The Cult has just released its first new full-length album in five years, “Choice of Weapon.The Fort Wayne Philharmonic and IPFW are teaming up for a first-of-its-kind study that will examine the effect, if any, that music has on Parkinson’s disease.
The study will be conducted over the course of three concerts that will happen Jan. 16, Feb. 13 and March 6 at IPFW’s Rhinehart Recital Hall, says Pamela Kelly, physician and Philharmonic board member.
The concert series, which features three of the orchestra’s top ensembles, has been dubbed “Music as Medicine.”
The study grew out of a comment made by Philharmonic chorus member Russ Eplett.
Eplett suffers from Parkinson’s and he mentioned that music calms his symptoms, Kelly says.
Music therapy has proved effective in many psychological, emotional and physical situations, but its effect on Parkinson’s has never been studied, Kelly says.
She calls these concerts “a starting point.”
“There are so many factors that can affect the outcome,” she says. “Russ has a particular interest in music. That’s a passion for him. For someone else, maybe golf is a passion. Maybe golf makes their tremors go away.”
Then again, perhaps music offers unique therapeutic benefits for all Parkinson’s sufferers, she says.
That is what this study will try to show.
Kelly and Nancy Jackson, director of music therapy at IPFW, recruited participants for the study from a local Parkinson’s support group.
Participants will fill out three simple questionnaires per concert, Kelly says – one before, one during and one after.
Kelly says organizers are still looking for more participants.
Anyone with Parkinson’s who would like to be involved in the study should call Christy Sandmaier, the Philharmonic’s director of development and marketing, at 481-0776.
The concerts are free and open to the general public.
Kelly says the results of this study, and any studies that grow out of it, may ultimately be published in a medical journal.
