A growing movement of “memory choirs” is changing the conversation around dementia care in America. KFAI contributor and documentary filmmaker, Mercedes Kane spends time with Grant West, a member of the Amazing Grace dementia-friendly gospel chorus, as he looks back on his life and rehearses with the choir out of Walker West, the music academy in St. Paul he co-founded with Reverend Carl Walker.
Amazing Grace follows the model of Giving Voice, a nonprofit based out of Minneapolis. There are currently 67 dementia choirs worldwide modeled after Giving Voice and a study is underway at Northwestern Medicine examining how singing in a chorus affects the brain. Mercedes is in development on a documentary film, SOUND MEMORIES that shares the stories and science behind these choirs. Visit Daisy May Films to learn more, or find out how you can support the film.
Story edited by Rob McGinley Myers. Field audio by Marius Anderson.
