DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — If you were to visit the Decatur Family YMCA on a Friday morning, you might hear a special group singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning."
"Even if it's not a beautiful weather day, we still sing about what a day it is to sing!" said Christina Shields, Founding Director of the Memory Keepers ChorusÂ
Shields leads the Memory Keepers Chorus, a non-audition choral group that consists of singers living with memory loss. The group gets together once a week to join in song and increase their mental well being.
Research in the last few years has demonstrated a strong correlation between music, and memory. Shields uses her background in Music Therapy, to use sound to help her singers' brains.Â
"When sound enters the ear, those sounds go straight to the brain and, into that memory keeper's area...," explained Shields. "It's not impaired by the tangles in the brain that cause the brain to shrink."
She further elaborated how music brings down cortisol levels while raising oxytocin; a joy felt throughout the choir, as well as Shields.
"It's my favorite time of the week," she said, with a huge grin. "Music is beauty. It brings people together."Â
The Memory Keepers Chorus will be performing a concert for the public at Life Foursquare Church in Decatur on Saturday. The performance starts at 11 a.m. and tickets can be purchased at the door for ten dollars. Lunch is included after the performance.Â
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