february 2 0 .20 0 4 ' J u s t o u t 4 3
MUSIC
............. ▼...............
n Christmas Day 1996, Sharilyn Cohn sat
down in her Georgia home to watch a spe
cial episode of A B C ’s Nightline. Little did
she know her life was about to be uprooted.
Host Ted Koppel was doing a feature on
music thanatology, the ancient practice of play
ing music at the bedside of someone who is
dying. He profiled the Chalice of Repose
Sch(X)l of Music Thanatology in Missoula,
Mont., where musicians earn a graduate degree
in this unique form of palliative care.
Cohn was no fledgling in the world of
music. As a professional cellist, she was a mem
ber of several high-profile orchestras in Atlanta
and Memphis, Tenn., and performed with
artists such as Sammy Davis Jr., John Denver,
the Mcxxly Blues and Frank Sinatra. Also the
founder of a successful distribution corporation,
Cohn was doing pretty well for herself.
But srxin she was packing her bags and
heading to Montana. “Somehow I knew 1 had
to go,” she says.
Across the nation in Portland, Ore., vcxialist
Barbara Cabot watched the same program and
had the same reaction. “1 was drawn, and 1 had
to go,” says Cabot, whose previous career was in
banking. Serendipity was at work. Both women
not only discovered a life path but each other.
After graduating from the two-year program,
Cohn and Cabot moved to Portland and founded
SacredFlight, a Portland-based nonprofit organi
zation that offers music vigils for end-of-life care.
Music thanatology is a subspecialty of pallia
tive care in which harp and voice help reduce
anxiety and fear and even decrease pain. Practi
tioners are trained in the prescriptive qualities
of music and silence. After gathering both med
ical and personal information about a patient,
they conduct 45- to 60-minute “vigils” at the
O
A call to a
new anthem
Musicians offer
peace and healing
at end of life
by
M eg D aly
patient’s bedside, chixising music to
respond dynamically to the patients
individual needs and symptoms.
“We marry the knowledge of how
music can affect the body with principles
of end-of-lifc care,” says G)hn.
“Although there is a clinical aspect to
our music, it is also profoundly spiritual.”
ohn and Cabot each arrived at
Chalice of Repose out of a desire to
do hospice work with music. Nei
ther woman had anticipated finding
love, hut the pair quickly formed a
From left: Sharilyn Cohn, Barbara Cabot and Gary
strong connection.
W hen asked about how being a les Plouff provide end-of-life music care with SacredFlight
bian factors into her practice, Cohn
Plouff echoes Cohn’s sentiments about the
responds: “I wonder if people who are margin
relationship between sexual orientation and
alized have an opportunity for more capacity to
healing. “My own struggles growing up gay has
be compassionate. We know what it’s like to be
something to do with my compassion for
quickly judged or condemned.”
others’ struggles,” he explaias.
SacredFlight is composed of four individuals,
A patient can request a vigil at any point
three of whom happen to be queer. V(x:alist Gary
after receiving a terminal diagnosis. T heir
Plouff, who graduated from Chalice of Repose in
needs may change depending on where they
1996, joined Cohn and Cabot’s group in 2002.
are in the dying process. Music thanatology
The fourth member is violist Anna Fiasca.
is also helpful for family and friends of dying
patients.
“I’ve seen healing occur,” says Cabot, “both
emotional and spiritual, within a person and
within families. People can gain acceptance
and experience reconciliation.”
Plouff says vigils “offer patients and their
families a framework that weaves them togeth
er.” He says music is often the key that helps
people unlock difficult emotions.
Cabot feels privileged that people “allow us
to be there with them at that time in their
lives. It’s a wondrous thing.”
Being so often in the realm of the dying
does not seem to have taken a toll on the
members of SacredFlight. On the contrary,
each of them speaks with a resonant peace and
calm that comes from deep satisfaction.
“I’ve never found it depressing,” says Plouff.
“The music has properties that feed you and
heal you while you are supporting others. Also,
being aware of the impermanence of life has
made me appreciate life more.”
SacredFlight does not charge for vigils.
Instead, the group partners with hospitals and
care facilities, which cover some of the costs. It
has applied for an Equity Foundation grant that
would go toward serving the queer community,
and private donations are much needed. The
group also hopes to partner with local HIV/AIDS
service organizations in the coming year.
In the meantime, Cohn devotes full-time
work to SacredFlight, while the others keep
their day jobs. But their focus remains clear. As
Plouff notes, “Music is my life.” J H
To request a vigil or make a donation,
contact S acred F light at 503-241-3344,
donate@sacredflight.org or uAvw.sacredflight.org.
&
‘Remember when music was fun?
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