Professor takes on duel role as teacher and musician

By Beth Reilly
Collegian Staff
March 21, 2007

Often we forget how many people are muti-talented. However, not everyone uses their talents to benefits others, especially not others in need.

La Salle has one of those professors who is just as energetic, compassionate and interested about teaching as he is about helping others.

For the past three years, David Falcone has been a member of the respected musical organization, Musicians on Call.

Musicians on Call is a group of musicians who dedicate their time each month to performing for sick patients in hospitals in the Philadelphia and New York areas.

Falcone, an associate professor in the Psychology Department, plays twice a month at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

During his visits, he travels from room to room playing his original music to patients and visitors. Falcone is accompanied by a guide who enters the room first and makes sure that the patient is up for a performance.

He then introduces Falcone, who plays by the patient’s bedside until it is time to move on to the next room.

“The first time I performed I was nervous because it had been a while since I performed,” he said. “You’re performing in cancer wards and pre-op wards, and you’re not sure about speaking with the patients. But it’s not about speaking to them, it’s all about the music.”

Falcone’s music is finger style acoustic with a reflection of Irish Celtic sounds.

“It’s really all about the music,” he said. “If I learned anything from this program and from the audience’s reaction, it’s that music is a powerful medium, especially in a hospital room.”

One of the most rewarding moments of his gig with Musicians on Call is watching the patients and their families.

Often the patients will nod their head or feet along to the music, dance in their beds or just close their eyes and listen.

“The feeling of being there is all very human,” Falcone said. “Living in a world where we pass each other constantly, not knowing one another. But with this experience, you feel like you’re part of a whole. Strangers in a room build a relationship after a few notes are played. We need more of that, because it’s very inspiring.”

In the past Falcone and Musicians on Call have been featured on CBS 3 Philadelphia for their efforts in the local hospitals. Musicians on Call is a New York based non-profit organization, and is locally partnered with the University of Pennsylvania’s radio station, WXPN.

Currently, Musicians on Call is looking for more volunteers to help the program, primarily guides.

Musicians and those interested in becoming guides can find information at www.musiciansoncall.org or www.xpn.org.

reillyb1@lasalle.edu