Voices of Valor Changes Veterans Lives with Song Writing Program

The innovative Voices of Valor song-writing program has been changing lives of veterans, including many who suffer from PTSD and homelessness following their military service. This year five New Jersey locations are hosting sessions of the award-winning program developed by Music For All Seasons (MFAS).

MFAS Executive Director Brian Dallow, and Artistic Director Rena Fruchter developed the Voices of Valor program in 2010, collaborating with music and therapeutic professionals. With initial support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MFAS began reaching out to veterans, especially those who had recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Eight years later, the venture counts tremendous success with the multi-session program, which has been attended by veterans at varied institutions in New Jersey, New York, and California.

“It is particularly moving to see a group come together to compose a song over sessions involving intense interaction,” noted Artistic Director Rena Fruchter. In the initial meeting a group of 8-12 veterans share music that has great meaning for them – it could be a popular song, a jazz, folk, or classical selection.

Over the course of the subsequent group sessions, which are facilitated by experienced song writers such as Julian Fernandez and Kristen Thien (see bios below), along with mental health professionals, veterans share their very personal experiences of war and military service, and slowly a song emerges. The program culminates with a professional studio recording session and a CD release party.

This year, VOV sessions are being held in at the VA in East Orange, NJ; Veteran’s Haven North in Glen Gardner, NJ; Lyons VA Hospital in Lyons, NJ; Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ; and Veteran’s Haven South in Hammonton, NJ.

>The media is invited to attend the 6 pm, May 10 recording session for the Lyons Hospital group and meet with the participants. The recording studio is in Union City, NJ; please contact Rena Fruchter at 908 322-6300 to arrange the visit.

Prior musical experience is not a requirement for participation in the program, and veterans of all ages are invited to participate in the free program. Inquiries can be addressed to info@voicesofvalor.org, or (908) 322-6300.

Numerous participants have commented on the significant improvements in their lives following their experience in Voices of Valor. “You have given me something I will have for the rest of my life – a sense of accomplishment and a new sense of self,“ noted one veteran. “This program has changed my life,” said another. “It has given me back the joy and confidence I thought I had lost. The validation and acceptance has made me feel like I’m part of a large family.”

Music For All Seasons is deeply grateful to the supporters who have made the Voices of Valor program possible, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PNC Bank, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and many individual donors. For more information on Music For All Seasons and the Voices of Valor program, please visit www.musicforallseasons.org and www.voicesofvalor.org

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Guitarist, composer and arranger Julio Fernandez was raised in Hoboken, NJ and has been part of the New York area music scene for the past four decades. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Fernandez worked with publisher/songwriter Lou Stallman as a staff writer for Stallman Records based in NYC. He has more than 100 published songs, and has worked with many different artists including Bernie Williams, Dave Samuels, Chuck Loeb, Jay Beckenstein, Richie Cannata, Jeremy Wall, Marion Meadows, The Sugar Hill Gang, Tommy James, BB King, and David Broza, live and in the studio. For 33 years he has been a member of the contemporary jazz group Spyro Gyra. He has contributed more than 25 compositions to the group’s effort and has been assistant producer on the band’s last few albums. Fernandez, who has led many Voices of Valor sessions over the past __ years, was a co-producer of the Voices of Valor CD, Coming Home--Songs of American Veterans.

Singer/songwriter Kirsten Thien was born on an Army base in Berlin, Germany, moving with her family to Maine soon after. Thien developed her talent from a young age, inspired by the music of Linda Ronstadt and “Northern Baptist” style church singing. While attending Georgetown University, her music was transformed with the discovery of Aretha Franklin, traditional New Orleans jazz and the classic women blues singers of the 1920s. Settling in New York and releasing her debut CD, She Really Is, Kirsten embarked on extensive touring in the U.S. and Ireland. On the merits of her sophomore release You’ve Got Me on Screen Door Records, Thien won the Abe Olman Award for Excellence in Songwriting in 2009. In May of 2014 Kirsten Thien was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame.

Music For All Seasons Co-founder and Artistic Director Rena Fruchter is a distinguished pianist, writer and educator. Her performances have taken her throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and the Far East in both solo and ensemble appearances. With long-time friend and colleague Dudley Moore, Fruchter toured the United States and Australia in duo-piano performances. A Philadelphia native, she made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of six. At age 11, she gave her first performance with the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler at the Esplanade, later returning to perform the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Boston Pops in Symphony Hall. A graduate of Brandeis University, Fruchter also holds degrees in both piano performance and pedagogy from the Royal College of Music in London, England. For 12 years, she was a music columnist for The New York Times/NJ Weekly, and music critic of the Central New Jersey Home News. She was also a music critic and an arts commentator for New Jersey Public Television, a critic and London music correspondent for the Boston Herald and a contributor to many other publications. Fruchter is the author of critically acclaimed books -- two biographies, Dudley Moore—An Intimate Portrait, and I’m Chevy Chase…and you’re not. Her most recent book is The Orchestra Murders—A Cynthia Masters Mystery.

Music For All Seasons Co-founder and Executive Director Brian Dallow is a composer who studied at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, the London School of Economics, Brandeis University, and Rutgers University. He holds degrees in performance, composition and theory, and musicology. Dallow has taught music theory and composition at Rutgers and Temple universities and is the co-author of Elemental Music Craft., a textbook published by Rutgers University Press. His compositions include chamber music, incidental music for theatre and film, as well as scores for four musicals. In addition to his work with Music For All Seasons, Dallow has served as founding co-chair of the Alliance for Arts and Health New Jersey, and as a member of the Research Committee of the Global Alliance for Arts and Health. He is co-founder of the New York Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey (now The Discovery Orchestra).

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