Health care
BY SARAH HERNANDEZ
Christine Albert (left) and Gaea Logan founded Swan Songs in 2005
PHOTO BY CARRELL GRIGSBY, COURTESY OF SWAN SONGS
Loved ones and caregivers can request any genre, artist or musical instrument for a Swan Songs concert.
PHOTOS BY KIRSTIN BRIONES, COURTESY OF SWAN SONGS
Christine Albert was inspired to start Swan Songs after she played a “last wish” concert in the ‘90s.
Local nonpro t Swan Songs honors individuals’ last wishes through private end-of-life concerts
PHOTO BY RANDY DEES, COURTESY OF SWAN SONGS
transformation, and the man for whom Albert played the rst concert, John Swann. The impact Individuals’ loved ones and caregivers can request any style of music, song or instrument for their private concert, which is often played in health care facilities or private homes. A concert’s impact is multidimensional. Albert said there have been Swan Song concerts where a recipient has died during a performance or a few hours after the musicians leave. The environment could be a big celebration or a more somber event. She said every concert is a moving experience, regardless of the music played. Albert said Swan Songs did almost 50 concerts throughout Austin in April. The organization’s mission is carried on through its other programs, Gift of Song and Swan Songs Writing Sessions, and its growing a liate in Portland, Oregon. “A lot of the songs suddenly, when you’re doing one of these concerts, love songs become really big,” Albert said. “They become love songs to life, or they become the words that you’re trying to say to your loved one that you’re losing. It’s very profound, and the music [serves] them in that way.”
Founded in Austin in 2005, Swan Songs is dedicated to using music to bring joy and comfort to individuals with a terminal illness or near the end of their lives. The history In the early ‘90s, Swan Songs CEO and Founder Christine Albert had an experience that inspired her to organize private musical performances for individuals near death. Albert, a lifelong musician, was asked to play an intimate home concert for a 40-year-old man who had su ered a brain aneu- rysm and was in terminal condition. Albert said the man’s wife called her and requested the concert. She said the couple used to watch her perform at Waterloo Ice House on Sixth Street and Lamar Boulevard, until they stopped showing up. Albert and her musical trio played to a house full of the couple’s family and friends. “There’s something about music that speaks to emotions without you having to say it yourself or verbalize that,” Albert said. Years later, Albert, along with her co-founder, Gaea Logan, and the founding board members, formed the nonpro t organization named after swans, which often symbolize grace and
Swan Songs organizes private concerts for individuals with a terminal illness or near the end of their lives.
PHOTO BY LIZ MOSKOWITZ, COURTESY OF SWAN SONGS
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2101 S. I-35 frontage road, Ste. 219, Austin www.swansongs.org
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