Sound of Hope Project continues to work with other musicians who have agreed to allow us to use their recordings. SOHP president Mary Lou Lydecker, a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, attended a cluster reunion.  She and other graduates came up with the idea of using their senior recitals to further SOHP’s mission. Several of the alumni at the reunion volunteered on the spot.  Those Oberlin Conservatory alumni sent tapes of their performances to Mary Lou.  SOHP is reviewing the pieces to decide the best way to use them.   The music is beautiful, and we are excited about this new way to further our mission.

In December, 2010, Mark McLellan replaced the outgoing Treasurer of The Sounds of Hope Project.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Cleveland State University and has over twenty-five years of experience in the accounting profession.

Damien Hand-Cannane joined the Sounds of Hope project board on May 9, 2011.  He is a 2010 graduate of Kent State University with a B.A. in music and an M.S. in Accounting and works as an accountant for KeyBank in Cleveland.

In other board actions, Bill Hartzell, the board’s vice president, is taking a temporary leave of absence to focus on his job responsibilities.

The book, This Is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel J. Levitin reaffirms Sound of Hope Project’s goal of using music to soothe those in need of any kind of healing.  The book uses science to show the effect of music on the human brain.  The author states that music coordinates the different parts of the brain and addresses the role of music in so much of human existence.