This article appeared in the Oct. 29, 2010 Jewish Advocate.

Tremble Clefs show power of song

Chorus of Parkinson’s patients lifts spirits, improves lives

photo: Marilyn Okonow leads the Tremble Clefs.

By Susie Davidson

Special to the Advocate

If you walk by United Parish of Auburndale in Newton on Mondays between 10:30 and noon, you might find yourself smiling and humming along to a tune by Gershwin, Porter or Rodgers.

That’s when the members of the Tremble Clefs rehearse, drawn together by a shared affection – for Broadway show tunes – as well as an affliction, Parkinson’s disease. Most of the singers have Parkinson’s; the rest are spouses and caregivers.

The group, which requires no previous singing experience, has doubled in size since last year to nearly 30 members. Besides rehearsing weekly, it performs occasional concerts.

The chorus is a three-year old program launched by the Parkinson’s Family Support Program of Jewish Family & Children’s Service in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital. It combines social support with vocal, breathing and posture exercises inspired by Lee Silverman Voice Training (LSVT).

“Our programs offer a holistic approach that supports every member of the family,” said Nancy Mazonson, director of the family support program. Mazonson began the chorus last year after reading about a Tremble Clefs group in California. “I knew that sustaining therapeutic gains can be difficult and thought that choral singing could be effective,” she said.

Although she knows of no hard research data, Mazonson said that patients and family members have told her that Tremble Clefs was making a difference in their lives.

“From a physical standpoint, the singing improves the quality of my voice and helps me speak better,” said Greg Rice of Dover. “It is a joyous place to be. … You forget your disability, in part because you lose yourself in the music.”

The benefits are both emotional and physical, according to volunteer musical director Marilyn Okonow. “Singing offers natural therapeutic value for many of the voice symptoms associated with Parkinson’s,” said Okonow, who earned a master’s in music education at New England Conservatory and has performed professionally. “Often we see couples holding hands and having a wonderful experience together, despite the challenges of coping with the disease.”

Many Parkinson’s patients speak in a soft, breathy voice, sometimes slurring their words. Okonow along with MGH speech and language therapists help chorus members work on their breathing, enunciation, pitch and singing techniques. “Our singers say they notice that they can be more easily heard on the telephone, and their self-confidence improves,” she said.

Okonow’s father-in-law suffered from Parkinson’s. “I learned firsthand the challenges that Parkinson’s patients face, as well as the tremendous strain that affects the caregivers,” she said.

Okonow and her husband, Dale, who sits on the JF&CS board, joined with Mitchell Robbins, a friend whose father had Parkinson’s, to provide the seed money for the agency’s Parkinson’s Family Support Program. In addition to the Tremble Clefs, it sponsors a spectrum of special services, including a Parkinson’s dance program, several support groups and home safety evaluations.

For more information, visit www.jfcsboston.org or call 781-647-5327.