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September 24, 2003The Power of Music'Harps for Hope' aims to help women dealing with cancerByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Krystal Miller has tried conventional medicine, music therapy and the power of thought. Now the cancer survivor is learning to play the Celtic harp in hopes it will help ease her into remission for a second time.
"It has been our goal right from the get-go to put harps into the hands of women undergoing cancer treatment," said Sharon Olson, a nurse practitioner and director of Partners in Prevention Palliative Care Center on Old Mission Peninsula. "They receive so much medical care. We want to reinforce another dimension of how they can strengthen their own self-care through music." Olson, 57, created the program as an offshoot of her Harp to Heart program in which volunteer harpists play therapeutic music at the palliative care center and in homes, hospitals and nursing care facilities. That program now has about 15 volunteers and five harps, four of them donated by families in memory of a loved one. Music therapy has been advancing as a profession and medical tool since the post World War I and II eras when community musicians began playing for thousands of veterans recovering from physical and emotional trauma, according to the American Music Therapy Association. They discovered that music could help alleviate pain, calm or relax patients and counteract depression. "There are tons of research that demonstrates that music in and of itself relieves anxiety, slows the heart rate, lowers the blood pressure," said Olson, who introduced music at the bedside at the old Grand Traverse Medical Care Facility before bringing it to patients at Munson Medical Center. Miller, a Traverse City textile artist whose cancer recurred last fall, heard about the Hearts for Hope program while attending a support group for people with chronic illness and immediately decided to sign up. "Over the years I've heard about the research into music and healing and I know that in certain kinds of music, like Far Eastern music, there are different tones and drones for different healing and different parts of the body," she said. "The notion that music that is very beautiful and soothing and relaxing can also be healing makes sense to me as an artist." While Miller has been on the receiving end of harp music at Olson's palliative care center, she'd never so much as plucked a string before joining the program. In fact, her only musical training came in the form of violin classes back in elementary school. That's the beauty of the modal method of music, which doesn't require training to master, insists Olson. And it's the beauty of the Celtic harp - a lighter, more portable version of the classical pedal or concert harp - which sounds good no matter who plays it. As proof, Olson offers up her volunteers, most of whom had never played the harp before hearing about Olson's programs. Volunteers begin with a three-hour class in palliative music and at the end of it are playing the harp, "even if it's only with one finger," she said. Aurea Antaya became so hooked on the instrument after taking Olson's harp classes that she soon bought a Celtic harp of her own. Now she volunteers with both the Heart to Harp and Harps for Hope programs. "I just thought that this was an avenue that I was interested in pursuing - helping women through their cancer and treatment," said Antaya, herself a cancer survivor. "I've been there. I've been through chemo. I've lost my hair." A science teacher at Traverse City East Junior High, Antaya, 50, said the harp is comforting not just because of its heavenly sound but because of its vibrations, which are soothing to her body. "Harps are just wonderful instruments of healing at that cellular and energy level," agreed Olson, who has played the Celtic harp since 1987. That's especially true when combined with modal music - an ancient, improvisational method of playing designed to enhance relaxation and a feeling of well-being. Each mode, selected according to the recipient's emotional or spiritual level, elicits a unique feeling and resonates differently within the body. "The goal is to help them shift to a better place physically, spiritually and emotionally," Olson said. "And spiritually doesn't mean in the religious sense." Miller is hoping that by playing the harp she can counteract the stressful effects of weekly chemotherapy and "downshift" to a more peaceful place. "Cancer has been a gift in that it changes your perspective," she said. "You learn to be grateful for the day and the moment because that's truly what any of us has." Harps for Hope meets Fridays beginning this week. While the program is limited to five women at a time, Olson hopes to expand it eventually to include children and men. For information about registration or volunteering, call 223-8811.
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