With a hospice you don’t immediately think of music. Although the care institution focuses on people in the final phase of their lives, plenty is still happening, says volunteer coordinator Léonie Schutter. “It’s about making the quality of the last part in life as beautiful as possible.”
The Hospice currently has several music volunteers. For example, there are volunteers who listen to music together with the residents and talk about it. Yet that is not the same as playing music, Léonie says. “If you hear that live when you are there, it will just do something with them. Then something touches. We give them more often.”
Other musicians also welcome
Occasionally singers and a pianist come by for the residents. At the moment they are still looking for a third pianist, but Léonie underlines that it is not just about piano music. “If someone plays harp, violin, saxophone or guitar and likes to play here for half an hour once a month, they are very welcome.”
People who play and consider an instrument to commit themselves to the Hospice must take something important into account: sometimes there is no audience. “It happens that people don’t feel good enough to look at the musician. But then they listen from their room to the music and enjoy it.”