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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Hohner & Harmonikids
Hohner & Harmonikids
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HohnerWebGuy
2 posts
Sep 15, 2011
6:53 AM
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Just wanted to share this story with everyone from Gary Allegretto's Harmonikids website:
Hohner, Inc. is proud to announce the company’s alliance with Harmonikids, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing harmonicas & the joy of music into the lives of special needs children. Hohner, Inc. has partnered with Harmonikids founder, artist, educator and 2011 Keeping Blues Alive Award recipient Gary Allegretto, to provide harmonicas and musical instruction to children beset with a wide range of physical, emotional, and/or economic challenges. Harmonikids’ seminars and events have introduced children throughout the world to the healing and restorative powers of music since 1985, utilizing the harmonica to create unique avenues for music therapy and education in environments ranging from children’s hospitals to tsunami-ravaged North Sumatra. Each child participating in a Harmonikids event is gifted with his or her own Hohner harmonica and afforded the rare opportunity to receive musical instruction and inspiration from a professional musician and educator in a supportive and nurturing environment. Clay Edwards, President of Hohner, Inc. recently commented, “Hohner endeavors to be a part of everyone’s musical life. If music provides an outlet for these children to express themselves and their condition, then by all means we have an obligation to support and foster it. Harmonikids is a first class organization with its heart in the right place and Gary Allegretto couldn’t be better in relating to the children”.
http://www.harmonikids.org/sponsors.htm
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Swezey8
106 posts
Sep 15, 2011
8:06 AM
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Thanks for sharing what seems like a great program!
However, I want to add a disclaimer to the press release that is posted above and on the website.
I am a music therapist at UK Hospital in Lexington. The statement above states that he is providing "music therapy" as well as other spots on the site which mention "blues music therapy." While this is a wonderful idea and program and it seems that Gary is a dedicated and compassionate person, what they are doing is NOT music therapy.
Music therapy is an evidence-based profession with therapists that are board-certified and have degrees in the field. Having a music workshop and giving out harmonicas is not music therpay. For most this will seem like pointless semantics, but as I am in the profession I deal with this all the time and always feel the need to educate about what music therapy is. Music in many ways is therapeutic unto itself, but calling a program music therapy with no certified music therapists involved and no actual client-therapist relationship is misleading and wrong.
I am sure that this program and Gary meant no wrong as people like to toss the words around lightly. I just felt that I should clarify the field for anyone who may be interested.
On a related note, the music therapy program at UK, in conjuction with the Chief of Surgery, has proposed a harmonica-centered respiratory program for both post-surgical lung cancer patients as well as COPD and asthma patients. If we get the grant ($250,000) we will have the first large amount of quantitative data on the effectiveness of the harmonica as a rehabilitation tool. I am also writing up a book that we plan on publishing that will serve as an instructional tool for patients to work through the rehab program. We plan to set up seminars where other music therapists, as well as respiratory specialists, nurses, etc. can learn how to instruct the program and establish their own at hospitals and clinics.
Sorry for the lengthy post, and once again I support the mission above, I just wanted to inform people of what my profession really is and correct the loose use of the term. For more info see our website
www.musictherapy.org
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waltertore
1494 posts
Sep 15, 2011
9:42 AM
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that is great news. I pionered the hohner rainbow harmonica program in the Austin City School District (austin,tx) back in the mid 80's when I was an endorsee. I did it with special needs kids as well. We made joyful noise for the most part. A who's who of the austin music elite lined up deep and long to put on Friday afternoon shows in the classroom I was working in. I was the band leader and we would back the kids up. We then took it on the road to nursing homes. I met one of bob wills original fiddlers and a hundred year old man that did old field hollers that were still around when grew up as a sharecroppers son.
I emailed Gary a few years ago and tried to connect with him on the school thing. He responded with a nice note that basically hoped I could book him some school gigs. I am in my 19th year as a special education teacher. We do music everyday in my room. It is a great thing for the Mentally Retarded population. Walter
walter tore & the spontobeat allstars CD
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
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Last Edited by on Sep 15, 2011 9:46 AM
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