Music Works Northwest Programs
Three of our programs that align with our mission and stated need are: ·
- Music Therapy
- Music and Technology
- Outreach Public School Initiative
Music Works Northwest music therapy program would like to expand its services to the community. Through the medium of music, our Music Therapist works with clients to achieve non-musical goals. Professional music therapy involves a comprehensive assessment of emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities and cognitive skills through musical responses. Children and adults of every chronological age, mental age and adaptive level of functioning can benefit from music therapy. At MWNW we take pride in focusing on the individual needs and strengths of the client whether they come to us with challenges due to autism, Parkinson’s, Downs Syndrome, developmental delays or any other barrier.
Expanding our music therapy department creates a larger resource for the greater Eastside area. This will help our clients with disabilities and their families because it gives them accessible music experiences through the use of specially adapted instruments and technology. These benefits are widespread because they will effect our community two-fold. One is the experiences our clients receive help them function as better partners with the community in which they live. The other is we serve as a resource to the community at large regarding music therapy through in-services, outreach, and as a practicum program.
In the ten years that our music therapy program has been in operation, we have touched the lives of hundreds of clients. We have maintained our music therapy classroom and equipment, but due to steady use, many of our instruments are in need of repair or replacement. We are in strong need of replacing specialized instruments such as Orff instruments, adaptive type mallets, specialized drums, and keyboards. These are needed to provide our Music Therapist with multi-purpose tools that are adaptable based on our clients’ needs. In addition to new equipment, we would like to acquire a laptop computer and music specific software. Technology has proven to be an amazing tool for people to create music who would otherwise have difficulty doing so. A laptop would also facilitate our ability to share the benefits of music therapy during presentations and other similar events.
This May MWNW launched a “Music and Technology” Studio to offer new programs for students interested in the cutting edge of digital audio recordings and computer aided composition. Over the past 15 years the music industry has changed drastically allowing artists to create, state of the art, recordings, at home, for a modest budget. With such changes in the musical field, MWNW feels the strong demand of music education in such courses that are relevant to the needs of the community.
The educational goal of this studio is to offer state of the art digital audio workstations where students will have the options to take classes in composition, recording, editing, and other music technology applications. Our current programs offer 3 workstations where it is only possible to have a class of 6. With the augmentation of equipment MWNW is able to offer classes to larger groups (up to 12 per class), with more frequency, as well as tailor classes to smaller groups that allow for more individualized and independent instruction.
In this past year we launched our Public School Music Initiative to enhance our ability to provide free outreach programs to local schools. Through this initiative, we sent Music Works Faculty into public schools to teach fundamentals to struggling band programs. Through volunteer and careful management we assisted band, orchestra, and choir classes reaching approximately 3,000 students in the elementary and middle schools of our community. We continue to develop this program extending further attention into our community by reaching more elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and private schools. This is a tangible community service; it helps us understand the needs of partner schools, provides our faculty with much needed daytime work, and gives the organization opportunities to network with students and educators in our region who might not know about our programming.
Two years from now, we would like to serve over 10,000 students each year through our Public School Music Initiative. Because this initiative facilitates ways for us to support school programs, learn from music educators, and reach students who might not ever get a chance to work with a professional private instructor. We would like to develop partnerships that are solid relationships with the educators and institutions that we involve. We would like to strengthen the musical growth of the students that are involved in our in-school initiative by offering more than once a year visits. We want to expand our outreach program to increase a larger footprint and assist more high schools, preschools and private schools in the surrounding communities as well as to include artist in residence projects. Such projects a Fred Hoadley’s Afro-Cuban Music arrangement for orchestra and Ted Hedvic performing his newly published piece for saxophone and concert band.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Music Works Northwest is still the only facility offering music therapy outside of a clinical setting in the state of Washington. Our greatest accomplishment this year has been in our Music Therapy Program. Music Therapy developed a partnership with Evergreen Hospital for the NeuroRehab at Evergreen's DeYoung Pavilion. This group addresses the needs for people with Parkinson's, MS and other neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to this wonderful partnership we were able to offer tuition assistance, donate services as an item for charitable auctions, and we added a summer social skills program through a music camp. We are working on a pilot study to offer uncompensated music therapy services in a local public school district in a developmental preschool setting. We also developed a Music Therapy manager position. This is a part-time management and part-time faculty position. This position helps with the development of more programming opportunities in which it will create more room for additional services and therapists. Because of this new development we are now able to increase our services from 4 days per week to 6 days per week. Our program began serving over 20 clients per week and has grown to 81 clients per week. We have benefitted over 165 individuals each year through our direct services, outreach, and our partnership with Seattle Pacific University as a practicum.
We need to increase accessibility of services for that needing tuition assistance. Currently our funding for music therapy services comes about through private pay. At this time, no third party payments, such as insurance or state assistance, are received. Because of budget cuts, state funding has decreased for those who had assistance through Developmental Disabilities. During a typical school year of music therapy sessions, running for 39 weeks, one client pays $1560 - $3,120 for services, depending on the length of their session. For those who continue in the summer session, an extra $400 -$800 is paid. Families who provide for their children or grown adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities are often paying for several services outside of music therapy as well and are strapped financially. Yet these families feel strongly that music therapy is beneficial for their family member and work to provide it for the member who needs the service.
As well MWNW would like to increase accessibility of services for prospective clients by offering services offsite, at locations such as hospitals, schools, nursing homes, crisis centers, and teen centers. We want to identify target agencies working with prospective populations in need of music therapy services, disseminate information about music therapy regarding those populations to those agencies, offer an in-service to those agencies, set up a pilot program within those agencies interested.
MWNW is passionate about music education and we would like to make sure we can extend our services to families in need as well as bring awareness of such therapy to many other agencies that can benefit from our services.