Participating Artists
Harmony & Healing Basics for Artists
Basic Information for Participating Artists
What Is Harmony & Healing? (Watch this Video!)
Harmony & Healing believes in the power of music to bring light and comfort, especially during life’s most tender moments. That’s why we connect talented, compassionate artists with hospice and hospital patients and their families, offering live Zoom musical performances filled with joy and connection.
Our artists perform live via Zoom, typically for a whole group gathered together in a hospice, hospital or rehab facility. Think of yourself as going on a special “musical visit” – sharing stories behind the music, and then filling the space with your beautiful sound.
Performances can be soloists or small groups (experience has proven that it’s easier to schedule with just one other person).
Audio Considerations
To make these visits special, a home studio setup with good lighting and sound is mandatory.
If you can carry the performance with your voice and instrument, that’s amazing! Backing tracks can also add a welcome fullness, and for vocalists, they’re often a must unless you can accompany yourself on guitar or keyboard.
To use backing tracks or another instrument such as keyboards or (typically) guitar on a Harmony & Healing Musical Visit, you’ll need to use a small mixer so that Zoom only has to deal with a single sound source –the output of your mixer. Trying to use backing tracks playing through a speaker in the room generally comes off quite “tinny” and we do not recommend doing that.
Of course, we understand that not everyone can afford a mixer, but there are some very inexpensive mixers which can do a fine job and it’ll pay for itself after your first Harmony & Healing visit!
A quick test-recording on Zoom beforehand will reveal any tech gremlins hiding in the background. You can record yourself anytime and play it back to determine if your setup is working properly. Technology can be a bit mischievous sometimes!
Musical Visits usually last between 45 minutes to an hour, giving you time to really connect with your audience.
Conducting Musical Zoom Visits
If you are accepted as a Harmony & Healing Visiting Artist, you will be added to the schedule to deliver virtual performances via Zoom for our patients. Naturally you will be able to accept or turn down any request we send you based on your schedule. Visits are typically scheduled on weekdays (95% of the time), either late morning or early afternoon.
We’ll equip you with essential information about the patient and any specific requests they might have.
During your performance, we encourage you to interact with patients by taking song requests, sharing musical stories or experiences. However, you must never ask their names, why they’re “in there”, or any other personal information due to HIPAA considerations (patient privacy).
Technical Requirements
At minimum, to ensure a seamless virtual performance, artists will need:
- A stable internet connection
- Access to the Zoom platform
- A professional quality microphone
- A professional quality mixer.
It’s easy to check the results; simply ask a friend to view/listen to a Zoom session, or record your own Zoom session.
Further technical requirements, if any, will be communicated during the onboarding process.
In-Person Musical Visits
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harmony & Healing operated as a fully virtual organization, delivering musical experiences remotely. As conditions have evolved, we’ve observed a growing interest from rehabilitation centers, hospices, and hospitals in hosting live, in-person musical visits.
While these in-person engagements remain less common than our virtual offerings, their frequency is steadily increasing. We are delighted to accommodate these requests by providing talented artists to facilities whenever and wherever a visit can be arranged.
If you know of a qualified hospice, hospital, or rehabilitation facility that is equipped to host Zoom visits, we warmly invite you to connect them with us at Harmony & Healing. By establishing a relationship with the facility, there may be opportunities for you to be scheduled for in-person visits, with corresponding compensation provided (details below).
If the spirit moves you, please encourage the facility’s Recreation Director, Entertainment Director, or Activities Director to reach out to us directly at hello@harmonyandhealing.org. We look forward to exploring how we can collaborate to bring the healing power of music to their community.
Artist Compensation – 2025
Training and Support
Harmony & Healing is dedicated to providing our artists with the necessary support and resources. This includes training sessions to prepare you for your virtual performances and access to a supportive artist community. We’re here to help you every step of the way.
Time Commitment
A typical virtual musical visit in an organizational (hospice, hospital or rehab with multiple patients watching) runs approximately 45-60 minutes. It can go longer if the Patient wishes and the Artist agrees. For private visits, they have historically varied between 5 (yes, five!) to 60 minutes. It usually depends on the Patient; some (especially in hospice) have little stamina for participation.
We understand that our artists have varying schedules. However, we do ask for some regular availability, typically weekday afternoons. You may perform once per quarter, once a month, or more often.
Typically our Participating Artists can expect to perform several times per year, depending on the number of requests and genre of music requested by our patients.
Specifics of this will be discussed during the onboarding process and prior to each musical visit.
Code of Ethics and Professionalism
As a representative of Harmony & Healing, we expect all artists to uphold a high standard of professionalism and ethical conduct. This encompasses respecting the privacy and dignity of our patients, adhering to our guidelines for suitable content and interaction, and punctuality for scheduled performances.
What Are You Waiting For?
Together, we can make a profound difference in people’s lives through the universal language of music. If you’re ready to use your musical talents to enhance someone’s life journey, we look forward to welcoming you as a Harmony & Healing participating artist.
Founded in January, 2019, Harmony & Healing is a hospital and healthcare facility music charity, and an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization, founded by San Ramon resident and former BOSTON band member, David Victor.
Our EIN is 83-3162389 and our mailing address is:
HARMONY & HEALING
11040 Bollinger Canyon Road Suite E-938
San Ramon, CA 94582
Our phone number is: 925.364.4517
See our non-discrimination policy here.
Learn more about how Harmony & Healing started here.
