Stillwater prison seeks to soothe inmates with classical music

Stillwater prison inmate Dwight Bowers was giddy, bobbing his head as he listened to three world-class classical musicians perform in the prison's cafeteria.

"Even in this dark place, there's always some sunshine that comes through, and this was a ray of sunshine," Bowers, 68, said following the trio's performance this week. "I was in pure heaven. I had left this place."

About 100 inmates attended the performance inside the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater on Wednesday, one of three such performances inside state prisons this week put on by Looking at the Stars, a Canadian charitable foundation that arranges classical performances in prisons.

The group pitched itself recently to Assistant Corrections Commissioner Jolene Rebertus, who was drawn by the idea of giving inmates an opportunity for meditation, to be alone with their thoughts as they listen to beautiful music.

"This was an opportunity for someone to have an hour to themselves, and decide what to do with it in that moment," Rebertus said. The department saw the performances as something of a trial run, and Rebertus said it's possible it could become a regular feature.

As the musicians set up Wednesday — violinist Jonathan Crow, pianist Walter Delahunt and cellist Joseph Johnson — Looking at the Stars CEO Dmitri Kanovich passed out flyers with a set list, and an explanation of his foundation's goal to bring classical music to those "who need it most and expect it least."

"I believe we have to bring good energy to places such as prisons," said Kanovich, a former refugee from Soviet-controlled Lithuania who organized performances in the past for prisons in Canada, and for refugees and war victims in Ukraine and Lithuania. The outreach in the United States started earlier this year with a visit to Massachusetts prisons by another set of musicians.

Kanovich told inmates of his time in the Soviet Union, describing it as his own imprisonment, and about his struggles with people abandoning him. He talked about time he spent in a hospital after an accident, encountering classical music for the first time on the radio. It inspired him to bring it to others, he said.

The prisoners sat at cafeteria tables transfixed as the three musicians played about a dozen songs. Most had their eyes glued on the players. A few hung their heads in contemplation.

The hourlong performance ranged from widely recognizable pieces like "Over the Rainbow," to jazz-influenced pieces from the opera "Porgy and Bess," to work by classical icons Johann Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms.

Johnson, who lives in Rochester, N.Y., previously played cello in the Minnesota Orchestra. He said he cherishes playing for incarcerated people because of how it visibly brightens their days. For some, it's their first time ever hearing live classical music.

"These are the most rewarding audiences to play for because the impact is so immediate and you feel like you're making a difference in peoples' lives," Johnson said.

The musicians' next two stops were Moose Lake prison on Thursday, and Shakopee, a women's facility, on Friday. A few inmates said this was the first live music they had heard in two years, the last time being a Christian pop-rock band that played in the prison's recreation area.

Shawn Benson, 29, started listening to classical music in prison as a way to focus while studying the Bible.

"In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel," Benson said. "Events like this just help keep that hope alive."

While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison's newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.

When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs-up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers before inmates were guided back to their cells.