Harnessing the magic of music was a five-year project for a Norridge resident.
Frieda Zeidel, a member of the “It’s So About You Entertainment” trio, embarked on a solo project to bring the joy of music to children dealing with medical issues.
Her new album, “Songs from the Heart,” is a compilation of 10 familiar children’s tunes like “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
The driving force behind the project was a young friend who has been receiving medical care for years.
“Joy is the inspiration for this,” Zeidel said about her compilation of songs. “She is so giving.”
She recalled how helpful music was while she was getting her own medical care.
“When I was in the hospital, I needed to have my music,” Zeidel said. “If not through earphones, then through my instruments.”
Gayle Merritt, Joyce’s mother, has known Zeidel for decades.
“I used to be her teacher, and we’ve kept in touch,” Merritt said. “Frieda has a been loving and supportive friend to my daughter.”
Merritt said Zeidel had a special place in her heart for ill children, and is using her own money to finance the project.
“The music is familiar, and her voice is gentle and kind,” Merritt continued. “I can’t imagine anyone not wanting a copy to make the hospital stay more comfortable.”
The songs Zeidel chose for her first album were ones that would be happy and uplifting and also applicable to both boys and girls, she said.
“It was a labor of love,” she said of the project, “I never thought it would entail so much, and it was an extreme learning process to be able to use someone else’s music.”
The documentation process was exhausting, she admitted. The review of proofs and licensing of each song also posed challenges.
But after an initial investment of $10,000, Zeidel has 2,500 copies of “Songs from the Heart,” which first will be sent out at no charge to families who have requested them.
She then plans to donate copies to copies to children’s hospitals across the country, many of which have been recommended by the families she keeps in touch with on Facebook.
“It was $3,000 just to be able to record the music,” she explained.
But Zeidel isn’t in it for the money.
“I am now stamping, addressing and packaging my CDs for 350 children on Facebook and the many hospitals that treat them,” she said. “I send the CD ‘on behalf’ or ‘in memory of’ the child with the debilitating disease for parents that have requested a CD be donated to their child’s hospital.”
Zeidel said several children have passed away in the past month since her contact through Facebook with their parent.
“Yet these strong families still want the CD in memory of their child or for their living children left behind.”
Michelle Wozniczka called Zeidel’s project “a CD of beautifully sung songs.”
“Each one touches the heart, and she has a soothing voice,” Wozniczka continued. “I can see how the music would make kids — and adults — feel at peace and happy.”
She noted Zeidel had a passion about her work to help children with their healing process, Wozniczka added.
That little idea in her head to give music to children is what keeps Zeidel going.
“It’s so cute to watch the kids dance to music,” Zeidel said. “I don’t want them to be afraid” of whatever they are receiving treatment.
“Be a part of it,” she continued. “It’s reality. I just want to try to make it better by coming up with a positive solution.”
Zeidel has received a lot of support from the Facebook crowd.
“It’s nice to know I’ve been able help these parent,” she noted. “I hope to provide comfort. These are people in need, and they expose themselves to strangers.”
Zeidel said she was grateful to be a part of the process.
“We share prayers,” she said. “Faith gets many of the parents through the ordeal.”
What Zeidel wants is for parents to use her music to lull their kids to sleep.
“I want to make them mentally happy if I cannot make them physically happy,” she said.
Additional information is available by visiting https://www.facebook.com/SongsFromTheHeartbyFrieda