BRITTEN SINFONIA TAKES LIVE MUSIC TO PATIENTS AT NORFOLK & NORWICH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Britten Sinfonia will give a special performance at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) on Wednesday 2 September, celebrating the culmination of its first five-week Neurology Residency at the hospital, made possible thanks to funding from N & N Hospitals Charity.
An 11-piece Britten Sinfonia ensemble will perform in the hospital’s East Atrium at 1pm, with patients, families, staff and visitors invited to listen. The performance will include musical favourites that have emerged across the Neurology wards during the residency, alongside well-known classical pieces. This precedes a series of pop-up performances across the hospital, bringing live music to a wider range of patients, visitors and staff throughout the hospital.
The performance marks the close of Britten Sinfonia’s first five-week residency on the Neurology Ward at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, which took place throughout July and August. Led by composer and workshop facilitator Sam Glazer and Britten Sinfonia musicians Sarah O’Flynn (flute), Charlie Hodge (percussion) and Bridget Carey (viola), residency sessions were flexible and responsive to the needs of patients and the ward environment.
The musicians worked directly with patients, families and staff through live performance, listening, conversation, music-making, improvisation and creative interaction. The musicians also joined the Speech and Language Therapists’ existing morning singing group and a new rehabilitation session with Occupational Therapists. The latter saw musicians work alongside the therapists, who joined in with patients to explore movement and exercises designed to support their rehabilitation.
A patient from the Neurology ward commented: “I've been fortunate to attend two of the performance and participation sessions as hosted by Britten Sinfonia. Listening to beautiful music lifted my spirits and calmed my mind. I attended with my mother-in-law. She was a little wary when the percussion instruments came out for audience participation, but threw herself into it with characteristic vigour. At the end, she remarked that I had visibly relaxed as the session developed and that a group of strangers thrown together on a hospital ward were swapping stories and laughter.
These sessions are a treasured gift from the ensemble which has immediate and tangible benefits to patients and visitors during an often uncertain and challenging time.”
Project leader Sam Glazer said: “This has been a fantastic residency - we’ve been able to share some very special experiences with patients, staff and families. It’s a real privilege to be able to explore and witness how music and creativity can enhance and accent the powerful networks of care already present in a hospital environment. This is an incredibly specialised and challenging working environment with a high degree of unpredictability and I’d like to pay tribute to the wonderful Britten Sinfonia musicians who have thrown themselves whole-heartedly into the project.”
The Neurology Residency is part of Britten Sinfonia’s wider work bringing live music and creative engagement into healthcare settings, building on its established work at Cambridge University Hospitals’ Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Through these projects, Britten Sinfonia aims to create moments of connection, comfort and enjoyment for patients, families and staff, while exploring how live music can complement the hospital environment and rehabilitation activities.
The residency is made possible thanks to funding from Norfolk & Norwich Hospitals Charity, whose generous support has enabled Britten Sinfonia to bring the project to Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital and develop this meaningful partnership with the Neurology and AHP Teams.
