HEALING MUSIC and HEARTS/CARE
Chic is a great believer in the healing power of music… the power to heal the spirit, transform emotions, bridge cultural and social divides, and inspire hope. ﾠHe has had the great privilege of bringing joy and relief to individuals all over the world who are in need of special heartfelt caring. With his HEARTS/CARE program, he continually seeks to expand his presence in this area through personal involvement and through a network of dedicated caring artists and musicians.
As Chic explains it, “My desire with HEARTS/CARE is to build on the concept of arts in healing. I saw the two worlds of psychology and music overlap while I was working as a psychodramatist at Community Hospital in Monterey, CA. Time and time again I heard doctors, patients and staff comment ‘The best therapy we get around here is when Chic brings his guitar to work,’ as if music were an emotional magnet drawing tensions out of the body long enough for it to heal.
Since then I’ve been able to take that concept to many different venues. At my school of performing arts in Santa Barbara, CA, students regularly performed for senior citizens centers, hospitals, juvenile halls, psychiatric institutions, and more. One year I orchestrated a tour with musicians to Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. We dressed up as bugs and called it Christmas in Bugland. We brought guitars, shakers, harmonicas and violins. It was a wonderful way to bring joy and relief to the children. And the musicians had a blast! This is a special work, and I thoroughly believe in it.”
After performing for the brain injury facility at L’ile de La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, Chic visits with the family of a young boy in Annecy, France suffering from similar brain trauma.
Chic at Johns Hopkins for its Art of Healing Performing Arts Series. Cancer survivor and patient Angela Rock brought the croud to its feet as she joined Chic in singing “Stand by Me.”