WASHINGTON — In a courtyard at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., volunteer Dante Ciolfi unzips his guitar case and gets ready to play for patients in the hospice wing, NPR reported in a story timed to Veterans Day.
Ciolfi volunteers with Musicians On Call, a nonprofit that brings live music to hospital patients across the country, both at bedside and virtually. The group’s motto is “delivering the healing power of music.” When he isn’t volunteering, Ciolfi teaches computer science to graduate students.
He is guided by Ellen Morris, a Musicians On Call volunteer who trains musicians on hospital protocols and leads them room to room.
In one room, 93-year-old Army veteran Lawrence Ludden agreed to a song. Ciolfi thanked him for his service and played “Desperado” by the Eagles. Afterward, Ludden clapped and shared that he had sung in light operas as a young man.
For Marine veteran John Fay, who is non-verbal, the music drew a different response: he tapped his heart as Ciolfi played. “To me that signals that he felt the music,” said Nicolette Rubin, the music therapist who runs the music program at the medical center.
Rubin told NPR that music is not only uplifting but also a restorative treatment that helps patients recover from and cope with emotional and physical trauma.
“When I play, I try to mentally establish a conduit,” Ciolfi said, “so the energy is kind of flowing back and forth.”
Morris said she knew Ciolfi was right for the mission the first time she watched him react to a patient. “It was overwhelming for me to see him be overwhelmed,” she said.
Sources: NPR. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph R. Vincent / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
