Good Reads

Singing to end stigma

Saba Salman meets the people behind a new project bringing together composers, musicians and people with experience of conditions such as schizophrenia and depression, in an attempt to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Frances Richens
1 min read

Young composers and people with experience of mental illness are using the genre of classical song to de-stigmatise the issue.

The unique collaboration, which includes compelling descriptions of being sectioned and frank accounts of life with mental illness, culminates in two free public concerts in London. They take place on Tuesday 24 March at St Mary’s Church, near Lewisham hospital, and Wednesday 25 March at Guy’s Chapel, Guy’s hospital.

The Creative Madness in Song project is run by charity Song in the City with The Maudsley Charity, part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. The awareness-raising drive involves composers working with texts written by people with experience of conditions such as schizophrenia and depression; the songs are performed by classically-trained singers and pianists… Keep reading on The Guardian