain - it unlocks something deep inside.”
Hannah, who followed up a degree in Music from Queen’s University with a Master’s in Arts Management, has witnessed this in action after being involved in “inspirational” one-to-one sessions with service users at the three day centres involved – Edgcumbe (in east Belfast), Carlisle and Knockbracken.
On one occasion, an elderly man with dementia who had been taking part in a one-to-one jazz session, revealed he had been a professional musician himself – playing double bass in showbands and swing bands during a long and successful professional career. He later astounded everyone when, during a group music session, he spotted a double bass brought in by one of the Live Music Now facilitating musicians, and walked up to the front of the room to ask if he could play it.
Music and movement can unlock something deep inside... Dementia is something that affects almost everyone – I would say most people have or have had someone in their life affected by it – and the demographic is so wide now
— Hannah Murray
“It was amazing,” recounts Hannah, a freelance trumpeter who has played with the Ulster Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and also works with other charities, including The Amber Trust which helps blind and partially sighted children fulfil their musical aspirations.
“The duo came in some weeks ago to Edgcumbe Day Centre, a guitarist and double bass player, and this man’s eyes just lit up when he saw the double bass.
“Because of our earlier interaction in the one-to-ones, he was able to join the group sessions and then was able to play the double bass – it all came back to him… slowly, the notes began to make sense and he started playing what we would call a 12-bar blues.
“We so often hear about the frustrations and the anger that can come with dementia, but the manager of the centre told us that this man’s wife had related how the music sessions had had an effect on the rest of his day - sometimes even on the rest of his week – and he became more interested in engaging with activities.”
Other service users also made an impression: one woman, who had been a music teacher and who had also worked with special needs children in her school, came alive in a group music sessions at Carlisle Day Centre, enthusiastically taking part in songs and even getting up to dance.
“We found out that she had put on a production of The Sound of Music and she was an amazing pianist,” says Hannah. “The music sessions unlocked all that. It was so interesting, because you could also see glimpses of her special needs role in the past – she was encouraging other service users to get up and take part.
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“Then there was a man in another day centre who had never really engaged in any of the group activities. When we discovered he was a guitarist, he was able to bring in one of his guitars from home and we would sit in his one-to-one sessions and have a wee jam session with him.
“We didn’t see him for weeks because we were doing other projects, but when I returned to his day centre the other week, he came up to me and asked: ‘Where’s the other guy? Where’s the tall fella?’ His manager was amazed because apparently he remembers nothing, but he remembers that people came in to do music, so the fact that he was actually remembering something like that was really positive for him.”
The dementia project has also resonated personally, due to her grandfather’s dementia diagnosis – which later progressed to Alzheimer’s disease and necessitated a move into a care home during the pandemic.
“My grandfather lived with the disease for a long time – over a decade – and even though he wasn’t a musician himself, he loved big bands and swing bands,” Hannah explains. “Music was probably one of the last things that stayed with him, even in his last days when he wasn’t as verbal.
“During the pandemic, my family stood outside my grandfather’s care home and played some tunes for the residents. I grew up in the Salvation Army – I’ve always been surrounded by brass players and my dad is a trumpet player, so playing together as a family at that time was a reminder to me how important music is to us all.
“Dementia is something that affects almost everyone – I would say most people have or have had someone in their life affected by it – and the demographic is so wide now: the youngest service user with dementia is 56, while there are others in their nineties.”
Her passion for reaching the most vulnerable with music is also seen at the other end of the age scale, through interaction with young children at special needs schools across Northern Ireland.
“I have been going into special needs schools with Live Music Now, doing year-long projects with them, all over the country, and I have met some real little music superstars - some have also become my greatest teachers,” she reveals.
“These children – and adults – all leave an impression and make me want to do more and more to improve access to music for everyone. The impact on individual lives can be phenomenal.”
