OCTOBER 20 • 2022 | 25

M

otor City Upbeats Therapeutic 
Choir is holding a Fall Fling 
Fundraiser and Open House 
on Sunday, Oct. 23, from 1-3 p.m. 
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in 
Southfield. 
 The event will feature music and 
dancing, refreshments, silent auction, 
a short demonstration of voice exercise 
and a performance by therapeutic choir 
members. The event is free to the public. 
The Motor City Upbeats Therapeutic 
Choir is a community-minded 
therapeutic singing program designed 
to assist individuals with Parkinson’s 
disease and other neurological conditions. 
The program combines group singing 
of fun, popular songs with spoken, sung 
and light physical exercise specific for 
assisting participants in strengthening the 
sound of their voice and enhancing vocal 
range, expression, flexibility and ease of 
communication. 

Alice Silbergleit, Ph.D., CCC, speech-
language pathologist and director 
of Speech-Language Sciences and 
Disorders, Department of Neurology, 
Henry Ford Health, and member of 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, long 
dreamed of initiating a program to offer 
her patients a fun way to keep their 
voices in shape after they completed 
traditional voice therapy. 
Silbergleit founded the therapeutic 
choir with co-founder Elizabeth 
Esqueda, M.M., a professional singer 
and voice teacher, in 2019. The group 
persisted virtually through the pandemic 
and recently resumed in-person voice 

exercise sessions weekly at Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek. 
Weekly virtual and in-person 
programs run almost continuously 
throughout the choral year as well as 
summer months, and all programming 
is free for the members as well as for 
spouses, siblings, friends or caregivers 
that join them. No previous singing 
experience is required. 
According to Dr. Silbergleit, 
“Research shows that individuals with 
Parkinson disease who were involved 
in singing groups demonstrated 
improved respiratory function, were 
able to sustain sound longer than before 
singing and reported overall improved 
quality of life.”
Interestingly, genetic forms of 
Parkinson’s disease are more common in 
Ashkenazi Jews than in non-Jews. 
The Fall Fling event on Oct. 23 hopes 
to raise awareness and raise funds for the 
therapeutic choir so they can continue to 
offer programming that is fun, healthy 
and life-enhancing within the Metro 
Detroit community. 

Therapeutic Choir 
Therapeutic Choir 
Hosts Fundraiser 
Hosts Fundraiser 

OUR COMMUNITY

Learn more about how singing can help people 
with Parkinson’s disease.

Some members of the Motor City 
Upbeats Therapeutic Choir after 
singing the national anthem at 
the annual Michigan Parkinson 
Foundation fundraiser, June 2022

