Music has the command to transcend class, culture, and evoke stories long forgotten. In an unpublished pilot study, I enquired how residents at a retirement facility experience Afro- Brazilian Music. The participants in this study were of majority Protestant European background, high socio-economic status and well educated. The music component represented the antithesis of the study population; religious cultural music expression from people associated with the African Diaspora via the African Slave Trade to Brazil. The music, a combination of classical acoustic guitar with nature sounds in the background, and accompanied by a voice singing in the ancient idiom of Yoruba, the common vernacular of Afro- based religious songs of the Northeast of Brazil, set the platform for residents to draw upon, for their stories.
The Workshop Through the use of Afro-Brazilian music, students will be presented with the opportunity to participate in an exercise for achieving a deepened state of relaxation. All that is required is an open mind. The purpose of this workshop is to demonstrate the effectiveness of Afro-Brazilian music as music medicine.
Date and Local
Tuesday, December 8th
Time: 3 pm - 4 pm
TF 102 - Teefy Hall (57 Queen’s Park Crescent East) University of Toronto
Free Attendance
Alicia Howard is a PhD candidate in Music Education with an emphasis on Music Medicine at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music. Her doctoral research focuses on the effects of music on Temporomandibular Joint Disorder Symptoms (TMD). Alicia’s study is being conducted at Mount Sinai Hospital's Wasser Pain Management Centre. Her past research investigated the effects of music and poetry therapy on substance abuse populations. Alicia is a past recipient of the University of Florida’s Brazilian Language and Cultural Fellowship. (www.ritmundi.com)
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