Tanner's Harmony for Healing to Feature Student Choruses

Tanner Health System's Harmony for Healing music therapy program is pleased to announce two unique upcoming performances in the atrium of Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton that the public is welcome to attend.

The Carrollton Middle School Singers, featuring more than 60 fifth grade students under the direction of Susan Fields, will perform on March 29 from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Their program, “On the Radio,” will consist of songs heard over the airwaves from the Great Depression and World War II through the birth of rock-and-roll, the British Invasion and disco. “Tune in” for popular hits of years past, including “Ain’t We Got Fun?,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Hound Dog,” “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Footloose.”

University of West Georgia (UWG) Anthropology students and the Mt. Zion Elementary School Chorus will perform Shaker music on April 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The UWG students are under the direction of Dr. Marjorie M. Snipes, chair and professor, Department of Anthropology, who is teaching a special topics class this semester on the Shakers. The UWG students are learning Shaker songs as a way of learning about Shaker culture. The Mt. Zion Elementary School Chorus, under the direction of Mr. Lee Ritchie, will sing some of their own songs in addition to Shaker music. The combined group will sing a cappella.

Music therapy is an established healthcare technique that uses music to address the physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of patients and individuals of all ages. Tanner Health System’s Harmony for Healing music therapy program was developed out of a desire to help caregivers, patients and their loved ones cope with the stressful times that often accompany a hospital stay. The Steinway grand piano, located in the Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton atrium and used in many Harmony for Healing performances, was donated anonymously in 2008.

For more information about Tanner’s Harmony for Healing music therapy program, contact Jillian Walker, special projects coordinator for Tanner Health System, at 770.836.9202 or via e-mail to jwalker@tanner.org.