The Power of the Arts: 'Music on Call' Aims Beyond Entertainment

By Freddie Bourne, Messenger-Inquirer

If you have visited Owensboro Health Regional Hospital this month, there’s a chance you’ve seen or heard Dr. Diane Earle playing the piano in the facility’s lobby — which is something she’s done for nearly a decade as part of Owensboro Symphony and Owensboro Health’s partnership program, “Music on Call.”

The program, made possible through OH’s Community Health Investments Grant Program for the past eight years as part of the health system’s “Arts in Healing” initiative, was designed to “enhance and transform lives and bring hope and comfort to people who are experiencing challenging circumstances.”

Gwyn Payne, chief executive officer of the Owensboro Symphony, said the organization was, at first, renting a piano every year to play in the main lobby before creating the program, thus making it a fixture for both entities.

Payne said the program has “grown leaps and bounds from how it began.”

“Now there is a baby grand piano that has a permanent home in the lobby all year round, thanks to Owensboro Health and the Owensboro Health Foundation,” Payne said. “Over the years we have added locations like Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital in Greenville and Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center in Leitchfield; both locations have been so welcoming and have added seats around the lobby for people to sit and enjoy the music.”

The performances are also streamed on the televisions in the patient rooms for those who may not be able to make it out in-person to listen and watch.

“Music on Call” has gone beyond the hospital, Payne said, and occurs year-round.

“From supporting the grief programs of local funeral homes to performing for the infirmed sisters of Mt. St. Joseph, we collaborate with many organizations throughout the year,” Payne said. “Our brass quartet recently performed at the Beverly’s Hearty Slice Thanksgiving event helping to spread positivity.

“We believe that music can help people in different ways,” Payne said. “(We) continue to provide random acts of music in parks, nursing homes and even coffee shops to bring the positive force of music to a wider audience.”

Payne said the main objective of “Music On Call” in December is to encourage as many pianists from the area to play in the hospital lobby.

Earle, the Owensboro Symphony pianist and professor emeritus of music at Kentucky Wesleyan College, has been with the program since its inception. She’s playing “almost 100 hours” in the month alone and enjoys doing it.

“Community service is a big deal in my life, and it always has been,” Earle said. “I’ve always tried to make my corner of the world better, and the hospital is a wonderful ground for ministry because there are so many people who appreciate this … outreach program.

“It’s amazing to me how many people I see,” Earle said. “I see tons and tons of people from all parts of the community. Music has a power that makes it so wonderful.”

While Earle has been taking part in “Music on Call” for some time, she’s keen on making sure every performance is fresh — from performing holiday classics like “Silent Night” and “Mary, Did You Know?,” to “off-the-wall” requests and more.

“I have about 12 hours of different arrangements I can play without repeating,” Earle said. “(I can) also make up music in my head; so between all of that, (it keeps me) from being bored.”

Earle also makes it a point to have material for all demographics that could be sitting down and watching her or simply walking by.

“I play everything from Mariah Carey to Ariana Grande and all the new stuff as well as all the old, traditional stuff,” Earle said.

Earle finds being able to perform for “Music on Call” goes beyond entertaining people.

“There was a really moving moment the other day (where) a nurse wheeled an older gentleman who was quite ill down to the lobby for just five minutes. She had said he had not left his hospital room in weeks, and she just wanted to give him a change of scenery,” Earle said Wednesday. “I asked him what his favorite Christmas carol was, and he could barely speak, but he told me ‘Silent Night.’

“I said a little prayer to myself that I would play the best ‘Silent Night’ of my life, and I looked over at him while I was playing and he was just weeping,” Earle said. “I thought: ‘That really means a lot to him. It touched him. It might have given him some healing and some strength and some comfort.’ ”

Earle said it goes beyond the patients.

“It’s the family members, the friends, the people coming to visit,” she said. “The workers tell me it gives them a lift if they hear the music as they’re going about their day.”

Travis Williams, M. Div., BCC, OH’s director of pastoral care and member of the “Arts in Healing” committee, said having a program like “Music on Call” during the holiday season can be helpful in terms of personal expression.

“Music is a great way to express a lot of our sentiment and our emotions, and sometimes we struggle to find the words for,” Williams said. “In many ways, music resonates with people on a deeper level than perhaps we can commonly find the words to use.

“Especially during Christmastime, there’s so many memories that people associate with the holidays — memories of family and of friends, special seasons they’ve had, special ones they hope to have — and music is such a big part of that,” Williams said.

Payne and Williams said the sound of music and the world of healthcare can complement each other well.

“It’s a well-known fact that music has a calming effect, making it an excellent addition to a healthcare environment. Given that sometimes hospitals can be a particularly stressful place, the incorporation of music can be a welcome relief for patients,” Payne said. “We are incredibly fortunate to have a health system in our community that values and promotes ‘Arts in Healing.’

“I strongly believe in the therapeutic power of music and having the opportunity to be a part of this healing process is incredibly rewarding,” Payne said.

“When you’re dealing with illness, … it doesn’t just affect the body; it affects the mind and the spirit of the individual because we’re so deeply intertwined,” Williams said, “and for some people, the arts of any sort is a way they might express how they perceive illness, or health or healing.

“It might be a way that they can express that to others when words might not do justice,” Williams said.

A schedule of performers and performances for “Music on Call” taking place in the lobby of Owensboro Health Regional Hospital can be found at owensborohealth.org/sites/default/files/documents/2022_music_on_call_schedule.pdf.

“Music on Call” will continue through Dec. 31.