The idea of bringing music into care homes and hospices was initiated in 2007 by the ESO cellist Corinne Frost who, along with her colleagues, was aware that live music was hugely beneficial to people who would not otherwise have access to musical stimulation in their daily lives.

Our musicians have many years of experience in this field; they are able to arrive at a venue, assess the mood and level of engagement of their audience and adapt their choice of music accordingly. All the concerts are very interactive events. The musicians introduce each piece, giving information about the composer, the piece, the opera, song or the musical in order to trigger memories (eg. Judy Garland was the first person to perform Somewhere over the Rainbow; Bachs Air on a G String was used in advertisements for Hamlet Cigars). All the ensembles encourage their audiences to join in if they wish and this frequently leads to foot tapping, clapping, singing and sometimes dancing.

They usually play for about an hour after which they mingle with their audience over a cup of tea and this frequently leads to stimulating and interesting conversations. When a resident is too ill to attend a communal concert, our musicians will frequently visit them in their rooms and play something especially for them.

The musicians who participate in these events are all professional orchestral players and are committed to bringing their talents to members of society who are living with dementia or other life debilitating conditions and are therefore unable to attend public performances. Whilst delivering high quality music into care homes and day care centres, the musicians also bring a tremendous sense of warmth, humour and sensitivity to their concerts which raises the spirits, alertness and responsiveness of, not only their primary audience, but also that of the staff, relatives and visitors in all the venues in which they play. Research supports our experience that live music benefits people with dementia by stimulating memories, reducing agitation and stress and improving communication between residents and staff.

We deeply miss being able to bring live music to the care homes and hospices in these few months of COVID-19 pandemic. Since lockdown, we have made videos of our Wind Quartet, String Quartet and String Duo; the String Quartet have also made a video to which thirty Primary School children have contributed remotely from their homes. Fittingly, the last time we did a live intergenerational concert with these children, their favourite song was Over the Rainbow, which is what they have sung in the video that you can view here:

Donations are the simplest way to help us bring the gift of music to those whose circumstances would otherwise deny them the benefit - please consider supporting our work so that we can continue to provide live music in care homes and hospices.