Meet Grace Sun | Founder of Melodies for Remedies, First-Year at Wellesley College

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grace Sun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grace, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
During the COVID-19 lockdown, as a student musician, all of my recitals and performances were canceled. Without a stage, I felt lost as well as my peer musicians. At the same time, I couldn’t see the people I cared about, and I wasn’t able to do things I could do easily in normal life, for example, visiting my grandparents. As I worked through my own issues, I realized that many people, such as seniors, were facing similar challenges. A lot of senior home residents were isolated due to the pandemic situation. Their family members and friends could not visit them, and I felt that I needed to create change when I saw their vulnerability, including my grandparents. Isolation had taken an emotional toll on teens like me and the elderly population. To help cheer up my grandparents and other seniors, I thought of the idea of sharing music over Zoom. I have avidly studied piano for almost 10 years, and music has been a key part of my life every day–it’s a place to vent my feelings and it’s a great way to soothe others. Through music, I decided that I needed to change something.

To use my passion to help others, I created Melodies for Remedies. By giving virtual concerts to seniors during the pandemic, we were able to reconnect; this helped a disadvantaged group gain back their ability to express their feelings to others, and it provided an outlet for student-musicians (albeit virtual) to convey our emotions through the performing arts. I established Melodies for Remedies, a service club that later became a non-profit organization. The goal of this organization is to bring smiles to isolated and disadvantaged people through music and online concerts. My three friends and I started by giving a 30-minute online concert for 2 seniors. We opened our Zoom microphones and played our pieces through our computers where the seniors could hear it on their end. This was not a normal concert; it was a new way to stay active and connect people through a virtual concert. We couldn’t see the audience and we couldn’t hear their applause, but we were still happy to share our musical skills and bring joy to the community. At our very first live concert, we gave an hour-long concert to over 45 seniors at a senior center that hadn’t hosted a concert in almost two years. The in-person reactions were so much different than the ones we were used to seeing online. Everything felt real, personal, and connected. Since then, we have hosted countless more concerts and fundraisers, and we have transitioned to including music therapy for dementia patients in our program. I hope I can continue growing my musical cause for the community, building off of our newfound experience of live concerts. I hope the music we bring could touch more people’s hearts, and bring joy to everyone who is involved in this program.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My name is Grace Sun, and I’m a first year at Wellesley College, studying biochemistry and economics on the pre-med track. Getting to where I am today has stemmed from countless experiences and challenges to figure out who I really want to be and what I want to contribute to the world. For me, most of my interests stem from my dual passion in the Arts and the life sciences. I pursue these two interests and try to find an intersection between these two very different subjects, and how they can enrich our understanding and create bonds between people. Besides being a student, I am heavily involved in community service, scientific research, and creating art. In community service, my nonprofit melodies for remedies try to bring the power of music as a form of therapy for those suffering from dementia and memory loss. We strive to bring our performing arts and happiness to communities that may not have the resources to have this kind of Life-enriching activity. , along with my community service, I am also an avid, scientific researcher, interested in the workings of the immune system in fighting cancer. I recently completed and published a paper with UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center on the contribution of natural killer cells in fighting triple-negative breast cancer. , and finally, I am really passionate about communicating the science that I do to the larger community through art. I have created a portfolio of paintings and mixed media pieces that describe the work that I’m doing in both melodies for remedies as well as my research and cancer. Through my several interests, I strive to be somebody that can create change through my own way, whether that is through art or research or music therapy.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As a native San Diegan, I have several places that I would recommend people to check out. I’m a huge art lover, so I would definitely go to Balboa Park to visit the museums and gaze at the wonderful Spanish architecture. The diverse cultures and vibrancy of the unique people living here are so evident at Balboa Park (and Chicano Park!), and one of my favorite things to do is stroll down the streets and look at all the handmade products people are selling, and the live music floating from all corners of the park. I would also recommend going to Duke’s in La Jolla because it sells one of the best Hawaiian Fusion foods in San Diego, not to mention the wonderful ocean views that the restaurant features. Finally, I would visit the Embarcadero Marina Park and Seaport Village for a quiet stroll or a great seafood dinner, as they have several restaurants that serve fresh San Diego seafood and provide a great view of San Diego Port as well as downtown San Diego nightviews.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to the members of Melodies for Remedies, as well as the Bishop’s School. I had a fledgling idea in the middle of my freshman year, but it would have never come this far without the support of every single student-musician, near or far, who was a part of Melodies for Remedies. The beginning of our organization was a rocky start, but being around those who appreciated music as much as I did motivated me to continue pursuing my passion of advancing well-being through the performing arts. The student-musicians who came to virtual concerts, input ideas on how to grow Melodies for Remedies, and agreed to take on live concerts and music therapy (which was outside of their comfort zone!) led us to pursue new paths in music therapy and beyond. My high school, The Bishop’s School, also deserves recognition because of their excellent support system for students in community service. The Bishop’s School encourages students to create or join a service project that aligns with their personal passions. Their commitment to serving the larger community motivated me to create Melodies for Remedies, and they provided me with resources, support, and connections to make my idea a reality.

Website: melodiesforremedies.org

Instagram: @melodies.for.remedies

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079939929898

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@melodiesforremedies6944