Think about your favorite piece of music—mine is my mum and my’s favorite song “Wagon Wheel." Think about what happens to you when it is played. You feel good, you want to dance, sing out!
Let’s look more closely at what is happening in our brain. The music is emotionally stimulating and also rewarding! It releases serotonin which makes us happy, dopamine in the nucleus accumbens that facilitates the feeling of pleasure, and vasopressin and oxytocin which are all about forming connections.
Music is my passion and my lifeblood, but science is at the core of discovery and innovation.
I’m Piera Van de Wiel, singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and founder of my company Stronger With Music. We promote the importance of music as it relates to both mental health and social impact. Stronger with Music is working towards understanding how music impacts mental health with music therapists and neuroscientists and putting our understanding into action with programs, educational seminars, plenaries, songwriting services, and live performances. We also work with NGOs globally to amplify their mission and bring aid to other communities through the power of music.
Music can evoke and inspire, and through our campaigns, we aim to raise awareness and show how music can both offer aid and be used as a coping skill.
We have performed at the United Nations Headquarters on the launch of STE(A)M (the inclusion of arts and culture in the world of STEM) sponsored by the Mission Djibouti and also at the Regional Caribbean STEAM & Innovation Symposia with Aspire Artemis Foundation, UN Women, and Microsoft in St Lucia.
This year, in the midst of COVID-19, we have been a part of panels such as the Global Voices Program Gender Dialogue Series with Her Excellency Rosalyn Hazelle, former Ambassador at large. Ambassador Hazelle championed the passing of the Domestic Violence Act in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis and played a critical role in the special policy provisions to reintegrate adolescent mothers into schools.
Music can evoke and inspire, and through our campaigns, we aim to raise awareness and show how music can both offer aid and be used as a coping skill.
On September 19th, I took part in the World Cleanup Day panel “Together Apart” with Purely COE and the Department of Environment in collaboration with the Permanent Representative of the Maldives, who hosted an activism-based ocean conservation cleanup calling on young people around the globe to take an active role in ocean conservation.
And on September 21st, I performed and spoke at the International Day of Peace event powered by Foggs, the Dais, and Model UN For A Model World.
As you can see, I’m incredibly passionate about upholding goals of social justice, sustainability, and community-building through art!
One of our current campaigns that I am particularly proud of is “Used,” a new single written by myself that has been raising the awareness of domestic violence.
If victims are unable to verbally communicate due to their abuser, let's empower each and every one of them with non-verbal communication—this could just save their lives.
The purpose of this song is to highlight the silent salient issue of the shadow pandemic of domestic violence and the increase in the number of victims due to COVID-19. The song has been played on NBC and now has an accompanying music video that shows us the harrowing truth of domestic violence, from how many it affects to how we can educate ourselves to offer aid.
The darkness that some women are experiencing is now 24/7 because of COVID-19, and we must take this time to challenge the silence once again. Many causes and issues around the world have been pushed aside or exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Canadian Women's Foundation recently released their Signal For Help, a global hand gesture which can act as a distress signal for victims of domestic violence. In my new music video for “Used,” I have included women performing this hand gesture and movement.
Let's make this signal global and help all women around the world who are suffering. If victims are unable to verbally communicate due to their abuser, let's empower each and every one of them with non-verbal communication—this could just save their lives. Together, we can be stronger with music.
Another campaign we are pushing forward is “Come Back Home (Abaco Relief Song),” another single written by myself that has been raising funds and awareness for the Abaco Islands that were destroyed on September 1st, 2019 by Hurricane Dorian.
Music is my passion and my lifeblood, but science is at the core of discovery and innovation.
Immediately after the hurricane had hit, I started writing the song and putting together a video of home footage, a video of all of my memories and my friends and family who had looked after me and cared for me when I was growing up. I included footage from Abaconians and friends of Abaco and also included victims of Hurricane Dorian singing along to my ending chorus "home home home, coming home to Abaco."
The song and its music video went on to win medals and be recognized at multiple music festivals and like; however, the impact of this work goes far beyond its awards and recognition. The song and campaign have recently been mentioned on CBS for the one-year anniversary of the hurricane, highlighting the help that Abacos still needs, now more than ever due to COVID-19.
Music can be and should be used as a tool in bringing awareness to causes and issues. The ability for music to make an impact on communities who need it is limitless. Just remember, we are Stronger With Music.
WRITTEN BY
Piera Van de Wiel