WITH patients in their dressing gowns, staff and relatives gathered for a unique private concert in the Churchill hospital’s cancer treatment centre.
Students from Suzuki violin school, including Bryony Talbot-Ponsonby, seven, gave an inspiring performance which transported patients from their surroundings for one lunchtime.
The 16 children aged between four and 18 played pieces by Brahms, Bach, Schumann, Handel and Paganini to around 60 people.
Evie Hardy-Baker, 14, a pupil at Cherwell School, said: “It was inspiring to see all those people listening to our music. If I was in hospital, I think that is what I would like to hear as well.”
Anne Parker, from the Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) Trust said: “You looked around and you could see that for ten minutes people’s minds were taken off their treatment.”
The Suzuki method, created by Dr Shinichi Suzuki, is an alternative school for learning a musical instrument. It is founded on the idea that if children start learning from as young as three, they will absorb knowledge in the same way they learn their mother tongue.
The children’s teacher, Margaret Parkin, said: “Music can take people to a different place. Hopefully we made their afternoon a little brighter.”
The concert was part of OUH’s Artlink programme, using arts to help reduce patients’ stress and anxiety.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here