Posted by Nancy Mazonson

It was indeed an honor to be the charity partner of the Masterworks Chorale's Awareness Through Music outreach program at the fall concert at Sanders Theater in Cambridge last week. JF&CS Parkinson's Family Support was highlighted in the event's program book, featured at an information table in the lobby, and received an eloquent shout out by maestro Steven Karidoyanes as he welcomed the audience.

Parkinson's Family Support uses the power of music to heal on a weekly basis through our arts-based choral and dance programs. Our participants, who include people with Parkinson's disease and their care partners, value the opportunities these programs offer them to create a supportive community and a connection to others who understand.

The audience at the Sanders Theater was given the opportunity to experience what our participants experience each week. In the wake of the number of devastating tragedies the world has faced in recent days, Maestro Karidoyanes shared that he hoped to create a healing community within the theater that evening. With great emotion, he told the audience that the evening's program included a requiem by French composer Gabriel Faure and he felt it was an appropriate offering to help the audience reflect on and heal from the news of all the world's losses.

And I would agree. Spending the evening immersed in the glorious music of the orchestra and chorus in the presence of others was a transformative opportunity to be healed.

Nancy Mazonson, MS, OTR/L, has coordinated the Parkinson's Family Support program of JF&CS since its inception in September 2006. The program is a leading resource in the Boston area with its unique programs, including Parkinson's Dance, Adult Child and Care Partner support groups, and Tremble Clefs choral singing group. Prior to her work at JF&CS, Nancy worked extensively as an occupational therapist in inpatient and community-based rehabilitation settings, specializing in helping people with degenerative neurological conditions.