Offering comfort to patients, employees through music

“What I do is like comfort food: Mom’s meatloaf, grandmother’s amazing spaghetti sauce, that awesome mac-and-cheese that you used to have on a cold winter’s day. I try to deliver musical comfort to those who could use it.”

That’s what Matthew Kuhn, a volunteer with the Arts in Healing program at the Medical University of South Carolina, had to say about his work as a dedicated musician. 

From performing in hospital lobbies to singing outdoors in the sunny Greenway, Kuhn is no stranger to the halls and grounds of MUSC. He is a cornerstone of this volunteer program and is approaching a monumental milestone – almost 2,000 hours of service completed.

Kuhn first picked up an electric guitar at the age of 12. It was love at first note, and from there, he became an avid musician. When he retired from his job, he began playing the guitar at convalescent centers and nursing homes, which was where he found his passion for bringing peace to those around him.

In November of 2018, he started playing at MUSC. While he started with guitar, he later gained the confidence to branch out to the ukulele. Kuhn happily relayed that the initial reactions to his performances were overwhelmingly encouraging.

“I think it was really positive. Patients would come by, and I would get a lot of thumbs-ups and smiles. I feel like they could tell I was here for them and not myself.” He said that for him, being able to take patients and caregivers’ minds off their circumstances was also motivating.

 

Sitting in the lobby, patients and their families are often surrounded by the bustling, sometimes chaotic rhythm of the hospital atmosphere – not to mention, the care providers who treat countless patients all day, every day. The environment can be overwhelming at times for all involved.

But if they’re lucky, they’ll hear Kuhn covering Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and myriad pieces with lyrics full of love. Noting the stress that being in a hospital can bring, he added that his goal is to make sure people feel a little extra love.

Out of many current favorites that he performs, Kuhn indicated that “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” by Rod Stewart is the song he enjoys playing the most. 

“When I play this song, I’m totally oblivious to the melody, notes and the chords – I’m completely singing the lyrics in my head through the instrument.”

Being able to touch people’s hearts is one of Kuhn’s greatest joys as a volunteer at MUSC. “One thing that’s really a telling sign for me is if you hear somebody start to sing along softly to what you’re playing, or even if they come to you with tears in their eyes and thank you for what you’re doing, you just can’t find the words for that. To get those concrete examples of how you’ve touched somebody – that’s been very meaningful for me.”

Kuhn has been dedicated to his craft here for almost seven years. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, he found ways to make an impact. On the Arts in Healing YouTube channel, he uploaded videos of himself playing music for patients to watch. When the restrictions lifted, he was one of the first volunteers to play outside again. He was honored, he said, to be in a position where he could take people’s minds off their situations.

You can often find Kuhn sharing his music on the Greenway or at Ashley River Tower and Hollings Cancer Center twice a week on Monday and again or either Wednesday or Thursday. He is grateful for the heartfelt support he receives from the Arts in Healing organization and its staff members, who encourage him to keep going. They said Kuhn has been a major source of optimism for patients. That fills his heart, he said, and he has no plans of stopping.