Music, Performance, and Mental Health

Music, Performance, and Mental Health

While making music is a free and accessible skill for oneself in their own home, it can quickly run into funding and support barriers when organizing larger groups in many parts of our country. These barriers can negatively impact mental health for students of all ages and lead to further feelings of abandonment and lacking resources. As a Mental Health Outreach Coordinator with the National Health Corps Community Health Fellowship, I hope to help support the local community groups to find the equipment and training to support their music mission and thus help expand the mental health benefits built upon group performance.

The Imperial Dynasty Arts Program is a Wilmington-based non-profit that looks to provide community health outreach through art-focused engagement and educational programming. Going back to its roots as a community drum line and drill team, IDAP has always sought to provide music as an outlet for the underserved and underrepresented population in Wilmington, Delaware and the immediate surroundings. A nationally performing and competing indoor percussion ensemble is the high-profile face of the program, but the wider program has outreach into local schools and community centers through both active members and alumni. I provide support to the Director with our community programs outreach, helping to coordinate both the instruments and the educational materials as tools for mental health promotion.

Barriers can be found anywhere from the neighborhood community center to the local middle or high school where students who find comfort in music often are without the tools or instruction that can help foster their creativity. For some students band can be the only place they feel comfort or find an outlet for escape from the pressures of life. Creativity in music can lead to confidence in oneself and a feeling of belonging when performed in groups. Even public schools have large deficits with the tools and equipment available via standard budgeting means, putting a reliance on the educators and parents to try to close the gap. With ever-increasing costs associated with purchasing new equipment as well as maintaining or repairing older equipment pressed into service beyond its designed lifespan, this support and assistance is a welcome addition to these music programs.

One recent project addition to our community outreach programming is support of the local technical schools in their expansion of extra-curricular activities. With a focus on technical and vocational skills-building, the local schools had shifted away from arts offerings during the school day. While many students find vocational training as a means to create a future career, a lack of extra-curricular outlets outside of sports leaves many students sitting in study halls with little to do. We have been working with the administration to fund and secure equipment within their budgets, as well as how to maintain any older equipment they have on-hand. Over the summer we expect to help facilitate the delivery and setup of the new drums, allowing a boost to the back-to-school experience for the students who have previously not had band or music classes since elementary school. Previous first-day experiences of this sort have featured lots of smiles and excitement at the sight of new drums and endless possibilities for group bonding through music, a highlight during a school day filled with instruction and hard work.

I have valued my time spent attached to these types of projects with IDAP. Seeing something as small as a new pair of drum sticks handed to a student who has been handed second-hand school equipment for their middle and high school careers can change their outlook for the day and potentially for the rest of their school year. Understanding that for the student, they can now come to school every day knowing they can play their own drum and help to build with the drum line as a full sound contributing one part to many. Sharing a love of music with a group of students I’ve never met is a great common ground to build from and has led to a greater understanding of the mutual learning between educator and student from different backgrounds.

Thank you for being a part of our audience as we seek to expand music as a tool for mental health reform and for your support of programs like National Health Corps and its fellowship hosts like the Imperial Dynasty Arts Program. NHC and IDAP share a love of local support, both giving and receiving, and hope to continue to generate the conversations and discussions that help a community look internal both for areas of need and sources of support.