It is well known that music can heal. Music therapy has been shown to calm anxiety, ease pain and improve the quality of life for people suffering from depression and diseases like dementia.

A group of musicians in Milwaukee, WI is taking this concept to the streets by playing classical music at crime scenes after police have left.

The Black String Triage Ensemble is a group of African American and Latinx musicians ranging in age from 11-75. The musicians are of all different skill levels, but their mission is the same: to help communities effected by tragedies to heal.

(Source: Dayvin Hallmon Facebook )

While the musicians understand that those directly involved with violent incidents often need much more than just music, they also play to help soothe others in the community who may have been affected.

"It's not necessarily so much for the family of the victims; that healing trajectory is a much longer arc of time," Black String Triage Ensemble founder Dayvin Hallmon told WISN .

"But for everyone else in the neighborhood - people who live next door, down the street, maybe there's somebody who owns a store, everybody that's in that space is somehow devastated in some way by this impact. So there has to be something that sweeps that away, sweeps those ashes away, so they don't carry them home."

Black String Triage Ensemble founder Dayvin Hallmon leads the group in a rehearsal.

(Source: Dayvin Hallmon Facebook )

The ensemble responds mostly to fatal shootings, however they also play when other tragic events happen such as drug overdoses, infant deaths and house fires. According to the group's mission statement, their music has been organized around the five stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. A sixth stage, Faith, has been added to symbolize the belief that, despite tragedy, humans must move forward in daily life.

While the Black String Triage Ensemble isn't able to hold a concert after every tragic event that happens in their city, they do their best to bring hope, healing and light to those that need it most.

(Source @theblackstringtriageensemble )

You can donate to the Black String Triage Ensemble by sending a check payable to:

The Greater Milwaukee Synod

1212 Layton Blvd.

Milwaukee, WI 53215

Be sure to write in the memo line that the check is meant for the Black String Triage Ensemble.

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