Project Harmony Strikes a Chord

Project Harmony Logo text with three circles with music symbols in shades of green and blueFinding Inspiration in the People We Serve

The vision at Roman Music Therapy Services has always been to create connects and build communities for people of all ages and abilities. We believe that making music is something everyone can do, celebrating potential instead of focusing on limitations, highlighting similarities and not differences.

In an ongoing effort to create programming that is meaningful and brings different communities together, we launched Project Harmony in the fall of 2017. Most of the offerings under Project Harmony’s umbrella were created with adults with disabilities in mind, to help transition folks from sheltered or protected experiences to more integrated interactions within the community.

Project Harmony offers ongoing series and individual events that provide:

  • Meaningful social experiences
  • Opportunities to develop authentic friendships
  • Creative self-expression
  • Interactive learning and growth
  • Sense of belonging with others
  • Enhanced physical health and well-being

Making Music, Transforming Lives

Our goal with Project Harmony is to create spaces in which all people can gather together, meet new friends and experience joy in music making. So far, we have held several Open Mic/Karaoke nights, as well as a weekly chorus. The karaoke nights are full of fun, energetic music makers and audience members, cheering each other on and crooning to a favorite song. We have had parents and families, friends looking for something to do on a night out, adults with disabilities and young children participate.

Finding wholesome, enjoyable events within the community can be a challenge for many people, so the reception of our Friday night Karaoke evenings has been very positive! Our weekly chorus, which meets Monday afternoons, has been an outlet for adults with disabilities in day programs, but anyone is welcome to join. Learning new songs and singing them in the group has been a rewarding and empowering experience! At the culmination of each 10 week series, the chorus members perform a showcase in front of their peers, demonstrating their hard work and dedication!

We have high expectations for Project Harmony, the scope of its offerings as well as the longevity of its impact. In the future, we also hope to roll out drum circles, a digital music series and many other meaningful programs that utilize music to empower all people within the community.

Keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for future events and program announcements!

 

Drumming to De-Stress

Beating the Drum with the Chamber!

On May 17th, Roman Music Therapy Services had the opportunity to host members of the Wakefield-Lynnfield Chamber of Commerce for an evening of networking and…drumming!

A free event for chamber members, the public was also invited for a nominal fee. We kicked off the afternoon at 5:30pm, giving attendees a chance to mingle, unwind and enjoy some great appetizers from Rooster Thai and Convenience, who supplied the catering. After everyone had arrived and felt ‘warmed up’, Kathy McCann, MT-BC, led the group into the music room where a variety of drums and other instruments awaited them.

The Benefits of Drumming

The drum is one of the oldest known instruments and the act of drumming provides a number of health benefits! It has been proven that an hour long drumming session can reduce stress significantly, is an aerobic exercise, and increases brain function, and that’s not all! Drumming also helps build community and creates a mind/body connectedness. While some of our Chamber participants seemed hesitant and self-conscious at first, it didn’t take long for everyone to loosen up and find their own beat!

Ancient peoples and societies knew the benefits of drumming, and now, as more research is done, so do we. Drumming can help Alzheimer’s patients access memories, children with special needs work on motor skills, and people suffering from depression or anxiety find an outlet for expression. It’s also a great team-builder for businesses or organizations.

If you would like more information about the benefits of drumming and drum circles, please contact us! If you’ve never seen a drum circle, Malden Access TV taped one of ours a number of years ago and you can view it here!

 

Drumming With Heart: Celebrating our 10th anniversary!

As many of you know, we celebrated our 10th anniversary last Saturday at Melrose Memorial Hall. It truly was an event to honor not only the work we do in providing individual and group music therapy services, but also to express appreciation for the community connections we have made and partners we have gained along the way. Continuing our mission of uniting the generations, bringing music to everyone, and transforming lives through music making, the celebration offered an opportunity to bring our entire music-making community together in a party atmosphere.

Meredith Meredith singing with guitaropened the event with a few words of acknowledgement and thanks to clients, supporters, community partners and employees who have been part of the 10 year journey. She also sampled for the crowd one of the opening songs often used by the music therapists, Today Is A Beautiful Day, kicking off the event and setting an upbeat and inclusive tone for the day’s events. Later in the afternoon Meredith shared the news Roman Music Therapy Services’ growth and success have created the need to expand into a bigger space, and that our new home is right down the road in Wakefield, MA (Stay tuned or follow us on Facebook for up-to-the minute details).

Continue reading “Drumming With Heart: Celebrating our 10th anniversary!”

Drum Circle+: Community Building in Action

Have you wondered what Drum Circle+ is all about?

Drum Circle+ is a drum circle facilitated by a Board Certified Music Therapist from Roman Music Therapy Services. In one of our events, you will get all of the benefits of drumming including reducing stress, improving physical health and wellness, increasing brain functioning and building community.

Drum Circle in ActionResearch suggests music can enhance brain functioning in the moment and over time. This is useful for a wide range of individuals and groups. Our music therapists are able to meet your group’s unique needs, whether it be for staff wellness or development, a professional workshop or an energizing community event.

Watching a Drum Circle+ in action.

To give you an idea of what happens at a Roman Music Therapy Services Drum Circle+ event, check out the video below from the Malden Access Television Open House Showcase.  In this interactive and engaging drum circles for all ages, we explore one of the oldest known instruments. The Music Therapists of Roman Music Therapy Services use the drum circle to engage everyone in fun-filled and purposeful music making that can leave a lasting impression!

Recorded May 16, 2015, at MATV’s 9th annual Open House Showcase.

Call us to learn more about how we can create a Drum Circle+ experience to meet your needs.

Roman Music Therapy Services Facilitates Drum Circle for C-4 Analytics, one of the National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For™

Drum Circles Are Becoming an Increasingly Popular Tool for Innovative Companies

Saugus, Mass., Dec. 17, 2014 – C-4 Analytics has had plenty of reasons to be upbeat lately, thanks to its impressive growth and recognition for employee appeal. On Wednesday, December 17, the digital marketing agency continued to drum up success, enlisting the help of Roman Music Therapy Services to organize a drum circle for its employees.

Drum circles are a modern application of an ancient practice. They are comprised of groups of people who drum and create rhythm together to achieve more than music. Group cohesion and synergy, as well as stress reduction and enhanced wellbeing for individual participants, are common objectives. These effects are achieved by the power of music and rhythm, as well as the democratic nature of drum circles. Each player is a vital part in the emergent sound and, as legendary drummer Mickey Hart puts it, “a new voice, a collective voice, emerges from the group as they drum together.”

Meredith Pizzi, executive director of Roman Music Therapy Services, along with colleagues Steven Clarke and Sarah Tree, board-certified music therapists, facilitated the drum circle for the employees of C-4 Analytics. This was the second such occasion held for the digital marketing agency headquartered in Saugus, Massachusetts.

Named by the National Association for Business Resources as a 2014 National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For™, C-4 Analytics has clearly fostered a culture that employees are happy and productive in. It is no surprise, then, that C-4 Analytics uses drum circles as one way to empower individual contributors and teams.

Not yet a mainstream employee enrichment tactic, drum circles are beginning to gain traction for early adopters as a fun way to build community and enhance wellbeing and group impact. Offered in a variety of settings, this practice is gaining some popularity, more recently as a catalyst for businesses to harness the team and promote collaborative creativity.

About C-4 Analytics, LLC
Headquartered in Saugus, Mass., C-4 Analytics is a top-10 company on Deloitte’s 2014 Technology Fast 500, a fastest-growing private company on the Inc. 5000, a certified Google Partner and the first agency to bring accountability to online marketing with a thoughtful, measurable approach to services like search-engine marketing, paid-search management, online-reputation management, behavioral retargeting and social-media campaigns. C-4 Analytics delivers real, measurable results to its clients by using analytics to identify and track customer-acquisition channels — and the related costs — so that they can determine which marketing streams are most profitable. Find C-4 Analytics online at www.c-4analytics.com, on Google+ and on LinkedIn. They can also be reached by phone at 617-250-8888.

About Roman Music Therapy Services, LLC
Roman Music Therapy Services, LLC is a leading music therapy business in Massachusetts, offering individual and group music therapy as well as music programming for early childhood development and adult enrichment. Founded and led by entrepreneur, thought leader, board-certified music therapist, and LEND Fellow, Meredith Pizzi, Roman Music Therapy Services exists to expand the reach of music making to all spheres of society. “Using music to unlock closed doors, exposing potential, possibilities and opportunities,” Roman Music Therapy is bringing the power of music to a growing number of families, communities, and businesses. To learn more about Roman Music Therapy, visit https://romanmusictherapy.com, call 781-224-3300, or email help@romanmusictherapy.com.