Healing sounds

By MICHELLE DELANEY

On a relatively quiet, mid-pandemic morning, Dawn Petrick with the La Jolla Music Society came across a news story about a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder who had been invited to a symphony performance and how that single performance helped him heal. It changed his life.

It was then that Petrick, the director of communications, decided to facilitate similar opportunities among the San Diego military population.

“It was truly important to me that those in need within the military community could find something new that they could try to connect with in a healing way,” she said.

After some research, Petrick and her team at the La Jolla Music Society decided to work with the Navy Gold Star Program. The Gold Star program provides support to survivors — the spouses, mothers, fathers, children and siblings — of fallen service members. The number of Gold Star families is not public record but is understood to be substantial. The nationwide network includes one office in Coronado and two in San Diego.

With live concerts back on schedule for the 54th season, the La Jolla Music Society is offering Gold Star families tickets for any concert of their choice. This year’s sponsorship is for 100 tickets, totaling $7,500, for performances through June 23. Qualifying family members interested in obtaining tickets need to contact the Navy Gold Star Foundation.

“We have 64-plus shows this season that cover everything from classical to opera to ballet to our speaker series. There is something for everyone, and it is great to see that our Gold Star families will be able to choose from a variety of performing arts genres,” said Stephanie Thompson, communications and public relations manager.

The music society’s state-of-the-art facility, the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla known as The Conrad, opened in 2019. The La Jolla Music Society was founded in 1941.

The Music Society’s Gold Star program started in January. “Some folks did already go to three different concerts,” Petrick said.

Music therapy is not a new concept. It has been in use in the military for more than 70 years. The American Music Therapy Association, an organization based in Washington, D.C., representing more than 6,000 music therapists nationwide, recently presented research to military leadership on state-of-the-art music therapy, providing recommendations for program development, research and practice.

One leading music therapy initiative is the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Forces. Creative Forces works in partnership with the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve the health of military and veteran populations exposed to trauma through creative arts therapies.

For Petrick, the Music Society’s inaugural program with the Gold Star families is a vision fulfilled.

“This sponsorship can open others from our local military communities who have experienced adversity and/or trauma to the exploration of performing arts, while at the same time, connecting them with a largely untapped force for healing,” she said. ■