Maine Studies

Two Maine music therapists will present the results of their pandemic-related workshops. The talks are part of the Jack Pine Project, a community arts project organized by the Maine Folklife Center, Maine Studies Program and the UMaine Hutchinson Center.

The talk, presented via Zoom on Friday, April 16th at 7:00 pm, will feature music therapists Carla Tanguay and Kate Beever, who conducted separate workshops that taught non-musicians how to express their thoughts and feelings about the Covid pandemic through songs. Both will present the songs created during their workshops and talk about the process involved, as well as what their students said about the project.

Carla Tanguay recruited participants through the Beth Wright Cancer Center in Ellsworth to highlight the experiences of people already facing a life-threatening illness, and explore how COVID-19 was impacting their lives. The song they created, “So This is COVID,” adapted a traditional folk tune to talk about their individual and shared experiences of the past year. Carla will also discuss how songwriting can be used with people who don’t consider themselves musicians to build community, discover strengths and overcome fear.

Kate Beever worked with individuals who had recently lost their jobs or experienced other financial impacts as a result of COVID-19. Her students focused their songs on the pandemic’s effects on their personal and family lives, and on “normal” rituals like Christmas that were anything but normal last year. Beever will also talk about the inspiration for her own hopeful song, “Look Up,” inspired by a dream of her late grandfather, a Portland-area musician.

The talk, from 7:00-8:30 pm on Friday, April 16th, will be by Zoom and is open to the public.

To register, please fill out the form below.