Houston AFM Members Play to Help COVID Patients Heal
By Jay Malone
When Houston Methodist approached Houston Symphony violinist Christopher Neal, a member of the Houston Professional Musicians’ Association (AFM Houston), about playing for COVID patients as part of a pilot program at the hospital, he was excited at the opportunity to give back.
“As a musician, I jumped at the chance to contribute something,” he said.
Neal works with Musicare, a pilot program for the Houston Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine. Since the program launched last April, AFM Houston members like Neal have performed over 400 private concerts for ICU patients at Methodist. Although the performances began in the hospital surgical ward, all of the recent concerts have been for patients with COVID.
“I recently played for one patient who the nurse told me could understand, but couldn’t communicate,” said Neal. “He was having a lot of trouble sleeping, and I played for him and he ended up falling asleep. I considered that a great, great compliment.”
AFM Houston member and Houston Symphony cellist Brinton Smith recently recounted the story of playing for a patient who used to be a jazz guitarist and was moved to tears by Smith’s performance in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. “Sometimes you think people aren’t really all there, and then you see that they’re crying, or you get some kind of emotional response,” Smith says. “The people who really love music have these powerful responses that you never forget.”
Neal and Smith say that they see their work helping patients heal as deeply connected to their union values. “The great part about being in a union is that we band together to take care of everybody,” said Neal.
“As union members and members of our community of musicians, we have an obligation to make the world a better place in any way we can,” said Smith.
The program started out with just two musicians last year, but has grown substantially thanks to the efforts of AFM members like Neal and Smith. “We believe that by getting together as a group and playing for these people, we will get them out of the hospital quicker,” said Neal. “We think we are not only making them happy, but they are also recovering faster. It’s because of a group of people getting together to boost us all. It’s working.”
“The amazing thing about music is that it cuts across every kind of barrier there is,” said Smith. “It connects with such an essential human value. Everybody responds to music on a very fundamental level”.
This is the first in a series about union members in the Texas Gulf Coast. To learn more about the Houston Professional Musicians Association, please visit their website: www.afmhouston.com
