I was working in Nottingham QMC Children’s Hospital on Tuesday this week with Rich Kensington and Sarah Steenson. We found ourselves en route from level B back to the top floor to pack our things away at the end of the day.
However, our playing was not over for the day yet!
We waited for the lift…..but the first one to arrive was rather full with surprised but welcoming faces who wanted us to ride in the lift with them, but there was not enough room…..we waited for another.
The next lift arrived with room for all three of us, even though there were about 6 members of a nursing team who obviously knew each other and worked together. One said, “Oh Elevator Music” as we got in – and that was it – I had to play something.
We only had time for one A part of the Valse for Polle before it was their stop, but in that short time, the group were smiling and laughing together and got out of the lift singing the beginning of the second A part of the tune.
A lovely example of how having real instruments with responsive musicians in hospital can provide many places with different sorts of interactions, and sometimes in the most surprising of locations.
