The Music Medicine by Frénk van der Linden is finished! The documentary will premiere at de Schuur in Haarlem on May 11, 2025. After that, the film can be seen in several theaters throughout the country! “People don’t just want to sing Mary had a little lamb with a volunteer, sometimes they need a serious opera aria. – said Maartje de Lint, singer and trainer.
It is a miraculous phenomenon: patients with dementia, in whom memory (and sometimes speech) are severely impaired, can often sing along flawlessly with a song from the past. By singing along they regain their ability to speak, and not infrequently all kinds of memories.
Classical singer Maartje de Lint was so captivated by this phenomenon that she decided to make it her daily work. “I sing and dance with people affected by dementia. De Lint uses the BASE method she developed for her Singing Circles, among other things. During these meetings, people with dementia (as well as their caregivers) are trained to sing together. It is a source of comfort: their “sound memory” turns out to be a human capital. Eli, an elderly Moluccan man, experiences firsthand how much happier singing makes him. He shares this with his daughter Shirley, who is training to become a Care Singer with De Lint.
Theo with dementia and his wife Nelly also draw joy from music during this difficult stage of life. Theo is a big fan of Paling pop, and has “Mooi Volendam” as his favourite song. At least ten times a day he listens to the song, and every time tears run down his cheeks. Theo is taking part in a major medical study organized by the Alzheimer’s Center of the Amsterdam UMC. Scientists are looking for the answer to the question of what happens in the brain when people with different dementia variants listen to music that is dear to them.
Premiere The Music Medicine, May 11th 2025 at de Schuur Haarlem
