Inmates watch a quartet from the South Carolina Philharmonic perform at Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — Susan Cafferty was nervous on her way to Camille Graham women’s prison Thursday morning, the South Carolina Philharmonic director told inmates.
“What if the inmates didn’t like the music? What if no one showed up?” thought the education and community outreach director for the symphonic music group.
For the first time, members of the South Carolina Philharmonic played inside a state prison Thursday as part of what officials hope to make a continuing program. Musicians plan to return to play at state prisons in an effort to use music as a healing tool, reminding inmates of their lives outside prison and what they’re working toward. Inmates attended voluntarily.
As soon as cellist Tzu-Ying Liao played the final notes of the first song, it was clear Cafferty had nothing to worry about. The room of more than 200 inmates broke into applause, many standing in ovation, tears on their faces.
“They were one of the best audiences we have ever had,” Rhonda Hunsinger, the philharmonic’s executive director, said after the hour-long program. “They were so absorbing of the experience.”
The idea of performing in a prison had been in the back of Hunsinger’s mind for years, but she never knew how to go about coordinating a visit like that. Last year, though, a member of the philharmonic connected her with officials at the Department of Corrections, and they arranged the visit.
An inmate speaks to members of the South Carolina Philharmonic at Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
The performance was just in time for the prison’s recognition of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, which takes place every September.
The theme this year is “the art of recovery,” said Carlette Cohen, who works with about 30 women in the prison’s addiction treatment unit.
Driving home that theme, the prison’s Radical Redemption Interpretive Dance group started off the recital with a performance.
Dressed in angel costumes and fairy wings, the performers — all women in the unit — told the story of how difficult it can be to fight an addiction.
A choir of 50 or so inmates followed, performing “Trust Me” by gospel singer Richard Smallwood. Inmates swayed to the music, raising their hands as the music grew emotional: “I will be with you. … I’ll never leave you. … I’ll fight your battle. … If you will only trust Me,” the lyrics go.
Artistic programs like the choir and dance group can be a valuable outlet for inmates, said Corrections Director Bryan Stirling.
“In prison, you have a lot of idle time, and idle time can be dangerous inside,” Stirling said. “Dancing, singing and expressing themselves is important.”
When a quartet of philharmonic musicians took the stage, inmates cheered.
After each song, inmates described what the music made them think about: A rabbit in a grassy field. A woman in a long dress walking around a barn. An inmate’s son dancing with the ballet at the University of South Carolina.
The crowd was a mix of those familiar with classical music — who said they had missed listening to Bach and Mozart since they came to prison — and those who had never listened to classical music before.
For some, the music was a way of remembering their life before prison. Women recalled friends and family playing instruments. They shared stories of a best friend playing the cello, a grandmother playing piano, and a stepsister composing songs.
SC women’s prison to grow lettuce in recycled shipping containers
Others were musicians themselves. One inmate played the cello for eight years, even performing at Radio City Music Hall as part of the New York State School Music Association, she said.
“I had forgotten a lot of who I was before what brought me here, and that brought me back,” she said after a performance of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in C Major.
Visits like Thursday’s performance serve as a reminder of what women can aspire toward when they get out of prison, Stirling said.
When one woman said she would like to learn to play the cello someday, Liao, the cellist, was quick to tell her: “You can.”
“Music can help the mood of the folks here today,” Stirling said. “It can help improve their lives. It can help them move forward with their lives.”