Image: Director Karen McFeeters Leary leading the Aphasia Choir members in rehearsal.
Director Karen McFeeters Leary leading the Aphasia Choir in concert in 2014.

The Aphasia Choir of Vermont was founded in 2014 by singer/songwriter and former speech-language pathologist Karen McFeeters Leary.

The choir is comprised of stroke and traumatic brain injury survivors who have expressive aphasia (difficulty talking or using language) as well as spouses, family members, University of Vermont (UVM) students studying speech-language pathology, and rehabilitation professionals from the UVM Medical Center who provide assistance. Because music is largely mediated by the undamaged hemispheres of the brains of people with aphasia, they can sing and are often fluent while singing even if they have severe difficulty speaking or are nonverbal. Bringing these individuals together in song enables them to experience freedom of expression in a context that fosters social connections and a sense of belonging.

Image: Director Karen McFeeters Leary holding the microphone for Bob, a member of the choir, at a rehearsal.
Karen holds the microphone while a stroke survivor introduces a song during the 2014 concert.

In honor of National Aphasia Awareness Month, the Aphasia Choir of Vermont performs a free public concert each spring, wherein educational information is provided in order to raise aphasia awareness in our communities. Concert audiences have grown since the choir’s inception, and attendees have used words and phrases such as “amazing” and “awe-inspiring” to describe what they’ve witnessed. In 2020, the American Stroke Association chose the Aphasia Choir of Vermont as the winner of their Stroke Hero Award for Outstanding Group.

The Stroke Hero Awards honor those who are educating, inspiring and bringing awareness to stroke in five categories. The Aphasia Choir of Vermont was the winner of the 2020 Outstanding Group award. Learn more on stroke.org here.

In the News

We’re thrilled to share that the Aphasia Choir of Vermont was recently featured on the popular program “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio! View the full post on the NPR website, or listen to the story and the inspiring voice of one of our members here:

At the Aphasia Choir’s 10-year anniversary concert on Sunday, June 1st, 2025, nearly 600 people were in attendance. You can watch the Lake Champlain Access Television recording here: https://lcatv.org/aphasia-choir-2025-06-01

An article about the choir appeared in the 5/28/25 issue of Seven Days; you can read it here: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/the-aphasia-choir-of-vermont-lets-the-music-speak-43628493