Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Lung Center and JazzBoston today publicly announce and celebrate their partnership in music and medicine to improve lung health based on the breathing and blowing techniques of jazz wind instrumentalists and vocalists at a unique event taking place at Roxbury Tenants of Harvard in Mission Hill, the first of the partnership's Good Music = Good Health Jazz Fairs. Some of Boston's most talented jazz artists will be there to inspire the community and draw visitors into collective music-making. An instrument petting zoo, a variety of horns to blow, and contests with prizes will provide fun for all ages. The afternoon will culminate in a community concert.! The event, which will be held at RTH Levinson Plaza, 835 Huntington Avenue, 1-4 p.m., is free and open to all.
This initiative brings master teachers/performers led by JazzBoston together with BWH Lung Center clinicians to develop new therapies that accelerate the rehabilitation process for patients who have chronic lung disease or are recovering from chest surgery. Breathing techniques used by professional wind musicians will be explored as exercises for people who want to maintain or increase their lung power. The musician/physician team will also design and conduct clinics that incorporate wind instruments, including the voice, to create a lively, motivational therapy experience.
"We are proud to partner with JazzBoston," said Bruce Levy, MD, medical director of the BWH Lung Center. "Music therapy is increasingly recognized for its holistic roles in health and healthy living. We are delighted to join with these outstanding community leaders in a unique collaborative effort that promotes music as a healing medium and expands both our organizations' outreach to the city of Boston."
Explaining JazzBoston's enthusiasm for the new partnership, the organization's president, Pauline Bilsky, said, "The Brigham is known for being exceptionally innovative - it may be one of the most innovative hospitals anywhere - and in the music world, there's nothing more innovative than jazz. It's exciting to think about the amount of good two innovative organizations can do together. All of us at JazzBoston want to thank Dr. Levy, Dr. Aaron Waxman and the entire BWH Lung Center for giving us this unusual opportunity to put the power of jazz to work to improve the health of people in all our city's neighborhoods."
The BWH Lung Center, along with BWH's Center for Community Health and Health Equity, and JazzBoston have begun organizing community-based health and wellness fairs in Boston to help raise awareness of the importance of managing lung health and teach participants techniques for strengthening their lungs, whether they have a respiratory disorder or not.
"We are very excited and proud to work in collaboration with BWH and JazzBoston to host such a unique event. We strongly believe that innovative health and well-being programs such as this are an important tool that will help our residents of all ages and abilities in the ongoing fight against the many diseases that negatively affect the quality of life." Karen T. Gately, RTH executive director.
One example developed as part of the new partnership with JazzBoston is the healthcare services the Lung Center recently added for professional wind musicians and vocalists through close collaborations with the Performing Arts Clinic at BWH and the BWH Voice Program. "It takes a dedicated group of clinicians, many of whom are musicians themselves, to understand the needs and concerns of the professional artist. That unique experience is offered at BWH and lends to an incredible collaboration between the science and art of music," says Thomas Carroll, MD, director of the BWH Voice Program.
The partners will also work together to raise funds for lung research and care that improves the health of all patients with respiratory conditions who struggle to breathe and may translate into improved performance by musicians.
"This is just the beginning of a tremendous relationship between JazzBoston and BWH Lung Center," says Emmett G. Price, III, PhD, musician, professor, pastor and JazzBoston CEO and board chairman. "We envision many more opportunities for serving the Greater Boston Area with an eye not only towards health and wellness but also towards collaborative research that will cross-fertilize best practices among researchers/ therapists and creative artists who use their lungs to make music."
ABOUT JAZZ BOSTON
JazzBoston (www.jazzboston.org), the umbrella and advocacy organization for Greater Boston's jazz community, connects, supports, and promotes the region's entire jazz scene. The 10-year-old nonprofit's initiatives introduce jazz in all its forms to audiences of all ages and use the power of jazz to help bridge generational and cultural divides and broaden the horizons of at-risk young people. JazzBoston's new "Neighborhoods" initiative is assisting historic venues in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapn in establishing regular jazz programming at affordable prices for local residents. The organization's newest advocacy effort, in partnership with the Museum of African American History, is the Campaign for a Boston Jazz Heritage Trail.
ABOUT THE LUNG CENTER at BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
The Lung Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital provides advanced, personalized and compassionate care for patients with lung conditions, including airway and breathing disorders, infectious and immunological lung diseases, cancer, respiratory failure and more. Our areas of emphasis include women's lung health, geriatrics, genetics, occupational exposures and performing artists. Services are tailored to the needs of each patient by bringing together a multidisciplinary team of specialists from the Divisions of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Thoracic Surgery and the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology within Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center.
ABOUT ROXBURY TENANTS OF HARVARD
Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Association, Inc. (RTH) is a human services, housing development and management corporation. A community based developer, owner, and human service provider of 965 units of affordable housing in Mission Hill adjacent to the Longwood Medical Area. Since 1969, RTH has served as a multi-purpose, resident-controlled neighborhood, grassroots, non-profit corporation. RTH has represented community residents and has held strong local support throughout it's over 40-year history. RTH has created a safe and racially diverse, multicultural, multilingual, neighborhood noted for its strong community participation, educational and social service programs, community events, and high quality of life.
