What We Do
About
In collaboration with Project: Music Heals Us, the program was established by Harvard Medical School students in April of 2020. This program leverages videoconferencing software to facilitate concerts between volunteer artists, healthcare workers, and patients.
Healthcare institutions submit requests for specific time slots during which they would like a musician, and the VBC program then matches a musician to that time slot depending on availability and preferences. Performances are conducted via Zoom through either a hospital-provided tablet or a patient's own smart device. Performances are open to a variety of genres and arts – from pop/rock/classical music to dance performance.
Given that isolation and loneliness are not unique to but have been highlighted by COVID-19, we hope this program will continue beyond the pandemic to connect individuals overcoming geographic barriers in these virtual concerts.
VBC violinist Luther Warren performs for patient & Dr. Kathy May Tran
Who are the performers?
Artist volunteers are a mix of healthcare workers, medical students, college students, conservatory students, and professional musicians. All volunteers are held to a high standard of musicianship and professionalism and are trained by the VBC team before interacting with patients. Performers are asked to be flexible and adaptable to a variety of patient experiences. We do our best to honor requests for particular performers, instruments, and genres.
Our performers come from:
The New England Conservatory
The Juilliard School
The National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (18+ only)
Harvard Medical School
Harvard College