By Rich Larson, KYMN News
A local choir is being established in Northfield for those living with dementia and their caregivers.
Lifting Voices comes from the vision of a Twin Cities non-profit organization called Giving Voice, that works to help people with dementia find joy through music. Kristin Kivel, a public school choir director with more than 20 years of experience who lives in Northfield, was contacted through Giving Voice and asked if she would be interested in the initiative last year, and they are now preparing for their first rehearsal on January 29th.
The point of a dementia friendly choir, she said, is to give both the patients and the caregivers something every week that is positive, inclusive, community building, and safe. Music has been known to bring joy to most people, and it can be a powerful tool to help dementia patients to remember.
Gail Almen is a volunteer with the choir, whose mother and two sisters have all experienced dementia in the past twenty years. She said, even though there is a lack of clinical data that shows music to be helpful for dementia patients, she has seen it work first hand.
“I knew the love that the people with dementia had for singing. And sometimes it would just kind of spark little things in their head. And even though they didn’t know who their companions were, their families were, they knew the words to the songs. And it brought them joy, and it brought them a connection to the person with whom they came.”
Kivel said the rehearsals will include singing and body movement, both of which have been shown to help dementia patients. She said the rehearsals will begin with a greeting, then a voice warm up, some time specifically for body movement, and a community time after the rehearsal for the people within the choir to interact.
Rehearsals are scheduled at FiftyNorth for Mondays from 1-3pm. FiftyNorth, Kivel said, has been an instrumental part of getting the choir up off the ground, both by donating space and by helping with some marketing.
And while, she said, a love of music is always helpful, prior musical experience – or even talent – is not required to be a part of Lifting Voices. All it takes is the magic that can come from singing.
“If you have a love for singing, if music touches parts of your life and brings back memories from things from when you were younger, if it causes you to have emotional reactions, I think it’s for you.”
Kivel said the program does have a performance component, the date of which has not been set, but will be sometime in the spring. The first rehearsal is set for Monday, January 19th. No special registration is necessary, nor must one be a member of FiftyNorth to participate
