“Therapeutic concerts from SPbU” in Finland

— The art, not only science, can prevent and ward off various diseases, — said Director of SPbU’s Medical College, Honoured Doctor Anatoly Zhirkov. — Music can inspire calmness, decrease anxiety, relieve pain, increase our physical capacity, improve memory, and maintain healthy heart rate and blood pressure.  Today we have 20 facts about how listening to music can positively influence us. Our approach is slightly different as we analyse it on the grounds of clinical medicine.

 Mikko Oinenen opened the event and Finnish musicians played a number of musical pieces by the Russian composers, which was followed by a report “Music, blood pressure and health” delivered by Anatoly Zhirkov, and finally we saw a video accompanied by music which was prepared by Olga and Henry Kolari, Finnish musicians and adaptors of folk and classical music. Music was played on the background video of landscapes in central Finland. We could assess how music induced psycho-somatic changes.

 The event was highly lauded, and today we are discussing how we can improve these concerts and arrange them in central Finland. Hopefully, our Finnish colleagues will visit us during Russian-Finnish cultural dialogue and will be actively engaged in therapeutic concerts at SPbU.

For reference:

Since 2014, when the University introduced some changes in the programme “Nursing care”, SPbU has held therapeutic concerts on a regular basis. The art director of the musical events is Professor Aleksey Panov, SPbU. The events feature both students and popular musicians, among them is Galina Zhukova, SPbU Associate Professor, pianist, winner of the international competitions, and Andrey Kolomiytsev, SPbU senior lecturer, organist, harpsichordist, winner of the international organ competitions of the ancient music.