TO ARRANGE A VISIT from Hallowell, please contact Brattleboro Area Hospice at 802-257-0775 ext 102 or info@brattleborohospice.org.
The Hallowell Singers are a local group that offers songs for healing and comfort at the bedsides of the ill or dying. They are a component of Brattleboro Area Hospice’s services and are organized and facilitated by community member Kathy Leo. All of the singers have been through a hospice orientation and are familiar and comfortable with the hospice philosophy of care, appropriate behavior and confidentiality.
Hallowell offers a choice of music ranging from liturgical, spiritual, quiet and melodic pieces to more spirited and uplifting traditional hymns or gospel type music, depending upon the needs of the patient. Singers may range from a duo to many and are available to sing at private homes, nursing homes or hospital rooms. Although Hallowell mostly sings for hospice patients, they are available for anyone who is interested or in need of songs that heal.
The response of patients who are sung to is often emotional and calming. Music can open hearts, quiet fears and touch all who are present, including family members, staff and singers. Families or staff may request free singing services through Brattleboro Area Hospice, or you can call Hallowell directly.
For more information on Hallowell, or to purchase Hallowell CDs, sheet music, and Kathy Leo’s book On the Breath of Song, please visit Hallowell’s website.
Experienced Goods also carries Hallowell CDs.
Angels Hovering Round is a recording of some favorite hospice and healing songs. It was made in hopes of sharing songs that are sung to help a soul pass over or to simply bring joy to those in need of music and spirit in their lives.
Love Call Me Home is a recording that reflects the expression of Hallowell’s practice, a practice that has evolved to include acceptance of what is before us and a practice of knowing how to be fully present in the face of the mystery of death.
The following offers one short moment at the end of life for one man. It illustrates the love and connectedness that can be a part of dying. It is an exerpt from one story in Kathy Leo’s recent book, On the Breath of Song: The Practice of Bedside Singing for the Dying.
“I led the group into the room as prepared as possible. Carol had crawled into bed with George and was holding him close, the cotton sheet twisted around the contours of their pressed together forms. “Is this okay?” she asked us, and we assured her that it was perfect. We also offered her our songs as prayers, knowing they were as much for her as for George, and that the music would draw them together in the closeness they already shared.
The flow of love between these two was tangible. Each one of the five of us felt surges of emotion as it moved from heart to voice. The muscles of our throats constricted. Our eyes swam. We sang anyway. George seemed calmed by the singing. Carol was tender and strong, accepting and grief-struck. She curled herself more tightly around him.”