The Radical Connections of Music and Wellness

Pianist Laura Loewen, music student Matthias Mark-George, and Tenor Colin Ainsworth

The Radical Connections of Music and Wellness: Bringing yourself fully to music making

Die Schöne Müllerin Wellness Project

by Dr. Carol Wiebe, Executive Director

In early November, I was privileged to be part of two amazing wellness workshops for music students. For me, they affirmed both the power of intersectoral work in arts and health, as well as the importance of building community. Over three days, first at uOttawa, then at Laurier University, we explored Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin song cycle through a health and wellness lens, ending with a shared performance of the song cycle. Together with colleagues Laura Loewen (collaborative pianist), Colin Ainsworth (tenor), Danna McDonald (counsellor), and voice and piano students from the two universities, we delved into the process of creating a healthy relationship between the performer and character, we shared practicing and performance insights that foreground selfcare, and then we brought those learnings into a moving performance of the song cycle featuring both student and professional performers.

Planning the workshops was fun, creative, and a little scary. This was a unique concept: who bases a wellness workshop on a song cycle that ends with a peaceful suicide? For those less familiar with the cycle, it starts with a naive young Miller, setting off into the world to find his adventure. He gets a job, falls in completely unrequited love, then spirals into isolation, with the babbling brook his only confidante. The song cycle ends with his suicide by drowning while the brook sings him a lullaby. As Colin, Laura, and I started the planning, it became increasingly apparent that we would need to ensure mental health supports were available, both during the workshops and after we left the universities. Danna, a University of Manitoba counsellor with designated time for music students, was invited to join us. With her experience and self-compassion focus, she was invaluable to the success of these first two workshops. We also reinforced that both uOttawa and Laurier had counselling services readily available for students.

Counsellor Danna McDonald and Dr. Carol Wiebe

The power of combining music-making with wellness was evident through the three days, both in Ottawa and Waterloo. We were prepared for some ‘aha‘ moments and improvements in performances, with students learning from the coaching and wellness tools. What we observed in both locations were radical transformations: people responding to both the music and the support they felt from the facilitators, their instructors, and each other, allowing them to be vulnerable, playful, and compassionate with themselves, each other, and the Miller in the song cycle.

The final performances still resonate with me. All the performers took us on the Miller’s journey, reaching deep to let their voices, faces and bodies resonate with the joy, the obsession, the despair, and eventual peace of the Miller. Participants trusted their detailed, often playful preparations, and let the importance of honouring the music and the Miller over-ride their anxieties and self-awareness. As facilitators, we were inspired by the astoundingly rapid growth in the remarkable individuals we had the pleasure to work with over three days. Witnessing that impact energizes me to continue community-building with intersectoral work in the arts and health.