Cool Cats Chorus - Seven Hills Foundation
Posted Saturday August 06 2016 at 10:23 pm
Guest blog post by Sarah Tree of Seven Hills Foundation
My name is Sarah Tree, and I'm a board certified music therapist providing services to the Seven Hills Foundation of Worcester. I visit six different Seven Hills locations in Worcester, Milford, and Devens. Through group and individual music therapy sessions, we work on social, communicative, cognitive, and physical goal areas. In addition, there are choruses and switch ensembles that prepare for occasional performances.
One of the more exciting projects we've been working on in our performing groups is the use of switch soloists for our choir at the Adult Day Health program. The "Cool Cats Choir" is inclusive, providing music experiences for individuals with all levels of ability. For some of our individuals, singing along in time to the music is difficult, due to disabilities which impact their verbal communication. or these individuals, performing a solo without assistive technology would be difficult, if not impossible. Through a program called "switch ensemble", which plays digital audio files in response to the activation of electronic switches, these individuals will be featured soloists during performances.
