Can You Hear Me? was developed by host Cheyenne Mize as an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin in 2019-2020.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic brought on widespread, mandated social isolation, I knew it was imperative to find new ways to connect through music, across time and space. My hope with this audio program is for listeners to have a chance to sing along to familiar songs of various genres, to hear voices and stories of elders and creative folks in the Louisville area, and to be challenged and empowered to try other creative experiences and share them back with the community.”
Can You Hear Me? is funded in part by grant funding from the Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Society UK in partnership with the Global Brain Health Institute, as well as an Artist Enrichment grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
Other partners and collaborators include IDEAS xLab, University of Louisville Creative Placehealing Collaborative, and Timeslips Creative Storytelling.
About the Host:
Cheyenne Mize is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and board certified music therapist born and raised in Kentucky. Cheyenne has received recognition from the NYTimes, NPR, Paste Magazine and others for her recordings, and was named Best Singer/Songwriter in the first annual Louisville Music Awards in 2013. She has performed around the US, Canada, Europe and India, playing her own music as well as with Bonnie Prince Billy, Maiden Radio and others.
Recognizing the power in music to do more than entertain, she has spent her career promoting the use of music as a point of connection and transformation within and between individuals, and for a community as a whole. She has worked in hospitals, schools, care homes and community settings, with everyone from neonates to elders. With a specific interest in equitable access to creative arts engagement opportunities, in 2014 she and Nina Rodahaffer co-founded Strive— a 501(c)(3) organization providing creative wellness opportunities to the Louisville community. She has since continued her work as a music therapist/performer/teacher, as well as an artist facilitator with IDEAS xLab and TimeSlips. In August 2020 she completed an Atlantic Fellowship for Equity in Brain Health with the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin.