Lullaby participant Colette talks about her experience of writing a personal song for her baby Annie. She says “It feels empowering, it feels strong. It’s just so lovely to have something so nice give to Annie”. Over a 6 week period, she worked with Live Music Now musician Philippa Bryan to write her lullaby and perform it at a special celebratory concert in the Museum of Liverpool.
Listen to her full Lullaby here:
The Lullaby Project pairs Live Music Now musicians with mothers and caregivers to write, sing and record personal lullabies for their babies. The project was commissioned and developed in partnership with Improving Me and the Cheshire and Merseyside Women’s Health & Maternity NHS Network, to support perinatal mental health.
The Lullaby Project was originated by Carnegie Hall, New York delivered by Live Music Now across the UK. This work is part of Live Music Now’s growing social prescribing programme, using creative health interventions support children, adults and families facing challenging circumstances and to reduce health inequalities amongst those experiencing poverty, racial inequality and those in single-parent households.
Research by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute with Wolf Brown Associates over the past ten years have identified ways in which Lullaby Project was having an impact across New York City. These include reaching families in time of need, connecting caregivers and their babies, improving children’s language, social and communication skills and benefiting caregivers through their engagement with music.
Further objectives for the project are:
Being Well
More parents experience a growing sense of their own agency, creativity, well-being, self-confidence and capacity to be loving, sensitive and responsive care givers [Wolf Brown]
Early Child Development
Lullaby lyrics, and the talking and singing that accompany them, can soothe a child and provide important opportunities for young children to hear new vocabulary, figurative language, elegant phrases, as well as exaggeration and jokes [Wolf Brown].
Strengthening Community
The writing and singing of lullabies strengthens relationships between parents, children and their community members. Lullaby Project residencies bring members of the community together through music and extends into to other community organised events.
Artistry & Equity
Lullabies from the international programme have been written in over 20 different languages and in a diverse range of musical styles, reflecting the diverse parents that participate in the project.
Live Music Now is currently developing an evaluation framework, supported by the Institute of Cultural Capital in Liverpool, using the expertise of academics, health professionals and project participants to support the development and roll out of the programme.
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