Every Friday, a group of people living with dementia, along with the family and friends supporting them, come together for an afternoon of singing and socialising in suburban Melbourne, and online.
Singing in a choir has been shown to have enormous benefits, filling our bodies with feel-good neurochemicals and increasing social connections. This transient positive feeling remains.
"Friday afternoons are sacrosanct," says choir member Maria Radford.
"When you have someone in your life with dementia, you can be isolated as not everyone understands. [The choir] is welcoming and understanding of where you're coming from," says another member Sue Mountain.
For Maria, it doesn't matter if she has had a hard week: "Choir is a happy place."
The experiment that became permanent
The Rewire Musical Memories Choirs began as part of a research project through Melbourne University and Austin Health. The project found choir singing can provide important benefits for people living with dementia and their family and friends who support them.
The choir was only supposed to run for 20 weeks, but the singers refused to let it stop. Members of the choir raised money and set up philanthropic donations to continue the project. Eight years later, founding members are still singing together.
Registered music therapist Zara Thompson, a long-time researcher on inclusive choir singing, has conducted the choir since June 2017.
"When you're singing, you don't have to explain things, and you're with people who understand what it is that you're going through," Zara said, in an earlier conversation with ABC Classic.
Providing critical support for members
Singing was always part of Maria and Tony Radford's lives.
The couple first met in a choir. Tony had dementia and the couple heard about Rewire Musical Memories Choirs through a family member.
Maria says that singing with Rewire was hugely beneficial to her husband, connecting him to the music which he loved throughout his illness. Even though Tony died several years ago, Maria says the choir is a very important part of her life.
Loading...When founding choir member Sue Mountain's mum was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, her mum's doctor mentioned the research that was being conducted into group singing for dementia patients.
Sue's mum was a professional singer, who had been a runner up in the prestigious Sun Aria vocal competition in the 1950s. Thanks to her mum, Sue always had music in her life.
"Mum could have been difficult getting ready of a morning," Sue recalls, "but if I said we were going to choir, it was all systems go. It set us up for the rest of the week."
According to Sue, the choir has an enormous list of around 400 favourite songs chosen by members. "We know most of them, and we generally learn by listening and repeating lines after [music therapist] Zara," she says.
Reflecting the choir's growing memberships, the list also include songs in other languages.
Sue says the choir learnt a Croatian song that was shared by one of the singers. "We recorded the song as part of a virtual choir. So that led to our choir performing internationally," she says.
Sue and her mum attended the Rewire Musical Memories Choirs until a year ago when Sue's mum couldn't continue. After her mum died, Sue decided to continue being a part of the choir because of the friendship, support and music she has found through the group.
Gwladys (Gwlad) McLachlan, who has an Alzheimer's diagnosis, says choir is a really happy place and she just loves going:
"Everyone comes with a carer, and you don't know who's got the dementia and who is the carer."
"When you sing, it just makes you feel good", Gwlad says, bursting into a few bars of Wonthaggi, a 1930s ballad which reminds Gwlad of the regional Victorian town where she grew up.
Believing in the strengths of members
"The guiding principles behind the network of Rewire Musical Memories Choirs … is that we believe in the inherent strengths of the members," Zara says.
"We acknowledge that music plays an important part in our lives, so we work with music that is relevant to participants, is familiar, and has a special place in their hearts."
Choir rehearsals start with warm-up exercises to engage singers' body and mind, followed by singing those familiar songs from the list.
"We always finish with a song called Go Now In Peace," Zara says.
And there's one final treat for all the choir members. "Afternoon tea is one of the most important parts of our choir," she says.
Loading...Sharing knowledge and support with each other is an integral part of Rewire Musical Memories Choirs.
"Sue and Maria run the show, I just wave my arms," Zara admits. "Gwlad plays the harmonica and piano accordion, Sue's husband plays piano."
Maria and Sue encourage anyone with a dementia diagnosis to find a dementia-inclusive choir near them and come along.
"As well as having a wonderful time singing, you will always make lifelong friends there," Sue says.
"The good thing about being in a group is the sound blends together," Zara says. "You don't have to be musical to join, you can just come along and try and you'll be fine."
The ABC is partnering with International Day of People with Disability to recognise the contributions and achievements of the 4.4 million Australians with disability.