Musicians: Marcus Bonfanti (guitar, vocals) Alice Zawadzki (violin, vocals) Pete Lee (piano)
The day began at Great Ormond Street Hospital where we were to visit four wards which we hadn’t been to before. After consulting with GOSH music therapists, we agreed that The Spitz could have a really positive impact on wards that don’t usually receive more traditional music therapy from within the hospital itself. Therefore musician Marcus Bonfanti spent this morning’s session accompanied by Spitz GM Thom Rowlands, on four international wards. Great Ormond Street is one of the best hospitals in the world for childhood illnesses, disease and also cutting-edge research and trials and children come from all over the world to receive treatment. Hedgehog and Bumblebee Wards host international patients with the most complicated medical and surgical conditions. Butterfly Ward specialises in haematology, oncology, immunology, gene therapy and BMT. Sky Ward provides orthopaedic and spinal surgery. Most patients are under eight years of age.
The majority of the patients we met were from the middle east and while we wondered how we might tailor our session to a slightly different audience, we quickly learned that Wheels On The Bus and Old McDonald Had A Farm are internationally popular.
On Butterfly Ward we met 8-year-old patient M. He has a genetic condition which impacts his physical and mental development. His mum told us that he loves dancing. Marcus’ choice of Randy Newman’sYou’ve Got A Friend In Me proved an excellent choice as M danced and laughed, lying on his bed. It is remarkable to witness these moments in which someone who is non-verbal and clearly very poorly get such joy from something which we can so easily take for granted. As we left the room, M’s mum said “Thank you, you’ve made my day”
On Sky Ward, the senior nurse asked us to visit D. 6-years old and with a tracheostomy, D is very energetic, despite also being non-verbal. Initially he was quite shy, peeking out from behind his bed curtain but soon got stuck in, clapping along to “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”. With a little translation from the staff and his mum, D communicated to us that we were going to go and see his friend O, on the other side of the ward. So off we went. D banged on O’s door, the two boys hugged and then turned to Marcus, as if to say “well carry on then!”
As the music continued, heads began popping out of doors, with more and more children and parents joining the party. Printed pyjamas turned out to be excellent inspiration for residents of Old McDonald’s farm and soon we had lions, dinosaurs, aliens, robots and chickens. (note: lions ROAR and dinosaurs RAAWR, not to be mixed up).
After the session, GM Thom Rowlands joined an online meeting with ArtExplora, an international foundation that inspires new encounters between arts and audiences, breaking down barriers for more and more people to experience arts of all varieties. The Spitz and ArtExplora are embarking on a project to bring live music to assisted living, care homes and day centres in Hammersmith and Islington. It’s a new venture for us and we’re really excited to get started on this in July. Watch this space for updates after our first sessions.
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We were back at Brigdeside Lodge in the afternoon. Alice Zawadzki was joined by pianist Pete Lee, fresh off a world tour with singer-songwriter Bruno Major. It’s always really fascinating to know what our musicians are up to when they’re not working with The Spitz and we celebrate their successes elsewhere in their careers.
The afternoon session started with some up-tempo jigs to get the party started. Alice’s bow becoming a blur as the tune got faster with every repeat.
Things got more jazzy on the third floor as Bridgeside Lodge activities coordinator Yvette joined Alice and Pete for a rendition of Édith Piaf’s La Vie En Rose, with resident JC providing percussion on the back of his guitar.
Things took a mellower turn with a request for The Beatles Let It Be. A gentle sing-along brought this busy day to a peaceful conclusion.
