In 2022, Ann Pizzorusso, after the loss of her partner, Giuseppe De Matola, a Neapolitan rock’n roll saxophone player, established a scholarship program in his honor at the oldest music conservatory in the world, San Pietro a Majella in Naples. In 2023, 5 scholarships were awarded and in 2024 an additional 5 will be awarded. Many of the awardees were not from Naples but from many areas of the South, especially Sicily and Calabria.
This year, she discovered the little-known field of saxophone music therapy. On April 12, 2024, at the Conservatory, she is sponsoring a unique conference which will explore the therapeutic effects of sax music on the body and mind.
Prof. Francesco Burrai, a renowned expert in music medicine as well as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and quantum physics in healthcare applications, will present results of his groundbreaking work on the healing effects of saxophone music. His studies, which have been published in peer reviewed journals such as “Journal of Renal Care” and the “Journal of Cardiac Failure” have documented the benefits of sax music on patients suffering from anxiety, depression, chronic pain, heart ailments, Parkinson’s hypertension, insomnia and reduced cognitive state.
He is now experimenting with virtual reality to offer patients a multisensory experience, including music, which will isolate them from the exterior world, offer pain and anxiety relief and possibly a more rapid recovery in cardiac rehabilitation.
The saxophone is unique because it so closely resembles the human voice. With its dynamic range of tones–the widest of all woodwinds–it is ideally suited to stimulate various areas of the brain, resulting in healing and mood change. Prof. Burrai will explain the protocol he developed to select and play the sax music suitable for the patient and specific illness, as well as the instruments used to measure and quantify the results. A number of musical pieces specially designed for treatment, which he composed, will be played by students, many of them winners of the Giuseppe De Matola scholarship. With Burrai’s guidance, they will demonstrate the techniques used in sax therapy. He will end with a presentation of ideas on the use of the latest computer and medical instruments to enhance the efficacy of this unique treatment.
Current research is able to see and measure the neurons which are activated when the brain experiences different compositions. In music that is pleasing to the listener, the neurons will actually “light up” and follow along with the beat. The greatest benefit is that the nerve cells in the brain will release substances such as dopamine which is a natural mood enhancer and aid to the immune system, offering a drug-free alternative to promote mental and physical wellbeing.
For additional information refer to the site www.giuseppedematolasax.com
