Yvon Kanters sings for people with dementia: videos wildly popular

Yvon is quick to make one thing clear: ‘I don’t see myself as a singer, but as a social worker who happens to be able to sing.’ A crucial difference. ‘In those moments, I am there in service of the people I sing for. Often they are people living with dementia, so I use my voice mainly as a way to connect with them.’ She graduated as a social worker. ‘I finished my studies during the Covid period. I wasn’t sure what I could do, so I called a care home to ask if I could be of help.’ And she could. ‘They asked if I could sing for the residents, especially those with dementia. I lost my grandparents at a young age, so I never really got to know them. During my studies I also had little contact with dementia,’ Yvon explains, ‘but if I can sing as a form of volunteering, then that’s a wonderful idea!’

People person

Yvon now sings in care homes across the country. ‘I drive an average of five thousand kilometres a month. I think I’ve been to just about every corner of the country by now.’ Still, she finds it hard to say exactly why she is so often invited. ‘I sometimes ask: why did you choose me and not “John from around the corner”? The answer I usually get is that they see me as a real people person.’ Yvon rarely performs from a stage. ‘I always bring my own speaker to my performances. It’s fairly powerful, but I always say: if a venue is too large for my speaker to carry properly, then it’s not the kind of place that makes my heart beat faster. In that case, I’d rather not perform there. Of course, there are always exceptions.’

Yvon has therefore specialised in singing for small groups. ‘There are plenty of performers who are brilliant at playing for large audiences, or for an entire care home at once. I focus instead on those who can no longer cope with that – people who are further along in their dementia and can’t handle the overstimulation of a busy setting.’ Because those people, too, benefit greatly from music, Yvon explains.

Memories

‘Music and dementia are a remarkable combination. I’ll spare you the technical details, but essentially music is stored in a part of the brain that is hardly affected by the illness. It’s almost like a magical tool for connecting with people living with dementia – much like with young children and animals, in fact.’ ‘It can even have a positive effect on certain memories. I believe music is tied to deeply rooted memories. Certain songs can really evoke the feeling of a particular memory. Someone may no longer remember that they were married to a certain song, but the emotions from that moment can still be brought back by hearing it.’
 
So it’s always a matter of sensing what people respond to, Yvon notes. ‘I usually start with a Dutch song, an English song and a classical piece. Based on their reactions, I decide what the rest of my repertoire for that performance will look like. If someone lights up at opera, then I’ll continue with that.’ The classical repertoire is, secretly, her favourite. Hardly surprising, as she takes singing lessons with soprano Wilma Bierens. ‘But if I notice that someone reacts to Tulips from Amsterdam, I’ll of course sing that too.’ Sometimes family members or care staff are taken aback. ‘They might be convinced that someone enjoys Dutch sing-alongs, but in the end that person turns out to sing along mostly with the classical pieces.’

Tears

For the family, it is often an emotional experience. ‘Hardly a performance goes by without tears. Many people see their father, mother, partner or relative in a way they haven’t seen them for a very long time. For me, that is really the greatest compliment I could receive.’ 

But Yvon herself is sometimes moved by the situation. ‘I once sang for a man who was already far along in his dementia. His children were there as well. And when I sang Papa by Stef Bos for him, I saw the way he looked at me. He stood up and looked at me in such a way that I thought: oh, you think I’m your daughter. So I signalled to his children and gently turned him towards them. In that moment he gave his children a hug, a truly beautiful, loving father’s embrace!’ Yet it is not in that moment that Yvon becomes emotional. ‘When I sing, I am in service of the family; it is really their moment. But when I reflect on it afterwards as a person, that’s when it truly sinks in. The man’s daughter told me it was the first time in a very long while she had been held by her father in that way. I find that magical.’

Online success

The moment of the father with his children can also be seen in one of the many videos on Yvon’s social media channels. Yet it is never Yvon herself who initiates the filming. ‘I never record my own performances. Going viral has never been my goal. In that sense, I really have a love-hate relationship with social media. My performances are so intimate, and the videos also capture a genuine image of such a one-to-one moment,’ Yvon explains. ‘I’d happily keep it that intimate. But I also want to show what music can do for this group of people, and social media is of course a suitable way to do that. It also brings me more bookings and allows more people to share in these intimate moments.’ She often asks family members or care staff afterwards to share footage of a special moment with her. ‘But I never ask for it beforehand when I arrive somewhere.’
 

Yvon’s videos were well received from the very beginning. ‘At first I only shared them on my private account. My friends were so enthusiastic that I eventually started posting videos publicly as well.’ And it didn’t go unnoticed. ‘Last year I uploaded a video of me singing Ave Maria with Rudy, a gentleman with dementia. He started singing along himself. It was such a beautiful moment.’ That video has now been viewed more than 50 million times. ‘Stars like Pierce Brosnan and Nicole Scherzinger suddenly liked my videos, that’s pretty surreal!’

Power of Love

Another moment Yvon treasures is the day she spent with Sister Anita. ‘She works as a paramedic on transfers where patients need to be taken from A to B. I joined her for a day to sing for the patients in her ambulance. They weren’t necessarily people with dementia. The one that stayed with me most was a woman, I think in her late forties. She had breast cancer two years earlier and it had come back. She was being taken from the hospital to her home, where she was to pass away. I found it incredibly daunting, but she seemed to be handling it remarkably well, as much as one can, of course.’ During that ride, Yvon sang several songs for her. ‘I also sang The Power of Love, which she especially wanted to hear. It was the song she and her husband had married to.’ Her husband, however, wasn’t there; he was driving behind in his own car. ‘So when we brought her home, we just sang again in the living room for the two of them together. I thought it was so special to be able to do that for them.’

TV

Yvon no longer performs only in care homes; she has also become a welcome guest on television shows. ‘I suddenly found myself at the table with Beau van Erven Dorens, with Hélène Hendriks on De Oranjezondag, and on Podium Klassiek. Jan Slagter, director of Omroep MAX, also asked me to perform. I really value that, because they of course do wonderful things for older people.’ She still has one dream left: ‘I hope that one day I’ll be able to sing at the Ziggo Dome during the Herinneringen Top 50 Concert organised by Alzheimer Nederland. That would be truly wonderful!’

We wrap up the conversation, but not before Yvon makes one final request: ‘Would you mind writing “people living with dementia” rather than “dementia patients”? I think it’s important they are seen as people first, not as their illness.’ Quite so! A fitting conclusion that underlines Yvon’s sincerity and dedication.

Are you, like Yvon Kanters, a lover of classical singing? This season too, international top choirs will be performing at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven.