Peabody Institute seeks Maryland-based musicians working in diverse genres to join Sound Rounds, a program which brings trained musicians to patients’ bedsides to provide comfort and companionship through music. The Sound Rounds program began as a partnership in 2018 between the Peabody Institute and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Councils. To date, musicians have worked at the bedside at Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore.
Bedside musical services are delivered through in-person visits on hospital units and impromptu performances in hallways and waiting areas. Additionally, Sound Rounds musicians connect remotely with patients (via Zoom or other technology) according to patient/family preference or when required due to changes in hospital visitation policies.
The Sound Rounds program is part of Peabody’s growing portfolio of Arts in Health initiatives, which includes community-based learning opportunities for Conservatory students in hospitals and retirement communities, as well as community Arts for Health and Well-Being programs anchored in the Preparatory’s Peabody Prescribe department.
Scope of Practice
Sound Rounds musicians deliver musical experiences to patients. Visits from a Sound Rounds musician can be interactive and may include conversation, or may only provide calming background music, as appropriate. The patient and musician together mutually guide the visit based on the patient’s requests and condition. Sound Rounds musicians are also called upon to provide support through music for families and healthcare staff.
While Sound Rounds musical encounters may result in enhanced health, the musicians’ aims are aesthetic engagement, creative expression, entertainment, and positive distraction. Sound Rounds musicians do not deliver music therapy – their scope is purely artistic. Supervision and mentorship are provided by the Sound Rounds program supervisor in conjunction with a music therapist.
Duties
- Perform weekly shifts on hospital units and virtually on Zoom, as requested. Weekly shifts are 3-4 hours, on weekday afternoons, evenings or weekends. Individual visits with patients range from 15-30 minutes.
- Collect feedback from patients and healthcare staff during each shift
- Submit documentation of patient visits as required by hospital
- Participate in bi-weekly Artist Rounds supervision meetings
- Based on applicant experience and interest, additional duties may include mentorship of student artists, assisting with Arts in Health training sessions at Peabody, performing for hospital events, and facilitating group arts activities in community health settings.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in music education or performance or equivalent professional experience
- Minimum age: 21
- Open to guitar, strings, keyboard, and voice
- Artistic excellence
- Personal and artistic flexibility in order to respond to a variety of patient backgrounds, tastes, and physical and emotional states
- A broad repertoire spanning several genres (e.g. classical, jazz, folk, gospel, music theater, contemporary, etc.)
- Strong collaboration skills required with healthcare staff and Sound Rounds program supervisor
- Empathy, the ability to be present
- A strong desire to be of service – understanding that it’s not about the artist
- Effective and professional communication in speaking and writing
- Teaching and/or community engagement experience
- A knowledge of/experience with healthcare culture
- Reliable transport to and within Baltimore City
- Competence with technology and computer skills
- For remote work: access to and ability to use Zoom technology, reliable internet connection
- In addition, skills in improvisation, songwriting, collaborative composition, and/or other art forms are highly desirable.
About The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University advances a dynamic, 21st-century model of the performing arts, building on its rich history of innovation and leadership as the first conservatory in the United States. Comprising both a Conservatory for undergraduate and graduate studies and the Preparatory, Baltimore’s largest community performing arts school, Peabody empowers musicians and dancers from diverse backgrounds to create and perform at the highest level. Courses of study range from classical and jazz performance, composition, ballet, and modern dance to cutting-edge programs in acoustics, recording arts and sciences, and music for new media, taught by world-renowned faculty alongside the Conservatory’s signature Breakthrough Curriculum, a career development framework that prepares citizen-artists to help shape the future of the field and serve their communities. A division of Johns Hopkins, one of the world’s preeminent research universities and medical institutions, Peabody provides opportunities for interdisciplinary studies through its dual degree program and important initiatives in both arts-in-healthcare and clinical care for performing artists. A leading voice at the intersection of art and education, Peabody is also a convener of critical discourse, providing platforms for a broad range of artistic perspectives to engage with current issues and critical ideas in the cultural sector. To learn more about the Peabody Institute, visit peabody.jhu.edu.
