Sentara is presenting a concert Monday night as part of its Music and Medicine program.
Sentara has a new Music and Medicine Center as part of its Neurosciences Institute. Building on the proven healing connection between music and the body, the Music and Medicine Center promotes the value of patient-doctor involvement with the performing arts.
The hospital has arranged a series of two local concerts to promote the program. The shows are performed by doctors and patients with special artistic talents, along with professional musicians from the local community.
“Science and research have proven that the body benefits when music is played,” according to the Sentara Music and Medicine Center website. “From pain management and anxiety control to increased clinical outcomes, music has a healing connection to the body.”
The Center believes that by bringing the arts into the healing environment, patients and families will experience better outcomes and a higher level of care.
The first concert was just for families and patients, and it took place at the hospital on Friday. On Monday, though, there will be a performance for the community at 6:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre.
Both concerts feature Prisca Benoit, a French pianist hailed for her intense and powerful sound and her refined pianistic touch. After graduating with honors from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris and furthering her studies in the United States at Indiana University, Benoit has performed with prestigious orchestras, including Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Capitole of Toulouse, New Japan Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
To learn more about the topic of music and healing, or to learn more about the Sentara Music and Medicine Center, visit its website.
