Strains of Ravel’s Bolero floated through the Ron Ball Studio while twelve participants beat an ostinato rhythm, firstly with claps and stamps and then with tambourines and tī rākau sticks, to the lilting tune. Earlier in the morning, they had been introduced to the different sounds that violins and timpani could make, and participant Bob had a go at giving an impromptu solo performance on the latter.

From the middle of October, CSO musicians have been working with people living with dementia in the Flourish programme, in conjunction with Dementia Canterbury. Each week, participants took part in different music-based activities in a comfortable and friendly environment where they could chat with each other and the musicians. One week, they played musical bingo and recreated Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 with chime bars, cor anglais, and a bass line. This week, they sang “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music and played the accompaniment to “Scotland the Brave” and “The Highlanders”.

First time participant Ross, who had been a pipe band major, immediately sang along to Scotland the Brave, having played it many times before. “I’m enjoying it very much,” he said. “I really like the singing.”

Neville and Barbara have been coming to Flourish since it started last year. Neville didn’t consider himself to be musical, but he had enjoyed music since he was a child. Having not been evacuated from London during the war and having no other children to play with, he ended up going to a lot of concerts.

“My favourite part is seeing my husband enjoying it,” Barbara said of the programme. There was always classical music playing in their home and they were both keen concert goers, but it was very enjoyable to be given instruments to play so they could join in. Neville’s favourite was the harp.

Barbara and Neville play ukulele chords to accompany Scotland the Brave and The Highlanders.

Studies have shown that people living with dementia benefited from music in a myriad of different ways. Listening to and playing music stimulates many different parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which forms new memories, retrieves older ones and regulates emotional responses, the cerebellum, which controls movement and muscle memory, and the right temporal lobe (the corresponding one on the left side of the brain is the part that processes sound and language). Some studies suggest that listening to music might promote neural regeneration in these parts of the brain.

Moreover, as a person's condition progresses, they may experience confusion and frustration over their communication difficulties. Music can soothe people, lower anxiety and phobias, and generate a general sense of wellbeing that continues even after the music has finished.

CSO Principal Timpani Mark La Roche shows Flourish participants his music scores.

At the end of the Flourish programme, all the participants and musicians will come together in a pre-Christmas celebration where they will play music together with their friends and whānau.

In 2021, Flourish will evolve into a bigger programme called Ignite, which will span 32 weeks.

For more information, please contact Community Engagement Assistant Selena Orwin at selena.orwin@cso.co.nz or on 03 943 7797 ext 2002