STAR-POST (Music) January 2019 STAR-Post 2019 | Página 15

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Giving Voice to the Voiceless
Dr Evangelos Himonides shares
about the transformative
power of creative musical
participation, as manifested in a
choir for throat cancer patients
Giving Voice to the Voiceless
Building a greater sense of identity, inclusiveness and belonging
through the power of creative musical participation
Dr Evangelos Himonides, Reader in Technology, severe depression and social isolation due to
Education and Music, University College their inability to communicate with others.
London, Institute of Education, believes that
creative musical participation strengthens Dr Himonides and the Shout at Cancer team
our individual identity, while helping people see it as their mission to use creative ways
to bridge differences and to communicate. to give laryngectomees their “voice” back by
When circumstances such as health, disability innovating ways in which they can vocalise and
or socio-economic factors threaten to erode express themselves musically. They founded
a person’s self-confidence and their sense of a choir for throat cancer patients to sing
belonging, music becomes an important and together for the public, performing a special
potent tool to help restore his/her quality of life. musical repertoire designed around their
unique vocal capabilities, thus raising public
With this in view, Dr Himonides shared about the awareness about their condition. The Shout at
ground-breaking work at Shout at Cancer, a UK- Cancer choir has helped members restore their
based charity organisation dedicated to helping sense of self-confidence and to have a fresh
throat cancer patients who have undergone sense of belonging in society.
READ laryngectomy rebuild their lives. As a treatment for advanced throat cancer, laryngectomy Another ingenious innovation by Shout at
Click to view
the slides on
The Power of
Creative Musical
Participation by
Dr Evangelos
Himonides involves the removal of a patient’s entire Cancer was to introduce beatboxing to the
laryngeal assembly, including the vocal cords. laryngectomees. Beatboxing offers a way for
The laryngectomee (one who has undergone them to vocalise music without the need for a
laryngectomy) loses any ability to speak using voice box.
his/her vocal cords. While artificial aids such as
the electro-larynx exist to help such patients Shout at Cancer even brought in professional
“speak”, the procedure has a most debilitating beatboxer Marv Radio to help laryngectomees
effect, causing laryngectomees to suffer from learn beatboxing techniques. In an interesting