Force For Good’s founder, Jonathan Sprout, has been inspiring others for more than 35 years. His Grammy®-nominated music, high-energy concerts and personal commitment to empower others has fueled an award-studded educational children’s music career that has touched thousands of lives and includes more than 6500 lifetime performances and 12 original albums. His American Heroes series—featuring multi-layered instrumentation and engaging musical biographies of outstanding men and women—teaches kids the differences between celebrities and heroes.

Sprout says his desire to ignite positive change has always been strong. In fact, it was after reading a nationwide poll detailing children’s top 10 heroes, “which included cartoon characters and several professional athletes whose off-field antics were anything but heroic,” Sprout asked the question: “Who are our real heroes and why are we not teaching our children about their importance?” 

Force For Good: Music that Makes a Difference

Singer-songwriter Sprout says his dedication to “shining a light on uplifters” has naturally evolved into Force For Good. “Inspired by the heroes’ exemplary lives, many fighting for social justice and reforms, I found a growing desire to focus more on the actual issues,” Sprout says. While he is “allowing the process to unfold” as he expands his horizons (including his fulfilling a long-desired goal to play piano), in his customary immersive style, Sprout is propelling this new project by expanding his artists’ palette: creating original piano compositions and corresponding films—each telling a story to illuminate a pressing global concern. Perhaps Sprout’s Lullabies for a New Age foretold this transition. In her review of the CD, Lynne Heffley wrote “A synthesized mix of new age music and simple lyrics… (including) soothing instrumentals, ending with a beautiful tune aptly called ‘Peace.’” (Los Angeles Times).

Force For Good’s first album, Passions, will be released February 2020. Beginning every month following, Sprout plans to reveal one of the topical films he’s created for each instrumental composition. He hopes other organizations will find ways to integrate these inspirational pieces into their work and to help bring awareness to many worthy causes, individuals and groups of note. It seems that Sprout’s personal passions are summarized in Force For Good’s mission statement: “Our mission is to inspire and empower people. We create uplifting music and films that encourage personal and global well-being, happiness and respect for the environment. We are optimists who promote peace, safety, equality, and compassion for all.” In a time of increasing tensions and challenges, Jonathan Sprout’s work inspires introspection, action and hope.

When the Force For Good team needed an inspirational image to represent our passion with one punch, the above photo hit the mark. You’ll see it on our website banner and other materials. Absorb this serene setting for a mental break, a moment to get lost in (your imagination and) nature’s boundless beauty— when life’s hectic pace leaves you needing a well-deserved breather.  

Nature and Music: Healing Partners

Just as our imagination can transport us via a visual cue, like the scenic expanse above, or with an emotion or intention, songs can send us back in time to a memory indelibly linked to a lyric and tune, or an instrumental composition. Music is powerful medicine, too. Stanford University researchers showed that “listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.” A good dose of music with a tempo of 60 beats-per-minute invites alpha brainwaves, those that are recorded when we’re relaxed. Similar findings published in Scientific Reports confirmed that gentle, familiar nature sounds reduce the fight-or-flight response, stimulating the parasympathetic system and slightly affecting heart rate. It’s well documented that lifestyle habits affect our health: whole, fresh foods, regular exercise, smoking cessation and stress management support a strong immune system, our defense against disease. So, relieve stress with a restorative walk in nature or a few minutes listening to soothing music, a prescription to help us “carry on and be calm” while we strive to make the world better for all.

Hook an opera diva up to an MRI machine and what do you get? For starters, some intriguing research results into how music and our brains work together. Superstar soprano and National Medal of Arts recipient, Renee Fleming, has shepherded and participated in Sound Health: Music and the Mind, a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH), The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and in association with the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Fleming and NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD are bringing musicianship and neuroscience together in a study that looks at music, health and well-being. In an interview with Stanford’s Paul Costello, executive editor of Stanford Medicine, Fleming shared: “I went to the NIH and participated in an MRI imaging study that actually looked at my brain when I was performing. It’s an incredibly fascinating scan and it’s remarkable how much the brain is activated by music. It has a broader impact on the brain than almost any other activity.” She told Costello her goals for the initiative include bringing a wider awareness and support to music therapy as a discipline. “The second [goal] is to educate the public and enlighten people about the power of music to heal,” she said. To read the interview, go here.