International Aphasia Choir

OUR STORY:

In May 2020, Trent Barrick, a board-certified music therapist, had an idea to connect people with aphasia through music. He contacted Dr. Gillian Velmer, a speech-language pathologist, about recruiting people with aphasia to sing in a “virtual aphasia choir.” During Aphasia Awareness Month in June 2020, over 100 participants were recruited to vote on their favorite song and sign up for this very special project. They voted on the song “What a Wonderful World.” Over the summer months, Trent and Gillian led live Zoom sessions to practice the lyrics, engage in neurologic music therapy techniques and taught participants how to record and send their videos. Fifty-five participants sent in their videos. Trent and Gillian wrote a script and asked participants to volunteer for speaking roles. A video producer and audio engineer helped compile and edit all the videos, so it seemed as if all participants were singing together; and that’s when the International Aphasia Choir was born. The debut video premiered on November 21, 2020 and can be seen at the bottom of this page. It is a wonderful world!