There was a big need of music in places that we thought that there was no music.

Sometimes people in hospitals, they cannot go to a theater or listen to music.

And we found out, "Wow, they cannot."

It's the first time they heard some music.

We slowly noticed that people really wanted and they were so happy to hear music in hospital settings.

♪ Ah ♪ A main characteristic of the bossa nova is a breathy way of singing.

This breathy way of singing also makes a group of people, let's say a choir or a vocal group like Brazilian Voices, blend.

It's easier to blend when people... You saw us singing here, how we sing softly.

The blending of the voices are, you know, very easy.

The voices blend together.

We are not soloist singer singing.

We are blending together into one.

And this also, I think this is very responsible for how people feel in healthcare settings about bossa nova.

In the beginning, you can imagine nobody needs a group of Brazilians, you know, going to a hospital or cancer center.

We had to really prove that by going in a small ensemble, singing very soft bossa nova, which bossa nova was born from joyful experiences in Brazil, right?

Talks about nature, the waves, the ocean, the flowers.

So we really need to get together this repertoire.

And it's more on someone that would be ready with the protocols.

Hospital protocols, HIPAA compliance.

So little by little, we feel that it was big steps.

It was not like, "Okay, we are gonna perform in a hospital."

And here we are now.

When we're right there in front of a patient, there's a lot of fears, there's a lot of sorrows.

There's a lot.

We feel the songs that will bring resilience, but also recognize the fears, the pain that they're going through.

It's not that we're singing and kind of isolating.

You know what I mean?

The part of the pain and the sorrow is one.

We recognize your pain.

We know what you're going through, but maybe you'd like to play with us.

How about some shaker?

It’s inviting them to come.

We don't invade them, but we invite them.

And bossa nova is just perfect for the kind of action.

I think music has a way of ministering to your soul.

And every time I go in for this, you know, scans or whatever, I always want music.

And when I came today for my infusion and I heard the ladies singing out in the hall, it was beautiful.

I mean, I wanted to stop and listen.

And I think if they were singing in this room now, it would give me comfort, give me peace, and take your mind away from what's happening and what's going on in your life.

♪ Ba, ya, badum, ba, ya, ba, da, ba, da, ba ♪ ♪ Ba, ya, badum ♪ When we're building a repertoire, we always thinking about reducing stress, because music has already a lot of, you know, research about reducing stress.

And also, songs that we feel that are joyful, but not too hyper.

We understand that the happy chemicals that the brain releases, endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin, we already know all those.

We have plenty of our researchers to prove that, right?

But to bring that into action and applying that to repertoire, to arrangements.

The arrangements that Brazilian Voices does, most of them are made by Beatriz Malnic.

She's very careful how she's gonna make those harmonies to feel so organic, so natural, and so complex at the same time.

♪ Ya, ba, de, de, ta, ma ♪ ♪ Ba, ya, badum, ba, ya, ba, da, ba, da, ba ♪ I would say that 98% of the patients and staff totally are responding positivity to the action because they know even if for three minutes... Because we don't engage in dialogue, right?

It's different than music therapy, artists in residence.

They know that in that very moment, they might have, like, three minutes just to allow themselves to relax, to acceptance, and to play and ride there the happy chemicals.

There's a lot of release of happy chemicals, a lot of engagement that kind of is reducing perceived pain.

[Beatriz] Bossa nova is a genre that's really good for healthcare settings.

You hear the notes, and you can reproduce the notes.

But when you hear harmony, you cannot reproduce harmonies.

So it's really embracing.

People really feel embraced by the harmony.

♪ Ba, ya, badum, ba, ya, ba, da, ba, da, ba ♪ We are a group now of 32 singers.

Only a smaller group goes to hospitals, right?

But we perform also in theaters, in different venues.

We had the pleasure of performing two songs with Guilherme Arantes, which he is a great Brazilian composer.

He invited us to perform in Carnegie Hall.

We performed two songs there.

Check the box.

He was amazing.

And also YoYo Ma.

He was so kind, and he invited us to perform "Girl from Ipanema" with us in one of the events here to support our local community as well.

And was such a dream to be able to get to know his wonderful soul.

♪ I think I could make it now, the rain is gone ♪ Once a year, we do this audition open to our community.

We invite people from different countries, different language, Americans.

We have Americans as well, from New York, from California.

They just wanna learn and be able to have this platform very organized to go to the community and serve the community.

The level of commitment these singers have, it's just unbelievable.

Brazilian Voices put together this methodology that really helps them to understand not only selfexpression, how to walk in this environment, but also the projection, harmonies, songs, repertoire.

There's a specific repertoire that we bring to the arts and healing program, right?

It usually takes six months to one year for the singers to be able to master the repertoire and learn how to walk the walk in the hospitals.

♪ I can see all obstacles in my way ♪ The community in the medical venues right now are just unbelievable.

We receive so much support from the nurses, from the doctors and patients because they know music is medicine.

♪ Such shiny day ♪ ♪ It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright, such shiny day ♪