Music And Wellness

This new post is probably one of the first posts that I should have added when I started my new website.

No problem. It's here now with a few updates.

MUSIC AND WELLNESS 

(IT'S THE HAPPY WEEKLY RADIO PROGRAM WHERE "WEALTH-OF-HEALTH WELLNESS AND ANTI-AGING 101 AND 505" MEET "POLKA, EUROPEAN FOLK, AND WORLD MUSIC 101 AND 505.")

You may be interested in the following information which focuses on the positive healing power of European "blue collar" ethnic, folk, world, and polka music. Since there is a rather large multi-ethnic community of European origin in the nation and also a rather large percentage of that multi-ethnic community is now retired(according to the recent national demographics),the program designed to meet the needs of these people was long overdue.

The question is....What's really NEW in musical enjoyment, especially for the retired, in order to stay well-connected and to maintain a very happy, positive, and very healthy attitude in retirement(and to also help lower blood pressure, among other things, for the elderly)?

There's a brand new spectrum and paradigm in musical enjoyment, an original proto-type, and an eclectic multi-dimensional radio program designed to SLOW DOWN the aging process BEFORE the middle-agers, baby boomers, the Greatest Generation, and the elderly begin to experience mental and physical health problems ...and much more....

 

It was accomplished by my researching and then by my creating and  producing an original multi-ethnic music program which features and highlights the dynamic life-force music of your cultural heritage combined with the basics and advanced principles of music therapy for my audience both locally in the Binghamton, NY area and on the 'net!!   Interested?  Please continue...

I am the producer, director, & host of a weekly radio program on Binghamton University radio, WHRW-FM in Binghamton, NY, called the "European Ethnic Melodies Show." The program is identified as the real first and original proto-type program in the nation to offer a combination of a century of  recorded dynamic eclectic, multi-dimensional, multi-cultural, life-force ethnic, folk, world, and polka music of your heritage from Europe (including music selections from Germany over to Russia, and from the Baltic Sea area down into the Balkans and old Jugo-Slavia...all identifed in BOTH the native European language and English)and the USA , combined with the parameters of wellness, i.e., the basics and advanced elements of music therapy designed to slow down the aging process and to reach all parts of both hemispheres of the brain in order to exercise, to re-energize, and to re-build memory. This all occurs on one weekly radio program.(Is my program a multi-ethnic "happy music and memories fountain of youth???"  My audience seems to thinks so...)

Please note that the program is definitely NOT "another uni-dimensional polka show" where the music "all sounds the same". For the past 5 years of my 19 years in radio at Binghamton University, my show has been identified as the "Original multi-ethnic music show featuring the music of  ALL the  world's polka kings"  and is also recognized as an "Archival ethnic, folk, and polka music heritage preservation program" for my efforts in playing and then pre-serving a century of recorded multi-ethnic music from two continents.Yes, my audience members actually "multi-task" as they actively listen to my diverse radio show rather that being a passive listener to the numerous polka shows locally and on the internet which offer little in the way of intellectual stimulation to both sides of the brain.

The inter-generational audience, especially the elderly, sing along with the music I play in their own European heritage language that they remember from their youth and from their adulthood.They may not be able to tell you what they had for breakfast or lunch, but they can sing all the words of a Czech waltz, Slovak czardas, Ukrainian kolomeyjka, Carpatho-Rusyn, Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian, German, Russian, or Slovenian folk song, Lithuanian daino, or a Polish polka or oberek that they learned 40-60(+)years ago. They can also tell you about the very happy memories associated with each specific song from years past.That focus on the good music and great memories with very positive and very happy links to the past both relaxes and then lowers the elevated blood pressure for the elderly. (Truly, "music soothes the ....")

The program 's diverse eclectic musical selections, played and sung in many languages, tempos, and styles for each program, are well-organized and structured  in order to slow down the aging process of my audience while "putting a smile on their face and  a song in their heart..with music that makes them feel good -all over-...both physically and mentally." My audience also enjoys continuous vignettes of wealth-of-health wellness information in order to reduce the problems associated with day-to-day ailments, diminished capacity, dementia, depression, anxiety, temporary mental fatigue, chronic mental fatigue, and the early stages of Alzheimer's disease while providing the means to re-build the brain's long-term and short-term retentive ability through intellectual stimulation of both sides of the brain. This is the result of more than five years of my research into music therapy.   What I am actually doing is tapping into my audience's short-term and long-term memory bank on many different levels so they can enjoy the music and bring back some very happy personal memories associated with all the music they enjoy on the program...

On my show on August 23, 2005, I introduced my audience to a new paradigm of senior wellness as I  changed the meaning("spin") of the very negative term, "A Senior Moment." It has provided me with some very positive comments from my audience who understand what it is they are doing when they actively listen and participate in the program.

What I'm doing is sharing my 50-plus years of expertise in multi-ethnic, folk, world, and polka music(on many levels) and my love of music with my inter-generational audience and helping them to change their elderly and somewhat negative attitudes about aging to some very youthful and positive ones. ..one happy song selection at a time.Yes, the program is truly designed to improve the quality of my audience's life by adding years to their  life and life to their years as I play the music from a century of the dynamic life-force, timeless treasures of recorded music of their cultural heritage on my program for "all your health, heritage, memories, and music matter."

Health care professionals as well as health caregivers in the Binghamton area and on the 'net are also aware of my show because of my ability to "connect my inter-generational audience with the music and to the music" on many different levels(ethnic, cultural,  religious, historical, and musical) as no other nationality or polka show program is able to do. A  secondary major interest is in health care providers/givers along with other persons of European heritage, especially the elderly, who are facing surgery  and are very interested in the timeless selections of multi-ethnic music to help them heal faster and get well sooner by listening to their favorite music so they can  return to the good life as soon as possible. (Isn't the brain and all the chemicals it secretes to make us feel so much better, really wonderful?!!!)

For more than 19 years my show format has been identified as "the program featuring the REAL music of your life, the music that you first learned at your babcia's(grandmother's) knee"... so many years ago, and....please note...you don't have to be "ethnic" to enjoy the very happy program.The program is "grandchild-tested and grandparent-approved " while the college students(yes, they listen to the show!) at Binghamton University call my show, "Ethnic, folk, world, and polka 101 and 505." The college students used to tape my shows to send to their parents and grandparents, especially the Klezmer music. However, since 1998 we have been on the 'net, so now the parents and grandparents listen to the show on the internet as well.

Throughout the year, I host  17 "specialty" shows (copyrighted original programs)for all five seasons of the year, the holidays, religious holydays, and other celebrations with an ethnic theme -all with multi-ethnic music and cultural information...and wealth-of-health-related wellness information.  For example, on my 6-week Christmas (celebrating both the Gregorian and Julian calendar Christmas)and Chanukkah program, I wish my audience  "Merry Christmas" in more than 30 languages, play ALL the religious music and holiday songs, and I continue to preserve the religious and holyday/holiday traditions and customs from Europe for this special time of the year. Ahhh, for the melodies and...the beautiful memories revivied from the long-term memory banks of my audience to remember those past celebrations of Christmas and Chanukkah.( Stress for the holidays is greatly reduced when listening  to my program filled with happy religious music, seasonal "holiday" music, and helping my audience remember the time-honored ethnic traditions, customs, and great ethnic foods from their youth and adulthood.)

And, that's just the "tip of the iceberg" ...of what I do on my program each week.

In order to be able to host my weekly radio show, I have a rather large personal multi-ethnic library of of LP records, 45's, and hundreds of rare 78 RPM recordings from Europe and the USA. The ancient 78's,(due to their very brittle condition from the 1920's-1952) I am slowly putting on CD so I can bring back even more wonderful multi-ethnic folk, world, and polka music memories for my audience.

With regard to my "specialty programs" throughout the year, for example, on Tuesday, October 3, 2006, from 7-10 P.M.,  I started the five weeks of my 14th annual month-long celebration of Polish American Heritage Month, a celebration of Polish history, culture, and music in cooperation with the Polish American Congress and Polonia across America. Even on the special programs, I also continue to play music from many other heritages, so everyone has a "gute zeit or dobry czasy"(a very good time)!

Oh, yeah! The number on my  WHRW-FM softball team jersey is # 25...'cuz I'm a 25-year old trapped in a 66-year old body...   What can I say...after teaching middle school and high school  students for 27.5 years ...playing in an eclectic multi-ethnic, classic rock, big band-style , Euro-latin dance music, and polka band for over 40 years, ...and being at the radio station for 19 years, ...I' ve  been with  and I continue to be in some great company and ...I'm surrounded by the youthful "future leaders of this great

nation" and... they keep me young, both physically and mentally!!!

Sincerely,

Daniel Jan Walikis(BU Class of ' 77)
[A.K.A.-"The walking, talking & breathing ethnic, folk, and polka music encyclopedia"]

(607)729-2808,  anytime...(except Tuesday evenings...)

Since 1988, the "European Ethnic Melodies Show" broadcasts from the campus of Bingham-ton University every Tuesday from 7-10 PM at 90.5 on the local FM dial and simulcast on the 'net, since 1998,  at www.whrwfm.org

Bio:

*Retired History Dept. faculty member of the Windsor, NY School System

*Retired Ellis Island Historian & Charter Tour Specialist

*Retired musician-bandleader with 42(+)years on the bandstand

*Slavic & Immigration Historian

*Ethno-musicologist & polka music historian

*World War II historian

*Active member of the USS Davis(DD-937) Reunion Association

And...I'll..."See ya on the radio"... and ....if you enjoy the very happy music, be kind enough to tell a good friend...anywhere in the world...