PERFORMERS from the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company youth section proved that music is the best medicine when they visited care homes in Darlington.
The visits, to Riverside View and The Grange care homes, were primarily about entertainment but were also intended to benefit dementia patients.
Music can unlock memories and temporarily ease some symptoms of dementia and residents of each home were treated to an hour-long performance from the professionals.
Dolores Pooley, manager of The Grange Care Home, said the concert was a hit with residents and particularly with the dementia sufferers.
She said: “It was absolutely lovely; very, very entertaining.
“We brought nine of our dementia patients downstairs for the concert and they were singing along.
“Some of them find it difficult to communicate but they really related to the songs and it was very beneficial for them.”
The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company are performing at Darlington Civic Theatre with The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and The Gondoliers next month.
The show runs from from September 15 to 19 and tickets are priced from £19.
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