A session titled ‘Music - A Powerful Tool for Social Empowerment' was recently organised as a part of MOG Sundays - curated by Dr. Subodh Kerkar - an initiative to bring to the public a series of talks, films and expressions from stalwarts of various creative fields, worldwide. The two hour long event was hosted at the Museum of Goa (MOG).
Varun Carvalho and Irina Moroz narrated how music could be used to raise the consciousness of individuals and how these enlightened individuals could play their part in making the world a better place.
The speakers are the founders of the ‘RiseNation Army', a non-profit organisation that travels around schools and colleges in their RiseNation Music Truck empowering kids through music.
Varun Carvalho is a singer, songwriter, dentist, social entrepreneur and free thinker. He performs with his band RiseNation and performs at various music festivals all over the world. His songs have featured on MTV and Vh1 and have also composed anthems for FC Goa, The Indian Film Festival among others.
Irina Moroz is a poet, singer, songwriter, multilinguist. She considers herself a world citizen as she spent her childhood in different parts of the world.
After finishing her studies in History and Mass Communication, she realised that music can evolve people to a different level and believes that her main purpose in life is to bring about this change.
The session was opened by Dr.Subodh Kerkar, introducing the artist-speakers and giving insights into their background.
Varun and Irina started the session with a song I feel so good and let their music do the talking while making the audience realise that music could actually alter the state of consciousness!
The speakers then enlightened the audience about the science behind their altered state of mind by explaining how music releases the chemical dopamine - a neurotransmitter which makes people ‘feel' good. Varun attested to it that performing releases more dopamine than listening.
The artists made the enthusiastic crowd sing along with them in their performances, making the session a collective interaction.
Irina then briefed the audience on the various role music plays in uniting people, evolving individuals and thereby uplifting the society.
She detailed on the how music activates parts of brain in improving problem solving skills in academic as well as social settings, decreasing stress and increasing the creative functioning, bridging the right and left hemispheres.
Varun explained about how the corpus callosum which connects the left and the right hemispheres of the brain gets activated through music. He mentioned that professional musicians have higher IQ when compared to normal people.
Irina talked about the symbiotic relation of music and health, both mental and physical. Varun added that half an hour of music could help decrease the anxiety levels of kids and make them perform better in academics.
They also talked about the use of music in treating diseases like the Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Then the speakers shared their insights on ‘Self High' - a method they are trying to develop where they use music as a tool to meditate, promoting the idea of meditation and making meditation a much more enjoyable process!
They also went on to talk about the influence of music on society. Varun opined that music reflects and represents the society. He mentioned about his experience on the anthem he created for F.C Goa, and how it permeated to the every corner of Goa and transcended class/caste barriers.
The speakers concluded the session by emphasising on the abilities and the power of music to transform socities. Sharing some of their personal learnings, Irina shared how music helps her to not stagnate and work beyond the rational.
She pointed out that music allows people to traverse time, taking them into the past and the future as well as getting them back into reality. Varun also spoke about the timelessness of music.
"We have music from birth; it goes to your grave and even years after that," he said.
