Singing Circle at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw brings music to people with cognitive decline

About 50 people with brain diseases, injuries or other memory and speech troubles gathered in a mirrored room at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for a Singing Circle, a program in which participants sing together to lift their spirits. The sessions are led by Maartje de Lint, a former opera singer who has run Singing for Health for about 15 years and began offering the Concertgebouw program in October 2024.

Last week’s theme, “Traveling in 2026,” was chosen, de Lint said, because many participants can no longer travel; the group sang songs in Dutch, English, Indonesian and Surinamese from a booklet with photographs and were encouraged to imagine personal “dream lands.” Researchers and clinicians quoted in the piece said a growing body of science supports music’s role in helping people with neurocognitive disorders.

Borna Bonakdarpour of Northwestern University said music can help regulate emotions and shift brain rhythms; Bas Bloem, a Dutch neurologist, described music’s links to dopamine production and memory regions of the neocortex; and neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin discussed group singing’s effects on dopamine and oxytocin and took part in a November symposium on music and mind hosted by Queen Máxima.

The Concertgebouw plans to host the Singing Circle once a month this year.

Key Topics

Culture, Singing Circle, Concertgebouw, Maartje De Lint, Music Therapy, Dementia