After nearly a decade of streaming live music to seriously ill children in hospitals across the United States, the Melodic Caring Project is humbled and honored to announce it is expanding its services to the United Kingdom.
“We absolutely believe in what Melodic Caring Project is doing and want to play our part in expanding this service to all of those who would benefit from the MCP treatment.” (James Marples, Senior Marketing Officer, Chesterfield College)
The Seattle-based non-profit is partnering with Chesterfield College to bring the healing power of music to the U.K. and children undergoing extreme medical treatments such as chemotherapy streaming directly to their hospital beds or home care facilities, as well as their families and caregivers.
Chesterfield College students will lead the UK branch along with the production of the inaugural UK show headlined by upcoming South Yorkshire band The Sherlocks as they perform live at the O2 Academy in Sheffield this Saturday, September 23rd.
“The impact of music on a sick kid is truly profound,” said Melodic Caring Project co-founder Levi Ware. “When an artist gives a shout-out to a kid by name, it’s amazing to see how they light up. And they often tell us a show streamed directly to them not only brings them joy, but actually can help alleviate the pain and struggle of their condition or treatment.”
The Melodic Caring Project has streamed numerous live concerts to hospitalized children nationwide and several worldwide since its founding in 2011, featuring top artists including The Roots, Alabama Shakes, Daughtry, Jason Mraz, OK Go, Switchfoot and many others. It most recently was chosen by AEG Presents to stream all of the performances from the Fisher Green stage at Seattle’s prestigious three-day Bumbershoot music and arts festival.
Levi Ware and his wife Stephanie created the Melodic Caring Project after a friend’s daughter, Kaydee Curbow, became gravely ill with cancer and could not attend a fundraising concert that had been organized to help raise funds for her care. “Rather than cancel the concert, I realized we could tap into the wifi network at a coffee shop next door, stream it via a laptop to Kaydee, and she could virtually attend the show. After seeing how much it lifted her spirits, we realized we could bring the healing power of music to so many other kids, and the Melodic Caring Project was born.”
“Partnering with MCP is one of the biggest and most ground breaking projects we have done in years. It demonstrates the exciting opportunities we give our students to make sure they get the experience and skills that will make them stand out as well as the work we do to impact the community. As a college we’re committed to helping charities/initiatives that have a big impact on the communities they serve and as such, MCP delivering such a positive experience, we felt it a cause we had to get behind.” – Marples
Media and Childhood Studies students from the college will work with Melodic Caring Project, The Sherlocks and Sheffield Children’s Hospital to shoot and stream the concert and to help the children and teenagers being cared for at the hospital to access and take part in the experience.
When asked about being a part of the first U.K. show, Kiaran Crooks, The Sherlocks front man, said, “This is an amazing thing to be a part of! It’s really incredible that it has been made possible to happen and we are very proud and honoured to be doing this. Thank you to the Melodic Caring Project for the opportunity.”
The Sherlocks will deliver personalized messages during their performance to encourage the patients, also referred to as rockSTARS, to keep battling their illnesses, stay positive and know they’re not alone.
“We are thrilled to be working with Chesterfield College and its students. Their unique skills, talents and relationships will enable us to reach far more children than we ever could on our own,” Ware said.
Now with the ability to hit every major time-zone, the unique partnership with Chesterfield College will allow the Melodic Caring Project to establish their services across Europe using the skills of the staff and students to broadcast to and make connections with young patients in hospitals at the same time as giving students the opportunity to develop their work experience on an exciting and meaningful project.
Chesterfield College and the Melodic Caring Project plan to continue the partnership to bring more live performances to patients across the UK in the future. Work to establish links with other hospitals and hospices has begun and discussions with other performing artists are underway.
The Melodic Caring Project is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit bridging the gap between music, technology and patients battling serious illness by streaming live, personalized concerts to children and teens in the hospital. MCP embraces the medically proven healing properties of music to alleviate pain, reduce anxiety and aid in the overall wellness and wellbeing of the patient.
