DYING
TO LISTEN
AUDREY CRANE
you sang, your voices had a kind
of wisdom of being in dark places
or feared places ... My mom told
me the feeling overwhelmed her,
while you were all singing to her,
of not being afraid to die.”
The D.C. choir practices for 90
minutes each week at the Potomac
Massage Training Institute, where
Synakowski is also a student. Laureen, the acupuncturist, joined
after seeing a flyer at Starbucks
seeking people who could “communicate kindness” with their voices.
Becca, the legal secretary,
had taken a class at the massage school, through which she
met Synakowski. She brought her
friend Leah, who has wanted to
work with the dying ever since her
brother died of cancer.
It will take six months, possibly up to a year, before the choir
can reach its goals: having each
member memorize 30 songs, and
reaching enough understanding of
the dying process and the effect
sound can have during it, including receiving hospital and hospice
volunteer certification.
For now, they prepare.
SYNAKOWSKI’S HUSBAND and
one or two men come to each rehearsal, though most Threshold
HUFFINGTON
05.19.13
Choirs are made up of only women.
They’re located in nearly every major American city, and meet once
or twice a month to practice. Each
choir varies in its style and composition, though the majority skew
older than 50 on average. They
visit by request only to hospitals,
hospices and private homes. The
service is free, and because of limited resources, the groups usually
don’t advertise unless they are just
getting started. Oftentimes, it’s a
chaplain, social worker or doctor
who asks for them.
Two to three singers will go to a
bedside, and they pick songs based
upon what a patient or the patient’s
Ellen
Synakowski
launched a
Threshold
Choir in
Washington,
D.C., in
January.