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Who We Are
Music In Hospices is an organisation co-founded in 2023 by Joseph Cavalli-Price and Mared Pugh-Evans with the generous support of the Royal Academy Of Music's Jacob Barnes Prize to encourage and facilitate music in Hospice and palliative care settings. We aim to bring the joy of live music Hospices across the country - allowing families to make lifelong memories through music at a time when they need it most.
"Patients who listened to music reported less pain, anxiety, nausea, shortness of breath, and feelings of depression, as well as an increase in feelings of well-being after listening to the music."
Ways We Help
Meaningful Work. Unforgettable Experiences.
Our Story
Music In Hospices stemmed from a deeply personal moment between our founder, Joseph Cavalli-Price, and his mother in December 2019 as she was approaching the end of her battle with terminal Brain Cancer in a local Hospice.
Feeling increasingly helpless and with his mum being non-verbal he felt unable to effectively communicate with her. This is where he turned to music: the gift his Mother had encouraged in him, was something he was now using to communicate with and express his feelings to her at the end of her life.
Whilst this was a deeply personal tribute and one of their final special moments together, it had a wider impact. Hospice staff, patients and patient’s families' expressed how much they enjoyed hearing live music on the ward: how it gave them special moments with their own families, how it relieved stress and improved their general mood and how much they would love to hear more music at the Hospice.
Meet the Team
The Faces of Our Organisation
JOSEPH CAVALLI-PRICE
Founder
‘A singer who plays piano, whatever will they think of next?’ — Roderick Williams
Welsh-Italian pianist Joseph Cavalli-Price is an alumni of the Collaborative Piano course at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Michael Dussek, Joseph Middleton and Malcolm Martineau; attaining a Professional Diploma and Masters with Distinction and a DipRAM for an outstanding final recital. He previously graduated from the Vocal and Opera Course at the Royal Welsh College of Music, with first-class honours.
Generously supported by the Jacob Barnes Prize and the Royal Academy of Music's Open Academy, Joseph is passionate about bringing the joy of live music to Hospice and Palliative Care settings.
MARED PUGH-EVANS
Co-Founder
Mared Emyr Pugh-Evans is an international prize winning harpist from Borth, Ceredigion. She is a freelance musician based in London and works with the Music for Life programme at Wigmore Hall. From September 2022 to July 2023 she was an Open Academy Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music's Learning and Participation programme. She graduated with an MA (Performance - 1st Class), LRAM and DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in 2022 having studied under Karen Vaughan, Head of Harp; received her First Class Honours BMus degree in 2020 from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff with Caryl Thomas; and her DipABRSM (Harp) in 2019.
"Music therapy in end-of-life care aims to improve a person’s quality of life by helping to relieve symptoms, address psychological needs, offer support and comfort, facilitate communication and meet spiritual needs. It is based on the understanding that all human beings are able to respond to music irrespective of ability or disability."
Monica McCahery
Senior Educator - Wigan and Leigh Hospice
Contact Music In Hospices
Get in touch with Music In Hospices to learn more about our work and how you can get involved.
Music In Hospices
Flat 7, 85 Frampton Street,
London,
NW8 8NQ
Our Sponsors
Generously Supported By:
The Royal Academy of Music
Jacob Barnes Prize