We want to wish all of our readers a Happy Purim and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Remember March is “Music in Our Schools Month” so start your day right by listening to Classical music which has the power to improve your mood, make you smarter, help you work faster with more accuracy, improves health and healing, grows healthier plants in fewer days, increases sales in stores, soothes your mind and prevents crime. If school cafeterias and school buses played Classical Music, the students would be calmer and more focused without violent tendencies.
If anyone has an experience they would like to share with our readers on the benefits of classical music please send it and we will include it in the April 2012 newsletter.
March’s article of the month: “Made in the USA” by Dr. Madeline Frank
http://ezinearticles.com/?Made-in-the-USA&id=6833952
For other articles by Dr. Madeline Frank click on the following link:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Madeline_Frank
Dr. Madeline Frank’s new book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget” is now available through amazon.com. Click on the following Amazon.com link to order your copy of “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget”
Madeline’s Musical One Minute Radio Show for March 2012
“Dr. Clarke Morton how does Classical music play a part of your life as a medical doctor and musician and what musical instrument do you play?”
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/madelines-one-minute-radio-show/
Who is Dr. Clarke Morton?
Dr. Clarke Morton is a medical doctor specializing in Emergency Medicine at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News, VA. He has worked there for the past ten years healing his patients and saving their lives. Dr. Morton is also a lifelong cellist and fish farmer. Dr. Morton’s passion for science, medicine and music has permeated his life.
Clarke Morton was born on December 15th 1966 to William and Constance Morton. Raised in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Malden, MA. He began playing the cello in 7th grade.
Clarke grew up in musical family. His grandmother played piano and they would have sing- a- longs during the holidays. His uncles Paul, George and John played the bass, drums and trumpet. His Uncle Paul influenced him the most. Originally, he wanted to play jazz bass, like his Uncle Paul, so he asked his junior high school music teacher in Malden, MA. In the 7th grade Clarke was 4’11” and too short to play a 6′ bass. His teacher, Mr. Valentino, thought it best he play the cello. Clarke fell in love with it! From then on he’s never stopped playing. Music was his first passion. He played in school orchestras in Boston and Los Angeles. In high school he played with Pacific Palisades high school, the Compton Youth Symphony and the LA combine orchestra. Joe Taylor was his music teacher in high school.
Clarke was an only child and his parents listened to rhythm and blues and pop. His grandmother took more of an interest in classical music. He lived with his grandma in high school. She took him to most his rehearsals and saw most of his concerts. She loved it!
Clarke Morton’s interest in science:
Clarke says “growing up in Washington D.C. in the 70’s had a lot to do with my interest in science. I participated in many a field trip to the Smithsonian. The Air and Space museum makes any boy want to be an astronaut. So, jets, rockets and Star Trek started my interest in science. Carl Sagan, Cosmos, Nova on WGBH Boston and Ms. Leibman, my 9th grade biology teacher really solidified my interest. Knowing I couldn’t fly front seat in a fighter jet with poor eye sight, biology became and still is my second passion.”
Clarke says “My step father is to blame for my love of medicine. He was a urologist and helped me focus for a career as a physician. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Dr. Clarke Morton’s favorite composers are Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. He says, “All three embody most classical music we know today.” At the University of California San Diego, Clarke Morton minored in music-chamber performance and studied cello with Peter Farrell and Michael Stale. He studied chamber music with Janos Negyesy and Bertram Turetsky. This was a great experience in Clarke’s music development. He performed solos with the Golterman Cello Concerto No. 4 and Saint Saens Cello Concert No. 1, the Haydn Cello Concert in D major and Bach Suite No. 2 Prelude.
His chamber performances included: Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ; Vivaldi Four Seasons ; G. Faure Dolly Suite for flute, Cello and Piano; and Beethoven’s Ghost Trio. Clarke enjoys chamber music the most, especially communicating with the other players.
After graduating at the top of his high school class at Pacific Palisades, CA in 1984 he attended the University of California San Diego for undergraduate and the University of California San Francisco for medical school. Clarke played in the UCSD Orchestra directed under Tom Knee and later played in the UCSF Community Orchestra while in medical school. He graduated medical school in 1993 and stayed in San Francisco for 2 years in internal medicine residency. During that time, emergency medicine grabbed Clarke’s interest. He felt it was a better fit for him, so he moved to Chicago in 1995 and completed his Emergency Medicine residency in 1998. Clarke became board certified in Emergency Medicine in 1999.
After moving back to California in 1999 he joined the Camellia Orchestra in Sacramento and played as a member of the Northern California Chamber Music Society. After he move to Virginia in 2002, he played with York River Symphony Orchestra and later played with the Old Dominion University Orchestra for a year and continues to play with the Frank Chamber Orchestra .
“Patients Dance to Push Back Symptoms of Parkinson’s” (Jan. 31, 2012) by Laura Archazki-Pacter from the Naples News.com . “Once a week, patients come together and dance together to tunes from Broadway jazz hits to show tunes, while smiling and laughing together. The whole program was modeled after the Mark Morris Dance Company in New York, and I was trained by them,” explained Isabel Castro, a certified dance instructor, who teaches dance classes free of charge to those who sign up at the Fitness for Life Center, in the Shops of Hidden Lakes in Bonita Springs. “We are sitting in the chair at first, and then we tap our feet, and we do improv moves, and then we stand and do ballet techniques, and then tap while standing. Toward the end of the class, we do partner dancing, and Zydeco dancing, which is a form of dance from Louisiana.”
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jan/31/patients-dance-push-back-symptoms-parkinsons-disea/
“Music Therapy Helps Patients Find Voice” (Jan. 31, 2012) by Kristen Bieyro from the Ticker. Music is a powerful tool to help patients recover from different illnesses. Music helps “patients regain control when learning to walk again.” There are “new case studies” showing “a recent development in restoring speech through music.” Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who after being shot in the head by a deranged gunman last year,” has “undertaken intense speech therapy” through music to regain her speech. She sings “simple songs, such as “Happy Birthday” to regain her speaking ability. Part of the therapy included working backwards on the songs, with her therapist beginning the tune and Giffords finishing. As the therapy progressed, Giffords was eventually able to sing the song in its entirety.”
Lee Anna Rasar, a musical therapist at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire says, “One theory is that music is able to short-circuit the damaged area through repetition. It creates a new pathway in and people can then use that pathway out.”
http://www.theticker.org/mobile/about/2.8220/music-therapy-helps-patients-find-voice-1.2692665
“Senior Community Uses Music of Different Eras to Benefit Their Residents” (Jan. 30, 2012) by Alan Caldwell from the AnnArbor.com. “Tanum Ollila, a representative from Brookdale Place, spoke about the importance of music for “connect with seniors.” She says, “Music is one of the first things we hear, and one of the last things to go. Listening to music from their era helps the elderly in some many ways —emotionally, physically, spiritually and even intellectually. Music is particularly beneficial to those with dementia including Alzheimer’s disease. It can provide useful non-verbal cues to encourage positive behaviors. The sounds have a significant calming influence on those that are agitated or anxious. We all know how music can have a positive influence on our mood.”
“Community Orchestra Makes A Healthy Dose Of Music” ( Jan. 28, 2012) by Serri Graslie from NPR Music. Every week “a lawyer, a doctor and an engineer walk into an orchestra rehearsal” for “the National Institutes of Health Community Orchestra. The volunteer group draws its members from all over Washington, D.C., and is a creative outlet for government and private sector employees alike. NPR’s Serri Graslie is a member of the group and has an audio postcard from their latest concert.” Click on the link below to her the audio:
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/28/146034504/community-orchestra-makes-a-healthy-dose-of-music
“Piano Man Spreads Joy Through His Music Therapy: When Leukemia Patient Shares Talent, Hospital’s Halls Are Alive With the Sound of Music” (Jan. 28, 2012) by Maria Rose Williams from theKansas City Star. “As Dan DeLuca’s fingers bounced across the keys of his electric piano, the IV leaking chemotherapy medicine into his body danced against the floor of his hospital room. DeLuca, a leukemia patient, rocked and bobbed his bald head to the sounds of Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek,” smiling as he played. A hospital social worker who was visiting his room Friday afternoon also smiled, as did the nurses who scurried in and out of patient rooms on the eighth floor of the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Since DeLuca, a 69-year-old Kansas City musician, came to the unit for a five-week stay, music has filled its corridors.”
Kelly Artis, the social worker says, “His playing is infectious throughout this hospital. It’s enjoyable, and it’s inspiring. She and the nurses said they can’t remember ever having music like DeLuca’s drifting through the halls every day. On several days, the music lured patients, visitors and members of the hospital staff to congregate outside his room and listen to him play.” DeLuca says, “I’m a spiritual person. I think music is the pipeline to the spiritual. I combined the music in my life with the spiritual in my life. I think it’s going to keep me alive a little longer.”
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/28/3396420/piano-man-spreads-joy-through.html
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. S teaches 7th grade Math at Davis Middle School in Hampton, VA.: “Students perform better on tests and quizzes while listening to Mozart Symphonies in the background.”
Mrs. C’s high school math class in Colorado: “The students asked for music in class. I told them I would play only Mozart. At first they objected but soon decided they liked the music, because it made them feel better and able to focus more on their lessons. Consequently, not only did the grades get better, so did the discipline. Then the students began requesting Mozart.”
Mrs. G had her fifth grade students listening to classical music, played softly, while the children did creative writing assignments and when they did problem solving in math. It created a calm atmosphere conducive to problem solving and creative thinking as well as an appreciation of music that they might not have experienced. The results were so good that she incorporated this into her teaching for the last five years of her teaching career.
Mrs. JC had her fourth grade reading class of 22 students, listening to Mozart and other classical music during class for the entire school year .The children have consistently made 100’s on tests and work. These are just average students not exceptional.
Mrs. J has 4 children, ages 19, 16, 12 and 8 who have been listening to Mozart and other classical music while doing their homework after school since March 05. She has seen them become more focused and relaxed, finishing homework quicker, with more accuracy which has led to higher grades.
Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia is using classical music in halls and class rooms with very good success. “Classical Music Plays at Norfolk School”
For more scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children read “The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click on the link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/the-secret-of-teaching-science-and-math-through-music/
“Musical Notes On Math” by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award. For more information click on the following link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/musical-notes-on-math/
For Tips on how to use “Musical Notes On Math” click on the following link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/pg47.pdf