Season’s greetings

Music therapist Megan Chappius helps Jamie Formisano use a switch to activate a bell sound.

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Hanukkah Dance” and a “Santa Claus Medley” were just some of the holiday songs performed by the Matheny Choirs on December 3 and 4 in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center.

The vocal choir and midi bell counterparts (for nonverbal participants) are part of Matheny’s unique music therapy program. The music therapy staff consists of five full-time, board-certified music therapists. The choirs perform throughout the year at a variety of venues. Their appearances this year included both Holiday Express benefit concerts, December 11 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ, and tonight (December 18) at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ; the Peapack–Gladstone tree lighting ceremony; and the annual Festival of Trees at the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge, NJ.

Matheny’s music therapy program also facilitates trips by students and patients to outside concerts and musical performances.

The vocal choir in full holiday swing.