Bringing 'Music' to Princeton

Leora Friedman ’14 took the adage “Music is Medicine” to a whole new level when she founded a non profit organization of the same name before she came to Princeton. Music is Medicine, created by Friedman in 2008 in her hometown Baltimore now has a base in Princeton and is expanding to chapters across the country. This organization works with both famous musicians and volunteers who perform at local hospitals. “Our goal is to motivate musicians to use their music to give back, and we do this in two ways — our volunteer program, which empowers student artists to organize music programs at local children’s hospitals, and through our ‘Donate a Song’ project,” Friedman said.

The project began as a shared idea between Friedman and her older sister one summer. “Growing up, we loved jamming together, and since our father is a pediatric oncologist, from an early age we became aware of the immense hardship confronted by young patients and their families,” Friedman said. “We decided to join forces to create a service project in our community in which we would perform concerts at the Hackerman-Patz House, a residential house for children undergoing limb-lengthening therapies and surgeries.”

Friedman notes that in addition to helping improve patients’ lives, there are also many rewarding aspects for herself and the volunteers. “The most fulfilling part of Music is Medicine for me is being able to make the lives of the children we work with a little brighter,” she said. “It’s funny, because these kids and their parents think we are helping them, but what they don’t realize is that they are helping us so much more.”

Juliette Levine ’15 is directing the new Music is Medicine project, “Donate a Song.” “I immediately knew it was something I wanted to be a part of since I [have] seen first-hand how music can really touch people’s lives,” Levine said.

“Donate a Song” invites a celebrity artist to write and release a song inspired by a pediatric patient. Proceeds from sales of the song go to raise money of research for the patient’s illness. “The artist and the patient Skype and get to know each other and talk about possible ideas for the song,” Levine explained. “The artist records the song and then visits the hospital to film a music video alongside the patient.” In the fall of 2011, Drew Seeley, of “Another Cinderella Story” fame, wrote a song for a 14-year-old Johns Hopkins cancer patient, Brooke. “Needless to say, Brooke was a beautiful little girl, both inside and out,” Friedman said. “She was kind and positive, and instead of allowing her disease to destroy her spirit, her disease made her spirit stronger, and she inspired everyone who was lucky enough to know her. Sadly, Brooke passed away last summer, but I’m so thankful for the time I was able to spend with her and for the way Music is Medicine was able to touch her life.”

The initiative didn’t stop there. Last month, YouTube sensation Savannah Outen joined the project and recorded a song for 16-year-old patient Bo Oliver. “Seeing the patient and the artist get to know one another is magical,” Friedman said. “You can tell they’re both really excited to be there and inspired by one another.” The organization flew Outen to visit Oliver at Johns Hopkins and to shoot a music video to accompany Outen’s song, “Brave and True.”

Along with these projects, Music is Medicine has recently started an on-campus team at Princeton, which Levine is part of. While Music is Medicine is currently a national organization being run out of Princeton, the on-campus chapter hopes “to create a kind of ‘model chapter’ for our other chapters to follow,” Levine said.

“Brave and True” was released along with its music video on Tuesday and can be purchased on iTunes now. All proceeds from the song will go to pediatric oncology research at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center.