Musical Museum Methodology

Musical Museum is an innovative social-clinical program specifically for individuals with mild to moderate neurocognitive disorders (dementias). Neurocognitive disorders are caused by variety of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson and Lewy body disease, stroke, frontotemporal degeneration and head trauma among others.

This program aims to establish a safe social space for individuals with neurocognitive disorders and their families to foster social engagement and to experience pleasure and intellectual stimulation. 

Each session contains approximately 45 minutes of music. The clinically informed program is designed with an eye toward respecting the cognitive capacities of the audience (Bonakdarpour, Takarabe, McFadden et al., 2021).

Each session includes curated familiar and unfamiliar canonical selections preceded by short verbal discussions.

For the familiar music selections, we choose music that would have been popular in the audience’s late adolescence. Unfamiliar music is used to demonstrate the power music regardless of its familiarity. Selections in this category are generally tonal with uncomplicated rhythms and possess culturally diverse melodies that are sometimes based on traditional folk tunes from a variety of geographical regions. When necessary pieces are arranged so composers are sometimes involved in the development of programs.

Verbal introductions to musical selections are prepared well in advanced highlighting historical, philosophical, and poetic aspects of the music. A script is written and evaluated to ensure that the audience are intellectually stimulated but not overwhelmed. Presenters rehearse their script so that the pacing of speech is measured and replete with prosody, which raises the emotional experience.

Each program is followed by reception that allows audience members to interact with program organizers and performers.

Surveys were given to evaluate the effectiveness of and audience satisfaction with the program. 

Examples of previous selections:

• Jim Croce: Time in a Bottle

• Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now

• Bob Thiele and George David Weiss: What a Wonderful World (popularized by Louise Armstrong)

• John Coltrane: Spiritual

• Claude Bolling: Irlandiase

• Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George David Weiss: Falling in Love with You (popularized by Elvis Presley)

• Phil Collins: One More Night

• Leonard Bernstein: Somewhere (from West Side Story)

• Frederic Chopin: Selection from Mazurkas

• Franz Schubert: Selection from Rosamunde 

• Mozart: Piano Concerto in D and Violin Sonata in B-flat

• J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations Theme

• Javad Maroufi: Jila (Persian tune)