Medical Music Project

A Girl Scout Gold Award Project by Caroline McGahren

In conjunctinon with the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center Volunteer Services

Part of the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center" is abbreviated "ECCCC" throughout the site.

Purpose

The purpose of this website is to encourage musicians in the Charlottesville area to share their music at the Emily Couric Cancer Center, and to inform them of the benefits of sharing music in the Emily Couric Cancer Center and the greater Charlottesville community.

The Performance Space

The Emily Couric Cancer Center provides a well-tuned grand piano on the second floor of the building. The piano is located in an open space off of a passageway to the infusion center, and sits on a balcony that opens up to the floor below. The piano can be heard on both the first and second floors, with music drifting into two major waiting areas for patients and families.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Caroline McGahren, and I am a pianist and Girl Scout from Charlottesville, Virginia. I completed this website in 2019 before beginning my undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. The Medical Music Project is my Girl Scout Gold Award Project, and ties together my love of music and passion for service.

Musician Bios

The following musicians, professionals, professors, students, and entrepreneurs contributed their expertise to this website, and are referenced throughout the entire site.

Kate Tamarkin

Kate Tamarkin is currently the Music Director Laureate of the Charlottesville Symphony, a certified therapeutic musician and Certified Music Practitioner, and Musician in Residence in the University of Virginia Health System.

She has been Music Director of the Monterey Symphony (CA), Vermont Symphony, East Texas Symphony, and the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra (WI). She was also the Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony under the late Eduardo Mata.

Learn more on her webpage for Therapeutic Musicians of the Blue Ridge HERE!

(Image and bio from UVA McIntire Department of Music)

Heather Hightower

Heather Hightower is a local voice instructor and the founder and owner of the Center for Vocal Study in Charlottesville, VA. She is a graduate of UVA ’03 with a B.A. Music Voice/Choral Conducting.

(Image and bio from Center for Vocal Study)

Michael Slon

Michael Slon is the Director of Choral Music and Associate Professor at the University of Virginia, where he conducts the University Singers, UVA Chamber Singers and also guest conducts the Charlottesville Symphony.

(Image and bio from https://music.virginia.edu/people/profile/mslon)

Todd Frazier

Jefferson Todd Frazier is the director of the system center for Performing Arts Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital. He is also a professional composer, and an active non-profit arts leader in Houston.

(Image and bio from University of Houston)

Travis Lively

Travis Lively received his degree in Music at Berklee College of Music in Boston with a concentration in Music Therapy, is the manager of the Virginia Glee Club, and works on the administrative staff of the Center for Vocal Study in Charlottesville, VA.

(Bio from Center for Vocal Study)

Grant Frazier

Grant Frazier is the Founder and Program Director of Harmonies for Healing, a group of volunteer musicians in the UVA Health System.

(Image and bio from The Cavalier Daily)

Jeanne Jackson

Jeanne Wonderly Jackson teaches elementary through advanced students at her piano studio in Crozet, Virginia. In addition to a long teaching career and positions of leadership in professional music organizations, Jeanne has a white belt in Nia, a dance form that uses a variety of disciplines to move the body in a natural, easeful way in response to music. She has found this training invaluable in her work with her students.

My Mission

My personal connection with the Emily Couric Cancer Center combined with my passion for live music inspired me to pursue this project. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, and was treated at the ECCCC beginning in July 2016 through May 2017. She noted that while she received sixteen rounds of chemotherapy at the ECCCC, she never heard the piano in the lobby played. Additionally, my mother commented that listening to my daily piano practice encouraged her and distracted her from the fatigue she felt from chemotherapy. Her observations inspired me to make efforts to promote music performance in the ECCCC, so those affected by cancer may benefit from the presence of live music in their healing and caregiving environment.

About the Girl Scout Gold Award Project

The Girl Scout Gold Award Project is a service project completed by Senior Girl Scouts (scouts in high school). Gold Award Projects are conducted individually, and must be completed in a minimum of 80 hours. The Gold Award Project identifies a global issue present in a scout's community, and a scout's project must be sustainable, and make a lasting difference in the local community, while linking to greater national and/or global issues.

For more information on the Girl Scout Gold Award Project and requirements, please visit the following:

Official Girl Scout Website Gold Award Page: https://www.girlscouts.org/en/our-program/highest-awards/gold-award.html
The Girl Scout Gold Award–Adult Volunteer Guide: https://www.girlscouts.org/content/dam/girlscouts-gsusa/forms-and-documents/our-program/Gold%20Award/gold-adults_01.pdf