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Organ Music Accompanies COVID-19 Vaccinations at Salisbury Cathedral

Organ Music Accompanies COVID-19 Vaccinations at Salisbury Cathedral

As the we continue to move into the beginning of the year, people are slowly queuing up as various COVID-19 vaccinations become available. We’ve recently seen images and videos of seniors or healthcare workers standing in line for hours as they wait with anticipation to get that long-awaited dose of, “a step forward towards normalcy.” In one particular instance, an anxious air of silence does not persist as a group of people stand in wait. Instead, many of those at Salisbury Cathedral in the UK shuffle forward peacefully one after the other as the cathedral’s organist in residence plays Handel; the sounds of triumph and hope echoing out of the 800-year-old pipes and throughout the halls, giving a unique soundtrack to this important experience for so many of these individuals.

David Halls, who has been playing at the cathedral since 1985, told The Times he had been playing Bach’s ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’. He said: “We’ve tried to provide something serene and soothing, and it’s been a privilege to take part. People have been really listening. We’ve even had applause.”

“This is the place where day by day prayer is offered for the healing of the city, for the healing of the nation. To be able to come here today to receive these lifesaving vaccinations, I’m just overjoyed that we can play our part in this,” said Reverand Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury.

The UK has presently vaccinated more than 3.8 million people with either the Pfizer/BioNTech or the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, and they’re working hard to keep the pace or better yet, accelerate it.

The government’s target is to give the first dose to 15 million people – priority being given to the over-70s, the clinically vulnerable and frontline healthcare workers – by mid-February.

Like Salisbury, Lichfield Cathedral and Blackburn Cathedral are among other places of worship to be used as COVID-19 vaccination centers.

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Music as Medicine: Coping with Cancer and Covid though the Piano

Since the beginning of the Pandemic, we all find ourselves spending time at home more now than ever before in our lives. And it should come as no surprise that many of us have tried to use this time effectively- so as to look back on this time with feelings other than sadness and grief; We desire to reflect on these times as a period in which we developed our creativity, improved our skills, and moved onto the next year having learned new things about the world and ourselves. For many, that has meant looking towards musical instruments as an outlet. Within our own shop, we’ve seen numerous customers walk through our doors who say, “I’ve always wanted to learn the piano. Now seems like the right time…”

In New York, Anne D’Innocenzio has been battling stage three breast cancer for the past three years. The pandemic forced her to take sheltering in place extremely seriously as she was at a high risk for complications if infected. During this time, she would go outside only for her chemotherapy treatments. But whenever inside, she focused on the piano.

“During that time, I longed for a bigger place with room for my piano, which my late uncle left me and was in storage for four years. Playing piano is a source of comfort; it helps me ease the anxiety that many cancer survivors have.”

Musicians all over the world, unable to play live performances to physical audiences, have appropriately turned to social media as a platform to showcase their own musical diaries as they compose, refine and develop their music.

“Every night, I play the piano. In recent weeks, I’ve been sharing videos with friends and family on social media. Now I’m getting requests — including ‘Wheels on the Bus’ from my great-nephew. I figure everyone could use some beautiful music, even if there are a few wrong notes.”

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