My experience of the magic that Matthew Seager experienced at Berkeley Court stretches back even further (A moment that changed me: I played My Way to people with dementia. The effect – the sheer clarity – was like magic, 20 September). Alongside my main business of singing at weddings at parties, I have been singing in care homes for the past 16 years. I shared Matthew’s trepidation approaching my early gigs, and one of the first ones nearly put me off for good when, in a lull between songs, one resident screamed out from the back of the room: “Dear God, make it stop!”
But I persisted, and I am so glad that I did. I have shared Matthew’s sense of wonder at witnessing the effect that music has on people. Not quite on the scale that he saw at that care home in 2013, but so many individual moments. I’ve seen people who staff knew to be almost mute on a day-to-day basis joining in with every word of every song I’ve sung. I’ve seen the scowling and argumentative turn from railing against having to sit and listen to me perform to smiling and singing loudly in an instant, as if a switch had been thrown. In fact I see this at pretty much every gig I do, and I’ve done hundreds over the years.
To see the power of music in this way close up is a humbling experience. To be able to do it for a living is a privilege.
Simon Partridge
Lichfield, Staffordshire
• Matthew Seager’s tale of lighting up dementia patients with singalong music brought back poignant memories of my sister with Alzheimer’s in her wonderful nursing home. Towards the end of her life and in lockdown, when we were unable to visit, the lovely care assistant would enable contact via FaceTime. My two sisters and I years ago had been used to singing the Beverley Sisters’ song Sisters as our party piece. So I discovered a recording and played it on FaceTime to my sister. We both sang along and she remembered the words, which was astonishing. The power of music is immense.
Catherine Roome
Staplehurst, Kent
• I’m delighted that Matthew Seager is no longer anxious about being with people with dementia. I have now made a mental note to add to my future “do not resuscitate” tattoo one that says “no Sinatra – only Springsteen will do”.
Sally Cheseldine
Balerno, Edinburgh
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
