CSUEB program to participate in first global aphasia concert

people sitting in a church listening to a choir

Attendees at University of Pretoria's Open Evening in 2012. This year their concert will be held with the aphasia program at CSUEB via Skype. (Photo: University of Pretoria)

October 16, 2013 7:00am

The Aphasia Treatment Program at Cal State East Bay together with the Conversation Groups for individuals living with Aphasia and Cognitive-communication disorders (CCD) at the University of Pretoria will join in a global concert via Skype at 11:15am on Weds, October 16, in MB 1587.

It is probably the first global aphasia concert ever," said Ellen Bernstein-Ellis, director of the Aphasia Treatment Program at Cal State East Bay.

Each group will perform an original song about aphasia and the two groups will also attempt a joint choral performance of the song "Lean on Me". These aphasia programs at CSUEB and the University of Pretoria have partnered on various projects through out the years and have formed a strong connection despite being a world apart.

The Siyathemba singers – the name of clients participating in University of Pretoria’s program - host a annual year-end event called Open Evening where about 200 community members attend. “They invited the Aphasia Tones at CSUEB to join them in a mini-concert via Skype," Bernstein-Ellis added. “We will sing two songs, they will sing two songs and then we will try a song together."