Musicorps


It is difficult to imagine the life of a severely injured soldier recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, many have had their lives blown up in every sense of the word. Musicorps is an intensive music rehabilitation program that helps injured combat veterans recover their lives.


Musicorps replicates “real world” music relationships so that injured veterans work on, and are motivated to work on, robust goal-oriented projects many hours a day. Musicorps integrates individualized projects, regular visits by highly accomplished musicians, and the use of specially-assembled computer-based music workstations along with traditional instruments. Working in any musical style they prefer, veterans are able to learn, play, write, record, and produce original material.


“A revolutionary program to help war veterans adjust to postwar life.”

- The Wall Street Journal

“This gives us a piece of us back.”

– SGT Nicholas Firth

 

Praise in The Wall Street Journal


In The Wall Street Journal, Nina Roberts concludes Musicorps is “a revolutionary program to help war veterans adjust to postwar life.” To read her entire report, click here.


Praise in the Washington Post


In the Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize winning author Anne Applebaum concludes Musicorps “is extraordinary.” To download a PDF, click here. To read it republished online at Slate.com, click here.


Praise in Congress


To read Representative Bill Owens’ speech “Supporting The Goals of Musicorps at Walter Reed Army Medical Center,” click here.


Profile on CNN


To watch CNN’s profile of Musicorps, click here. 


Renovation In Music Education


Musicorps is provided by Renovation In Music Education (RIME), a nonprofit organization that helps people, organizations and communities succeed through innovative music partnership programs. RIME has successfully partnered with school systems, orchestras, and even NASA to create unprecedented educational opportunities and musical events. For more information about RIME, please visit us on the web at www.rimemusic.org.


Our Partners


Musicorps originated in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Fisher Houses. Fisher House is itself a renowned private/public partnership that offers housing and support to injured service members and their families. Musicorps is currently provided to wounded warriors in the Fisher Houses and throughout Walter Reed.


Equipment has been generously provided by Apple, M-Audio, Yamaha,  and many other companies. Please visit our Thanks Page for a more comprehensive list of Musicorps supporters.


Support


If you would be interested in supporting Musicorps, either by providing financial support, instruments or equipment, or becoming an Artist In Residence, please visit our Support Page for additional information.

Benefits


Facing a jarring shift from rigorous activity to the pain and isolation of recovery for what may be years,  Musicorps brings activity, accomplishment, and joy. The program enables injured veterans to remain productive, believe that they can recover their lives, and do something they love, even as they recover from multiple serious injuries. For many, it is transformative. One described a “ripple effect” improving every aspect of his recovery.


Musicorps also aids recovery from war-related trauma, including PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury). Concussive blasts from IEDs and other explosions cause TBI, and it has been called the signature injury of the war on terror. Learning, creating, and performing music involves so many aspects of brain function that it is believed to recruit uninjured parts of the brain to compensate for parts that have been injured, and to help those parts that are injured recover. Among others, Musicorps is advised by Dr. Allen Brown, Director of Brain Research and Rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic.

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Origins


Musicorps began when composer and founder of Renovation In Music Education (RIME), Arthur Bloom, was invited to visit a soldier recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The soldier, a musician who had been badly injured by an IED, was concerned about the effects of his injuries on his ability to play music. In conversations with Bloom, the soldier expressed his pain, frustration, and as the seed of an idea took root, enthusiasm for a music program.


Bloom and RIME committed to developing an unprecedented program that would not only benefit this particular soldier, but any who wished to participate, at any level, under any circumstance. Indeed, the program has successfully accommodated a broad variety of participants working in styles ranging from hardcore and metal to classical and rap, using instruments ranging from keyboards and software to guitars and native American flutes.