GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.—In a darkened hospital room, six members of the Holistic Harmony Transitional Chorus surround the bed of a Valley View Hospital hospice co-worker. She is dying of leukemia. The chorus holds hands, touches her gently, and begins softly singing traditional and spiritual music, unaccompanied, to relax and soothe her in her final hours.
Singing is difficult for two chorus members who have worked with her. The intensity of the singing, and the immediate situation, multiplies the emotional impact. Other chorus members sense the difficulty, and become stronger for their counterparts.
The dying woman manages a sweet smile and whispers, “That was beautiful,” as they finish.
Last November, Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Sean Jeung gave Director of Holistic Harmony Lesa Russo a video to watch of an Eastern U.S. hospice chorus, which specifically sings for dying patients. Russo saw no reason why a local group couldn’t do the same thing. She put an announcement in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, “Calling all Angels,” and through the response, the Holistic Harmony Transitional Chorus was formed.
The group practices in the Valley View Hospital lobby Wednesday evenings. Of the six people who attended the practice in early April, only one had previously sung in a choir or chorus. Others did have musical experience. All are like-minded with the intention of providing a special gift for those who are ready to let go and relieve their suffering.
Singing in a group to a person who is dying is not the same as singing in a concert or in other situations. Along with profound respect for the individual and the situation, the type of music, volume, and attention to every detail lend to the awareness of the patient’s needs.
They pay special attention to the types of music chosen. Each phrase of the song is practiced repeatedly to make the harmonies pure and beautiful. Over and over they practice rounds of Navajo and Native American chants, a Quaker song, and hymns.
They are always learning new songs, such as “Down to the River to Pray,” from the movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
At the beginning and end of all practices, each member has time to speak without interruption to connect with other members. It’s important these volunteers express whatever might be on their minds and their hearts.
“Our days are filled with emotion,” said Russo. “We have to be a strong supportive group for each other. After singing to a patient, it helps to debrief, because it can be emotionally taxing. We have grown to become a close community in ourselves, even in our newness.”
Jeung said enthusiastically, “I look forward to this. It is such an emotional B-12 shot.”
The group’s youngest member is Yampah Mountain High School senior Kara Gipson of No Name, who has a strong, high harmonic voice.
“I think it’s meaningful and useful work, and my mother was a hospice nurse,” Gipson said.
Others in the chorus said she joined because the announcement called for angels, and she has an angelic voice.
The group would like to increase its core to 10 to 15 members who consistently attend to have a larger roster to call upon when the chorus is needed.
When a patient is in the final stage, at peace with it, and working hard to stay in that place to transition to the next stage, the group doesn’t want to awaken the patient but rather help him or her peacefully continue their journey. The chorus chooses simple songs, and sometimes songs are sung in a different language for this purpose. Everything is done so the patient feels support and knows they are not dying alone.
“The chorus is invited into someone’s sacred space,” Russo said. “Death is very individual and personal. Our purpose is to come to the bedside of the dying, surround them in love, and quietly provide the gift of warmth and song to ease their transition. Our purpose is not to entertain.
“The chorus does sing to patients in the hospital, but we will go to someone’s home or a nursing home if the patient wants,” Russo said. “We’ll find out what’s going on, the atmosphere the patient is in, what stage the patient is in, and what kinds of music the patient prefers.”
Patients are not expected to open their eyes, applaud or anything else during this special time. They just rest and absorb. A change of breathing or a softening of the muscles in the face is often observed.
The chorus’ work is for the families, as much as for the dying. Family members watching a loved one die are often trying to hold back their grief. When the chorus sings for their relative or friend, feelings can come to the surface, and they can talk about what’s happening.
Once a loved one has died, families often feel the comfort of having provided something beautiful at the end. It eases their sorrow, and patients’ families are thankful for the program.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said a family member of a hospice patient who had the chorus sing for her. “She was immediately in peace during the music, and she looks forward to it, no matter how much pain she is in.”
“People take it into their hearts,” the relative said.
