{"id":56181,"date":"2017-08-02T10:39:11","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T14:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?p=56181"},"modified":"2022-09-26T15:49:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T19:49:53","slug":"musicians-help-at-risk-mothers-write-lullabies-for-their-babies","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2017\/musicians-help-at-risk-mothers-write-lullabies-for-their-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"Musicians Help At-Risk Mothers Write Lullabies for their Babies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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August 2, 2017<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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By Susan Seligson | Photos by Asher+Oak Photography
Originally posted in the spring 2017 issue of\u00a0<\/span>Esprit<\/a>.<\/span>
<\/em><\/p>\n

When Shana, a young Congolese immigrant living in Lynn, Massachusetts, was 26 weeks pregnant, her baby stopped moving.<\/p>\n

Though doctors at nearby North Shore Medical Center (NSMC)\/Salem Hospital said the baby\u2019s heart was beating, they were sufficiently concerned to transfer Shana to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where doctors performed an emergency C-section.<\/p>\n

Baby Adriana weighed 1 pound 12 ounces at birth and was hospitalized for two months, first at MGH and then at NSMC. The uncertainty was frightening for Shana, but she found solace in music. Erin Peterson, a caseworker at Boston Medical Center, where Shana had planned to give birth, introduced her to the\u00a0<\/span>Lullaby Project<\/a>, through which several CFA alums helped her craft a song for her baby girl.<\/p>\n

Members of the Boston-based chamber group\u00a0<\/span>Palaver Strings<\/a>, known for using their talents for social awareness, have poured their hearts into the Lullaby Project, a national outreach program that helps mothers facing poverty, incarceration, or homelessness create songs\u2014and lasting memories\u2014for their babies.<\/p>\n

Led by violinist Maya French (\u201915,\u201918), Palaver co-executive director and artistic director, and Elizabeth \u201cLizzie\u201d Moore (\u201914), a violist and songwriter, Palaver Strings has been working for two years with schools and nonprofits in neighborhoods throughout greater Boston. They based their branch of the Lullaby Project at\u00a0<\/span>Boston Medical Center<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(BMC), where they had an opportunity to work with Mois\u00e8s Fern\u00e1ndez Via, director of\u00a0<\/span>Arts | Lab<\/a>, a unique collaboration among CFA, Boston Medical Center, and BU Medical Campus that injects the arts into a clinical setting.<\/p>\n

\"Esprit<\/a>
Violinist Maya French (\u201915,\u201918), co-executive director and artistic director of Palaver Strings, leads the Boston branch of the Lullaby Project, a national outreach program that helps at-risk mothers create songs\u2014and lasting memories\u2014for their babies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A familiar figure on campus, Fern\u00e1ndez Via (\u201911) has forged artistic partnerships\u2014through the Arts | Lab\u2014at BMC for the last four years, with\u00a0<\/span>programs<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>that had CFA students playing lobby concerts in the Menino Pavilion, providing impromptu solo serenades to patients recovering on BMC\u2019s wards, and reading poetry to cancer patients as they received chemotherapy infusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalaver Strings has been part of the Medical Campus since the very first day of the Arts | Lab,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez Via says. \u201cI have seen them grow from a casual chamber group to a consolidated string ensemble, embodying the core mission of our task at BMC: turning individual ability into collective opportunities.\u201d The Lullaby Project, he says, \u201cbelongs to a category of the Arts | Lab project called \u2018Audienceless.\u2019 Here, we test our capacity to include others in what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez Via was moved to participate in the project because, as he put it, a lullaby is more than a song. \u201cA lullaby is a musical fossil, a powerful narrative that encapsulates in a song all the complexities of parenthood: nurture, vulnerability, doubt, uncertainty, hope, resilience, tenderness,\u201d he says. \u201cInviting young parents at-risk to write personalized lullabies seems to me a powerful opportunity: a chance to awaken their innate wisdom, so that it guides them through the vastness of parenthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Esprit<\/a>
Shana (left), a Congolese immigrant, worked with CFA alums in the chamber group Palaver Strings\u2014led by violinist Maya French (\u201915,\u201918) (right)\u2014to write a lullaby for her baby girl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez Via recruited three participants through caseworkers at BMC. The musicians worked with Shana, then 20, while her baby was in the neonatal unit at NSMC\/Salem Hospital. The second participant, Erina, learned she was pregnant at age 40, soon after she arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Marle, a Congolese who befriended Erina in an ESL class while both lived at a Dorchester shelter for new immigrants, went to the BMC session with Erina for moral support and decided to participate in the project. She wrote a lullaby for her mother, who stayed in the DRC.<\/p>\n

French and Moore surveyed the participants, asking about their backgrounds and concerns. For example, they asked, When your child is 18, how will you explain the project and why you participated? What do you do to create calm in your child\u2019s daily life?<\/p>\n

Two musicians worked with each woman to develop a custom lullaby. Matthew Brady, who attended BU, from the Boston-based band\u00a0<\/span>Milk<\/a>, served as producer, recorder, and percussionist. Palaver cellist Nikolai Renedo, co-artistic director and community engagement coordinator, was Spanish translator. Fern\u00e1ndez Via translated Marle\u2019s interviews from French to English during the songwriting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the moms write a letter to their baby, and used that as a starting point,\u201d French says. With the help of the letter and evaluation, the musicians pieced together the women\u2019s stories, passions, and concerns for their children to develop a tune unique to each. Shana, who had a toddler at home while caring for her newborn in the neonatal unit, says she uses music and poetry to cope with life\u2019s hardships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like poems, so I wrote one that they helped me put to a melody,\u201d says Shana, whose tune is inspired by the music of American gospel singer\u00a0<\/span>Kirk Franklin<\/a>. \u201cMy poem was about how what I went through was scary at first but it ends good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you have words and ideas, you begin thinking about the shape of those words,\u201d says Moore. \u201cSounds have shape, too, so from the lyrics it\u2019s easier to create the tune, beginning with some chords. And often they\u2019ll tell us a favorite song or songs that make them feel comfortable,\u201d so the musicians can use those as a guide. Shana, for example, wanted the song to be upbeat and played a tune she likes on her phone. \u201cShe was trying to portray that this baby was a miracle,\u201d French says.<\/p>\n

The pair was surprised by how each lullaby had strong, distinct influences. Erina, though Congolese, is a Spanish speaker who had lived in Cuba and created the ballad \u201cBienvenido Al Mundo\u201d with Spanish lyrics and a Spanish lilt to express her worries about her child\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Marle, who is learning English, wrote her lullaby \u201cFemme De Courage\u201d to her mother in the DRC, in their native French. \u201cHer whole family is in the Congo, including her children,\u201d French says. \u201cShe is here hoping to provide more opportunity for her kids, and wanted to write an ode to her mother for her love and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Shana\u2019s Song<\/strong>
I was told you wouldn\u2019t make it, the pain I couldn\u2019t take it\u2026 Miracles come, miracles come, miracles come in small packages. I got down on my knees and prayed, asked my God to make a way, a way to take out pain and stress, and replace it with joy and happiness.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shana\u2019s song, \u201cMommy\u2019s Miracle Baby,\u201d written in English, is American R&B, chosen for her love of the upbeat sound.<\/p>\n

The all-day process, in a BMC conference room, was followed by a recording session at Fern\u00e1ndez Via\u2019s apartment. Often the songs created through the Lullaby Project are recorded by professional singers, \u201cbut we want to encourage the women to sing their own songs,\u201d French says. \u201cThese were their lullabies, and as long as they felt comfortable we felt they should have ownership, so when they play it for the baby, the baby hears his mother\u2019s voice. We wanted them to be at the center of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first the women \u201cwere a little nervous, but we tried to keep it really relaxed,\u201d French says. \u201cIt was such a new experience for them.\u201d The musicians\u2014instrumentation included upright bass, cello, viola, keyboards, guitars, and some background vocals\u2014performed within the mothers\u2019 vocal comfort zones so they could sing the lullabies easily and naturally. \u201cIt\u2019s really for the women and their babies,\u201d says French.<\/p>\n

Despite her shyness, Shana sang her lullaby in front of an audience at an April 2016 Arts | Lab event, a stunning moment for her and for the musicians, who remain in touch with her. Her song acknowledges a debt to God for her baby\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n

Shana was nervous about singing in front of people, \u201cbut I wasn\u2019t scared,\u201d she says. \u201cI sang in a church choir in my country.\u201d The 30 people gathered in the BMC lobby were swept away by her song, says\u00a0French. She sang solo. She had dressed up for the event and had posted about it with pride on Facebook. \u201cShe\u2019d practiced the song a lot,\u201d French says. \u201cI cried when she sang.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help new mothers craft songs that their children are likely to sing to their own babies one day \u201cwas one of the most amazing creativity experiences,\u201d says French. \u201cWe really bonded with them.\u201d The mothers said they, too, hoped the songs would be passed along to future generations, \u201chopefully in a better place,\u201d and in a better situation, with their kids having what they need in life, French says. Shana sings her lullaby to Adriana, who is \u201cfine now.\u201d Her words, set to music, \u201cshould give other mothers hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Track 1:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Erina learned she was pregnant at age 40, soon after she arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She created the ballad \u201cBienvenido Al Mundo\u201d to express her worries about her child\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Track 2:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Marle, a Congolese immigrant, wrote the lullaby \u201cFemme De Courage\u201d for her mother, who stayed in the DRC.<\/p>\n

Track 3:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Shana wrote \u201cMommy\u2019s Miracle Baby\u201d while her daughter was in the neonatal unit at NSMC\/Salem Hospital. The song acknowledges a debt to God for her baby\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n

Read more articles in\u00a0Esprit<\/a>, the\u00a0publication for alumni and friends of the Boston University College of Fine Arts.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Susan Seligson | Photos by Asher+Oak PhotographyOriginally posted in the spring 2017 issue of\u00a0Esprit. When Shana, a young Congolese immigrant living in Lynn, Massachusetts, was 26 weeks pregnant, her baby stopped moving. Though doctors at nearby North Shore Medical Center (NSMC)\/Salem Hospital said the baby\u2019s heart was beating, they were sufficiently concerned to transfer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13703,"featured_media":87604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[192],"magazine-article-category":[],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[356,212,214],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/56181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56181"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/56181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93289,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/56181\/revisions\/93289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=56181"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=56181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}