This October, Melanie DeMore, three-time Grammy-nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director and vocal activist, will bring her voice to Colorado Springs to demonstrate how music has the power to hold and heal us.
Voices of Grief Support and Education Center presents “A Community Gathering of Song and Healing,” on October 9 with an invitation to the community to sing together, playfully transforming our grief with compassion, art, music, drumming and dance.
Music has a unique ability to inspire healing and Melanie DeMore knows just how to deliver. Her energy is invigorating – she goes about as deeply as a singer and musician can, touching people in ways so heartfelt that they remain transformed by the experience. “A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you,” says Ms. DeMore.
The event is sponsored in part by the UCCS Health Circle Aging Center, the UCCS Gerontology Center and the UCCS Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience.
Upcoming Events:
Monday, Oct. 9, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Ent Center for the Arts: A Community Celebration of Song and Healing. Tickets may be purchased for $15. Doors open at 5 p.m. with art therapy exhibits on display.
Tuesday, Oct. 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Ent Center for the Arts: A Day for Professional Care Providers. Tickets may be purchased for $35. This special event will again feature Melanie DeMore as she works with professionals, exploring how the arts, music, and dance inform work with depression, grief, Alzheimer’s and behavioral health. Melanie will share the stage with a Healing Arts Panel including Judith Piazza, music therapist; Kat Tudor, artist, teacher, healer; Jane Rigler, flute and interdisciplinary arts; Rachel Weiskittle, UCCS professor and art therapist; Natalie Johnson, Director of the Manitou Arts Theater. Art exhibits will be open in the lobby from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
All are welcome to these events regardless of ability to pay. To request a scholarship, please email [email protected].
“People are searching for compassion and community, especially after the pandemic,” says Kathy Sparnins, Executive Director of the Voices of Grief Support and Education Center. “We see so many people struggling to cope with different forms of loss and music gives us an outlet to bring our pain from the inside to the outside, connecting us to one another. Music opens our hearts to a deeper sense of joy.”
Presenting sponsors for A Community Gathering of Song and Healing include: UCCS Health Circle Aging Center, UCCS Gerontology Center, UCCS Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience, Smokebrush Foundation for the Arts, The Springs Funeral Services, Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care.
About Voices of Grief Support and Education Center
Voices of Grief Support and Education Center facilitates grief support groups in El Paso and Teller counties. Their mission is to create supportive spaces to honor the natural process of grief and to educate our community in healthy expressions of grief and mourning. For more information go to www.voicesofgriefcenter.org or call 719-659-0447.