skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

The Healing Power of Music - Composer's Film Screens in Michigan

play audio
Play

Wednesday, April 11, 2012   

LANSING, Mich. - Stroke patients interested in music and art recovered better than those who didn't, according to a new study from Italy. Next week, an award-winning documentary with a similar theme comes to Michigan.

"Inside the Perfect Circle: The Odyssey of Joel Thome" chronicles the life and work of the world-renowned composer and conductor, and how music helped him recover from a debilitating stroke and return to the stage.

Doctors sometimes describe strokes as a brain attack. Thome says he remembers his well.

"When I was on the floor, having hit the floor after my stroke, I went through every note of some of the scores of Stravinsky and Mahler."

After the stroke, Thome says, he continued to memorize music and use music therapy in his rehabilitation. Because he never regained the use of his left arm and can't turn the pages, he now memorizes all scores he conducts and says it makes him feel much more free to focus on the piece and the musicians.

Thome considers his stroke and recovery an affirmation of his belief in the power of music.

"I always, since I was a child, felt that there was a relationship between music and healing. I realized along the way that mind is the healer, and music is the messenger."

While some people might think having a stroke in the middle of a successful career would be a great tragedy, Thome does not.

"While I was in the hospital, I said, 'This was a blessing.' "

Even though Thome's left arm is paralyzed and he walks with a cane, he says he lives an active and fulfilled life. He teaches at the State University of New York at Purchase, collaborates with friends at a performing-arts school in India, and is the music director for Orchestra of Our Time in New York.

According to the American Heart Association, stroke is America's No. 4 killer - and knowing the symptoms and getting immediate help can save a life.

Thome will screen the documentary and discuss his experiences April 18 at the annual conference of the National Association of Social Workers' Michigan Chapter in Kalamazoo. Information on the conference is online at nasw-michigan.org.

Learn about stroke warning signs at strokeassociation.org. Details of the study are at eurekalert.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021