Checkup

The keys to good health: Volunteer piano players mix music and medicine for a healing combination

John Jamrich is one of four volunteers who entertain patients in the Cannaday Building lobby.

Volunteer John Jamrich sat at the piano in the Cannaday Building lobby. April sunshine beamed through the double-decker windows, brightening his teal jacket and red-and gold bowtie. Jamrich's 83-year-old fingers danced across the keyboard, and a Chopin melody filled the quiet lobby. Patients drifted by, delighted and surprised at the sight of a pianist in the middle of a medical facility.

"Will you play a song for me?" says Ana Hernandez, a patient who had stopped to watch him play. Jamrich obliged, and as he played Debussy's "Clair de Lune" for her, she sat eyes closed, swaying back and forth. When it was over, she clapped and leaned in for a hug, so moved that she reverted to her native Spanish before realizing that he couldn't understand her.

"Music is the universal language," she says. "It's important for health. For me, it's a part of my soul."She left with a smile and an autographed photo, which Jamrich happened to have handy. Soon, sisters Sandra Turner, Judy Nation and Jeannie Johnson and their mother, Rebecca Williams from Waycross, Ga., stopped by.

"We heard the music coming down the hallway," says Turner. "It's beautiful. People need this; it's nice to have a stress-free zone."

Jamrich has seen quite a range of reactions in the weeks since he began playing in the lobby. He loves to tell about the woman who broke out into a wonderful aria from the upper balcony when he was playing "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" from the musical Oklahoma! When they were done, both got a round of applause. It's not the kind of thing you'd expect to see in the lobby of a medical institution, but it is at Mayo. Thanks to the efforts of Jamrich and a handful of other volunteers who are part of a program called Mayo Clinic Humanities in Medicine, patients are enjoying the arts in places they wouldn't expect to hear or see them.

Mayo patient Ana Hernandez enjoys a musical interlude.

Humanities in Medicine began 25 years ago at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., with the mission to integrate the arts, history and ethics into the medical environment to support Mayo's basic value, that the needs of the patient come first. It was a generous donation of twopianos in 2003 by Jacksonville benefactor Dr. Frances Kinne — for whom the auditorium in the Cannaday Building is named — that allowed part of the program to grow.

"I've always been interested in music as a therapy," says Kinne. "I think it plays a marvelous role."

Jamrich plays about five hours a week and enjoys sharing his music. As a young man, he had dreamed of being a concert pianist. But World War II broke out and he spent years away from vital study serving as a captain in the U.S. Air Force. So his life took a different turn. After earning masters and doctorate degrees, he taught business administration and ultimately became president of Northern Michigan University, a post he held for 15 years. But after his retirement, he returned to his first love and began playing in assisted living facilities and sharing his gift with others.

Ana Hernandez says music is in her soul.

He and his wife June have been coming to Mayo Clinic for more than 30 years and have the unique experience of being patients at all three sites. They were patients in Rochester because it was near their Michigan home. After retirement, they spent their summers in Arizona and frequented the clinic in Scottsdale for a few years. When they moved to Florida in 1989, they began coming to the Jacksonville clinic.

Jamrich enjoys making people happy by playing the piano, but he also feels there's an important connection between music and health.

"It's my personal conviction that music has significant, salutary effects on our mind, body and emotions as we face the problems of illness, health and healing," he says.

Rebecca Williams (second from left) and her daughters (left - right) Sandra Turner, Judy Nation and Jeannine Johnson gather around the piano.

For Miriam Martinez, a Primary Care Center receptionist, the effect is pure relaxation. Martinez spends part of her lunch hour a few days a month sitting in the lobby and listening.

"I enjoy it because it lets me get away from the busy workday for a little while," she says.

Info:
Volunteer Services
(904) 953-7321