The Sunny Ringers and Country Dingers welcomed a surprise guest artist to their music therapy session at Knollcrest Lodge this week.
On a short break from her Under the Winter’s Moon Tour, Juno-winning performer Loreena McKennitt was a visitor at the long-term care home in Milverton on Tuesday when she sat down at a piano and accompanied her bell choir on a few classic Christmas carols .
Afterwards, the Stratford-based singer-songwriter told the group she was “honoured” to be among others at Knollcrest celebrating the return of its music therapy program.
Lost during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was revived a few months ago with the help of a $9,000 grant from the Stratford Perth Community Foundation. Part of that gift came from the Irene McKennitt Fund for Nursing Excellence, a fund Loreena established with the foundation in 2011 to honor the life of her late mother.
“She was a fantastic nurse,” McKennitt said. “She was also a huge music lover. I know that she would be connecting the dots and she’d be very pleased that this was happening. There’s a lot that’s being learned about the incredible healing qualities of music. I know that would be something my mother would certainly recognize as a former registered nurse.”
Over a dozen Knollcrest residents participated in the bell choir Tuesday. They had been preparing with music therapist Karis Rovillos, who’s been visiting once a week since September.
“I’ve seen people light up,” Rovillos said. “I’ve seen them come from a dead sleep to awake and laughing and smiling and singing. I’ve seen just an overall better quality of life. It just brings a bit of meaning into their day. It also brings a sense of community. If you’re singing all together, it opens up a lot of conversation too because a lot of people have stories about music in their lives.”
The grant has allowed Knollcrest to purchase specialized bells for its choir as well as offer residents small group sessions and one-on-one time with Rovillos. The return of music therapy has been a boost to residents still feeling the negative effects of the pandemic, said Jayde Middleton, the long-term care home’s manager of life enrichment.
“It was clear these restrictions presented a problem,” Middleton said. “Music therapy provides … a different avenue to come together, still be socially distanced, and enjoy the benefits of music. It gives them that independence as well to be able to participate and make music as a group.”
Harold Bart was among the residents who listened to the bell choir’s performance on Tuesday. Originally from Stratford, Bart said he was once an avid fiddle player but mobility issues have been preventing him from playing at the level he used to.
He described the feeling as “terrible.”
Hearing music at Knollcrest over the past several weeks, however, has helped.
“Any time somebody plays, it’s important to me,” Bart said.
So is his time practicing with Rovillos.
“She’s just all music,” Bart said. “She makes my day when she comes. If it’s only even for 10 minutes, she brightens up my day.”
Knollcrest’s grant was also made possible by the John and Leslie Wright Fund and the 2005 International Plowing Match Fund.
Heidi Culliton, the executive director of the Stratford Perth Community Foundation, said it represents a recent shift in the types of programs the organization is focused on supporting. What was once an effort to provide an immediate need at the beginning of the pandemic has more recently turned into an effort to help charities and other organizations “reinvent” how they are doing their work.
“That’s the theme we’re seeing,” Culliton said.
“(Knollcrest) has just been at the forefront of supporting our senior population and really they’ve been through it all over the past … three years,” Culliton added. “We’re just so grateful to be able to be a part of this kind of program.”