Virginia is a Certified Music Practitioner with the Music for Healing and Transition Program. She has been a keyboardist all her life, serving as organist for fourteen years (1989-2003) at Blacksburg United Methodist Church in southwest Virginia, home of Virginia Tech. For the last ten years she has specialized in healing melodies played on her Celtic harps. Virginia uses the principles of music-rhythm, harmony, and melody- to help provide an aural aura which promotes healing. Her music is offered at the bedside as neither performance nor entertainment; she supplies a "ministry of presence" to patients, family, friends, and staff.
Musician in
Residence at University of Virginia Hospital
Virginia
is engaged in a pilot project at University of Virginia
Hospital as a Musician-in-Residence, where she offers
harp music at the bedside, not as entertainment or performance,
but to provide a healing milieu for patients, family,
and staff.
MUSICIAN
Musaic: A Sampler
Virginia
and her husband Dick, tenor, have created a mosaic of
music for classical organ and piano, harp, and voice,
including hymns and popular melodies.Learn
more...
Healing Harp Melodies I and II
These 2 recordings, each at least 50 min. in length, are intentionally designed with 9-10 familiar compositions, including Clair de Lune, Brahms Lullaby, Vesper Hymn, Scarborough Fair, Danny Boy, Annie Laurie, etc. followed by a similar number of less familiar tunes to enable the mind, body, and spirit to become gradually unfocused and totally relaxed. Responses have indicated that these CDs have alleviated pain and insomnia and are effective in massage therapy and meditation/prayer sessions.
"Thank you for your beautiful CD. We played it for our mother over and over again in her last hours." M.L.
"Our pastor has used your CD during quiet time in our prayer group to help us in centering." J.M.
"I use your CDs frequently in my massage practice, and many clients have purchased them." C.Z.
" One of the clients in my physical therapy practice related that her pain level had decreased from 9 to 7 after listening to your CD." K.C.
Healing Harp Melodies I has sold over 2500 copies
to date (September, 2007). Listen
to samples or order these CDs.
Christmas Fantasia
The
Divertimento Trio, also of Blacksburg, Virginia, presents
54 minutes of holiday favorites for flute, dulcimer, and
harp. Listen
to a sample or order this CD.
Healing Harp Melodies: Christmas
68 minutes of subtle arrangements of holiday
music. The CD artwork features Chrismons (Christ Monograms)
from First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, NC. Proceeds
benefit the building of 5 Habitat houses by First Presbyterian
Church. Listen
to a sample or order this CD.
Healing
Harp Melodies: Hymns and Spiritual Songs
This
CD features harpers Virginia Bethune, Helen, Hannah, and
Emily Cooley, and Sally Millar on flute. Listen
to a sample or oder this CD.
AUTHOR
N/A
RESEARCHER
N/A
EDUCATOR
Learn-to-Play-a-Folk-Harp
Workshop
Since
2003 Virginia has presented Learn-to-Play-a-Folk-Harp
Workshops for nearly 50 students, ages 8-84. These workshops
have an 8-hr 2 day format, with harp and workbook provided.
Issuing from these endeavours have been harp circles in
the New River Valley, Va. (near Blacksburg), Greensboro,
NC, and Central Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. Join her
in June 2008 for a workshop @ the Montreat, NC Worship
and Music Conferences, sponsored by the Presbyterian Association
of Musicians, near Asheville.
A Music for Healing workshop will also be presented at
this same conference.
Music
and Speaking Engagements
June
2008- Worship and Music Conferences,
sponsored by the Presbyterian Association of
Musicians,
Montreat, NC
August 2008- Worship and Music Conferences, Massanetta
Springs Presbyterian Conference
Center
October 2008- Southeastern Harp Weekend, Asheville, NC
August 2007 - Virginia was a music leader for the Health,
Healing, and Wholeness Conference
in Montreat.
OTHER
Community Leader
In
2002 the music staff at Blacksburg, Va. United Methodist
Church and the Pairs and Spares S.S. Class began the Build-a-House-with-Art-and-Music
project. Almost $80,000 (May 2008) has been raised through
the sales of 8 CDs produced by staff memebers.
Click
here or more information on the New River Habitat
Project.
Proceeds from the sale of Healing Harp Melodies:Christmas
will help to fund a Habitat initiative in Greensboro,
NC, where First Presbyterian Church plans to build 5 houses
in the next 5 years.
Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation.
Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound. — Kabir
The Healing Music Organization and The Healing Music Foundation
P.O. Box 3731, Santa Cruz, CA 95063 - 831.588.7498
Any questions, problems or suggestions please contact
us.
Healingmusic.org and "A Really Good HMO" are trademarks of The Healing Music Organization.
All other products and services mentioned are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective organizations.
Copyright
2000-2007, Amrita Cottrell and The Healing Music Organization. All rights
reserved.