By Susan Koenig
Some people can see a problem and then really do something about it. Ted Wagner is just such a person. A musician by trade, Wagner plays guitar with a band, Dazzler. When he volunteered at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg 23 years ago, he witnessed an “amazing transition” – using music as medicine – of unhappy young hospital patients into carefree kids who forgot about their pain and their fears through the power of music. Two years after that experience, Wagner founded MUSIC, Sweet Music, Inc. (MSM), a non-profit 501 (c)(3) based in South Pasadena.
MSM’s mission is to contract Board Certified Music Therapists (with their special instruments) who can provide Music Therapy sessions to children and adults with health issues. Currently, MSM works with three therapists, offering 1,300 therapy sessions to hospitalized and outpatient children, young adults, and adults at various Tampa Bay facilities.
Music Therapy helps those with chronic illness or pain, hearing loss, speech delay, ADD, extreme anxiety, Down Syndrome, autism, Alzheimer’s Disease, or people in correctional or rehabilitation settings.
MSM also provides Music Therapy for individuals with special needs in their South Pasadena studio. MSM depends on community support since many of their clients can’t afford their services nor do most insurances reimburse for music therapy.
Healing with sound is backed by science and clinical research. First used in 1945 by the U.S. War Department, music therapy helped military personnel recovering in Army hospitals in addition to occupational therapy and physical reconditioning. Today, music therapy is widely accepted as legitimate, and a respected, accredited academic field of study.
If you would like to help MSM, consider donating or attending their annual fundraising event 3/11 at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. For a donation of $100 per person, this “Tropical Gala” includes a waterfront dinner buffet, music, and dancing, and both a silent and live auction. 100% of the proceeds will benefit Music Therapy in Tampa Bay. Learn more at www.musicsweetmusic.org or contact Ted Wagner at 727-381-9095.
