Harmony & Healing is a new nonprofit based in San Ramon. The charity's mission is to bring live music to the bedsides and community spaces of patients and their loved ones in hospitals, clinics, cancer support groups, Ronald McDonald Houses, and other healthcare facilities. Visits from Harmony & Healing musicians lift the spirits of patients and their families by giving them an opportunity to ignore their medical challenges while they enjoy a live performance. Music has been proven to lower stress levels, bring about positive associations, and restore happiness to patient's lives and the lives of their loved ones, according to Harmony & Healing Founder and musician David Victor.

"While touring with legendary rock group Boston, I witnessed the way that music uplifts people of all ages," says Victor, who is also Founder and CEO of Boomcycle Digital Marketing. "During one tour, I had a chance to visit Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach and play music for the kids in the pediatric oncology ward. It was the most meaningful musical experience of my life. I realized that making the sick feel better and lifting them up spiritually was the absolute best application of music. In my opinion, music is the closest thing to magic that we humans have ever invented."

Outsiders might be surprised to discover that music is a clinically valid modality for healing, according to Victor. "Many people are completely unaware that many hospitals now have full-time music therapists on their staff. The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto has at least two. It is actually a viable career path for musicians that did not exist until recently."

Thus far Harmony & Healing musicians, which include Victor, have played at San Ramon Regional three times in February alone and also played at Doctors Medical in Modesto. An upcoming visit to a hospital in Pleasanton is also planned. "We are very happy that hospitals are starting to get the word about Harmony and Healing," notes Victor, who encourages the Hacienda community to let medical professionals know about the charity and its mission.

"We are also interested in hearing about professional musicians who would like to be a part of our organization, too," he says. "The goal is to get as many live musicians in front of as many hospital and hospice patients as we can, bringing them soothing and heartfelt live music that resonates in their souls, brings them solace, and gives them hope for tomorrow."

To kick start its first major outreach and awareness campaign, the charity is planning an inaugural Harmony & Healing Benefit Concert at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore at a date to be determined. SUPERGROUP SF, Victor's own band, will headline the event and perform the greatest hits of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. The show will feature music from popular groups and artists such as Train, Journey, Metallica, Bonnie Raitt, Creedence Clearwater, and Janis Joplin. Local sponsors are expected to include 10 wineries that will offer samples.

For more information about Harmony & Healing, please visit www.harmonyandhealing.org.