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LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 8.17 125 THE ARTS e Beat Goes On Music therapy that gets to the heart of the matter. By Dylon Jones / Photos by Terrence Humphrey Music therapist Brian Schreck in his office at the Norton Women's and Children's Hos- pital in St. Matthews. Angie Woodward brings a dif- ferent friend with her each time she goes to chemo at the Norton Cancer Center downtown — she's had somewhere between 25 and 28 different people accompany her so far. She buys them lunch, but they have to fetch it, since she's hooked up to what's essentially poi- son. Chemo sessions can take a long time, sometimes up to six hours, and for a life- or-death medical procedure, it's pretty bor- ing. Before Woodward brings her friends, she tells them to practice up on their board games — she's had plenty of chemo since the fall of 2013, and she's developed seri- ous skills at hangman, Battleship, Chinese Checkers, Connect Four — though that one is terribly dull — and Scrabble. She's learned not to play any librarians at that game — they know too many words. One rule: No medical terms. Games fill up the slow time. But some- times, Woodward puts them down and picks up a ukulele. She'd never held one before that day Brian Schreck brought a couple of them by during a chemo treatment, one for her and one for her friend. Bald, with a neat red beard worthy of a sea captain and a voice like warm tea, 37-year-old Schreck exudes calm. He showed them how to play some basic chords, and they strummed along as he played guitar. Woodward, 65, has had two mastectomies and is in treatment for tumors along her chest, back and arm. Her condition is not curable, but treatment may help slow the disease's progression. She has decided to buy herself a uke. Schreck is one of two music therapists who work for the Norton Cancer Institute. Armed with guitars, shakers, tambou- rines, enough drums for a circle worthy of Woodstock and recording equipment, Schreck uses music to help people in treat- ment for cancer. Woodward comes from a church with an a cappella choir, and Schreck has been recording her singing her favorite classics. She got her husband Bob to sing Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" with her. Schreck recorded her singing Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately at I Love You?", her voice still weak from treatment. It's a special recording, and not just because of her message at the end — "I love you, Bob." e beat of the song is Woodward's heartbeat. Schreck has hundreds of recordings of his patients, many of them including the sound of their heartbeats. "It's like build- ing up a reservoir of a person," he says. "eir laugh, their voice, their heart." He's the subject of an upcoming documentary called e Beat of the Heart, and he's been teaching other music therapists his tech- niques. He's cut into several stethoscopes to insert lapel mics into the tubing. In a few seconds he can record and then loop a heartbeat, making it immortal, turning the rhythm of life into the rhythm of song. A woman can hear her husband's heartbeat joined with hers beneath their favorite ballad. A man can sing the blues in his heart along with his heart. A mother can play her iPod and hear her son's stopped heartbeat start.