Notes from Ella: Cathy Anderson
By Veronica Cross May 4, 2022
Cathy Anderson: Freelance Harpist begins journey of Cathy’s Healing Harp with guidance by The Ella Project
Cathy Anderson is a New Orleans-based harpist who performs in both music venues and healing environments. As a freelance musician adaptable to a wide range of performance, Cathy has worked with outfits including the New Orleans Opera, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre and Saenger Theatre productions. She has been the “Tea Harpist” for the New Orleans Ritz Carlton for over 20 years, and is a founding member of the Music Chamber Ensemble, which has received several Big Easy Awards for best chamber music performance, including their 2019 performance of “Angels in Flight” by Marjan Mozetich. She is also certified to teach the Suzuki Harp Method and has taught privately and in group settings.
As a client of The Ella Project, Cathy, along with her professional bassist husband Dave Anderson, have received pro-bono legal counsel regarding copyright, recording rights, and publishing in their collaborative and individual projects. Gene Meneray, Co-Founder of the Ella Project, serves on the Advisory Board for Cathy’s Healing Harp project, and recently recommended Cathy to attend the Creative Aging Seminar to further expand her outreach serving the elderly with harp music.
In the course of Cathy’s professional harp career, she witnessed the calming effect that her music had on others, and began to search for a way to expand her ability to share her music in healing-focused and clinical environments. To follow, Cathy enrolled in the Music for Healing and Transitions Program (MHTP) in 2012, attending five models of coursework over a two-year period to earn her certificate as a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP). In MHTP, she learned about HIPPA, hospital protocols, end-of-life care, and how to tailor her music to the individual needs of those suffering from illness with customized tempo, rhythm, mode and genre. Cathy then pondered if this meaningful call to service could be financially supported, and thereby successfully sustained.
It was her experience as a caregiver during her mother’s slow decline into dementia that provided impetus to share the soothing and uplifting song of the harp with the infirm and the elderly. While attending the MHTP virtual national conference in 2020, she learned of a grant toward improving the quality of life for residents of nursing homes, known as the Civil Monetary Penalty Fund. The conference presentation explained how to apply for these state administered funds, and Cathy was fortunate to receive excellent tutoring from the Louisiana Department of Health Medicaid and Medicare Services agent, helping her to design a grant as a private contractor in terms of financial compensation for work, travel, and taxes. Cathy was the first in the nation to receive a Civil Monetary Penalties grant to provide Live Therapeutic Music in nursing facilities.
While there is quantifiable science regarding the impact of music and sound on reducing pain, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, and connecting with memories in dementia and Alzheimers patients, it has been personal testimonials by clients, their loved ones, and care providers regarding client’s elevated moods and peaceful demeanor that drive Cathy’s music ministry. Cathy’s Healing Harp program was established in 2015, playing one-on-one at the bedside for patients in hospitals, hospice, and private homes, but it was only last year, in 2021, that she received the funding to play Live Therapeutic Music in nursing facilities throughout New Orleans. She has presented her experience as a music practitioner at the annual American Harp Society national conference and cross-referenced her experience with her students as she brought them to perform in nursing homes.
Cathy currently balances her time between her Healing Harp project, teaching, and freelancing, recently performing with her husband and son in the Mobile Symphony Orchestra in Alabama.
