Songs of Healing: Two Threshold Choirs Forming

From caregivers and office help to videographers and painters, hundreds of volunteers offer a variety of gifts of service to the patients and staff at Hospice of the Chesapeake. Starting in 2016, there will be one more gift volunteers can give – their voice.

We are forming two Threshold Choirs – the Anne Arundel County Threshold Choir led by Sharon Igoe Von Behren, and the Prince George’s GIFTS Choir, led by Donna Stewart-Moore.

Threshold Choirs sing at the homes and bedsides of hospice patients to bring ease and comfort to those at the thresholds of living and dying. “A calm and focused presence, with gentle voices, simple songs and sincere kindness, can be soothing and reassuring to clients, family and caregivers alike,” the national organization’s website, http://thresholdchoir.org, explains. As of 2014, there were more than 100 chapters of the Threshold Choir in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. It is Hospice of the Chesapeake’s plan to establish a chapter to serve Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties.

The two volunteers who have taken on the task of leading these two choirs offer life experiences filled with song. Von Behren has been singing since 9, when she sang in the junior choir at her church. But for a brief hiatus, she has been a church musician ever since. She also has sung with several choirs, including the Baltimore Symphony Choir, and presently is the director of Arundel Singers, an all-volunteer community chorus based in Ferndale.

Stewart-Moore said she “lives and breathes music” and has been singing since 5, when she was asked to sing “Away in a Manger” in school. A former Metropolitan Police Officer for 20 years, she sang for 18 of them with the Metropolitan Police Side-by-Side band. “It was part of the Officer Friendly program, a community relations program with all the school in D.C.,” she said. “I still meet young people who remember me singing at their school.”

Now she performs with the Perpetual Glory Choir in Washington, D.C. And though she did direct a youth choir at St. Matthias, she said it is a calling to lead the Threshold Choir, something she knew she had to do. “I’m going to be winging it like most people,” she said. “I’m stepping out on faith.”

Singers will be asked to participate at least twice a month in a choir practice and give two to four hours a month in song. Though singers will need to have the ability to carry a tune, Von Behren said that there are other needs for each choir, from schedulers to librarians. “I can’t stress this enough – all are welcome. Everyone has a place. Everyone belongs.”

People interested in getting involved can attend one of two informational meetings:

· The Anne Arundel County Threshold Choir -- 7 p.m. Jan. 12, John & Cathy Belcher Campus, 90 Ritchie Highway, Pasadena, Maryland.

· The Prince George’s GIFTS Choir -- 7 p.m. Jan. 14, Hospice of the Chesapeake’s Prince George’s County office, Suite 250, 9500 Arena Drive, Largo.

For details, contact Kris Carpenter-Zyla at kcarpenterzyla@hospicechesapeake.org or 410.987.2003.