Cascadia Presents “Fear No Music” – An Evening Celebrating Composers with Mental Illness, featuring the works of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and more.

Please join us!

Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 8:00 PM

Venue:  Secret Society (9116 NE Russell St.) in Portland.

Ticket price of $20 per person. To learn more, please visit the Secret Society website.

Half price tickets are available for Cascadia staff and consumers by using the promo code cascadia when purchasing tickets. Click here to purchase tickets

In observance of Mental Illness Awareness Week, Oct. 5-11, 2014, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Oregon’s largest provider of community based services for people with mental illness will team up with one of Oregon’s most acclaimed contemporary chamber music arts organization, Fear No Music, as a part of an event to celebrate the inspired works of composers who struggled with lifelong mental illnesses.

Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Wolf and Donizetti – these are all names of famous and celebrated composers who suffered from mental illness and who will be featured at the Fear No Music event.  Proceeds from the event will benefit Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare programs, including a music therapy program that is in development.

In 1990, the U.S. Congress established the first full week of October as Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) in recognition of NAMI’s efforts to raise mental illness awareness. Since then, mental health advocates across the country have joined with others in their communities to sponsor activities similar to the Fear No Music event, for public education about mental illness.

“As a clinical psychologist I have become very interested in the connection between mental illness and creativity, music and healing,” said Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare CEO Derald Walker, who also sits on the board for the Oregon Symphony.  “The works of these famous composers should serve as proof and inspiration for all that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, nor should it define those that are afflicted.  In many cases, people with mental illness often times find other ways to express and channel their feelings and emotions, which for these famous composers resulted in some extraordinary works of art that forever changed the world of music.”

Mental illness and addictions have made headlines in the wake of several recent and unforeseen tragedies. According The National Council for Behavioral Health, more than 8 million adults and children in the US are living with mental illness and addiction disorders. But what the news headlines haven’t covered is the stories of success, hope and courage from those with mental illness.