VITAL SOUNDS INITIATIVE
VIRTUAL BEDSIDE CONCERTS
“There are very few things in this world [that can] transcend time and place, and [...] music is one of those things. It adds a level of humanity to a situation that I think this virus has taken away.”
PROJECT: MUSIC HEALS US (PMHU) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide inspiration, education and healing through live music performances and interactive programming to marginalized communities across the United States, with a focus on the disabled, rehabilitating, incarcerated, and homeless. In order to continue its mission amidst the pandemic, since early April 2020, PMHU has been offering its programming through one-on-one concerts via video livestream platforms to society's most isolated and vulnerable: patients hospitalized across the country.
With the launch of the Vital Sounds Initiative, PMHU has offered over $130,000 in musician support to arts organizations and ensembles around the country in order to lay the groundwork for a sustainable national network of artists united in using the Arts in service of patient rehabilitation, while leveraging collective resources to create a scalable initiative greater than the sum of any individual efforts. The initiative aims to address two concurrent sources of desperation affecting two seemingly unrelated groups: isolated hospitalized patients and their care-givers, and performing artists who have had their livelihoods threatened by the shutdown of live arts programming through the pandemic.
“I can personally testify that when we’re looking for meaning and purpose at a time when many of the usual avenues of expression are not open for us to explore [...] this is actually one of the best things one can do as a musician during this crucial time when people need you.”
Information for Healthcare Workers & Facilities
If you represent a healthcare facility which would like to participate in this program, please fill out the VSI Hospital Entry Form below. We will reach out to you as soon as we are able.
Thank you for your interest in this program!