Musical Rounds

Melanie Ambler and Shelby the cello
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Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks at the hospital bedside. Co-hosted by resident physician Melanie Ambler and her cello named Shelby, each episode is a session with a patient receiving palliative care recorded live in a single take: an unscripted story, a cello score improvised in real time. 75 of the first 100 patients asked for their stories to be shared. They wanted to reach people they may never meet. This series honors that ask. New episodes every Tuesday.

  1. 11 Aug

    Music Takes You Places

    For our Musical Rounds Season 1 finale, we share the story of Charlie, a young man wise beyond his years. He spoke about his family unit, one that is knit together with deep love, faith, and unfortunately, loss. While we don't often provide context for the voices behind the episodes, we invited Charlie's mom to share some words with you all to provide more context for him and his younger brother Bryan, both of whom passed away within six months of each other after battles with leukemia: "Charlie was a caring son, brother, grandson, cousin, and friend who loved God, his family, and those around him. Alongside his brother Bryan, he shared a deep faith and a strong love for his parents, sister Leslie, and brother Marvin. The close-knit family remains united through their faith and the love they shared together. Charlie was known for his strong work ethic, determination, and dedication to helping others. He excelled in interviews, was a hardworking and driven individual, and volunteered with the Coalinga Explorer Program. Charlie was a proud supporter of law enforcement and dreamed of attending Fresno State University to pursue his future goals. Charlie had a special love for animals and leaves behind many cherished pets, including his bunny Samuel Pablo, affectionately known as Sam; his cat Rose, also known as Lilo; and his dogs Pepe and Rocky. He was also preceded in death by his beloved dog Snow. A devoted sports fan, Charlie cheered for the Denver Broncos, the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Lakers. He greatly admired Kobe Bryant and enjoyed supporting both Mexico and the United States during the FIFA World Cup. He graduated from the CHP academy and worked as a CHP dispatcher in Fresno and Hanford. He worked at Pleasant Valley State Hospital and Coalinga State Hospital. Charlie will be remembered for his kindness, dedication, loyalty, and love for family. His hardworking nature, caring heart, and commitment to serving others left a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to know him." With much gratitude to the patients and families that shared their stories with us, Melanie Ambler, Shelby the cello, Grace Carroll (producer), Michael Shofi (audio engineer), Janice Tjan (visuals), Chase Morano (annotation) musicalrounds.org

    Music Takes You Places

  2. 4 Aug

    Naked Garden Parties

    A husband and wife share the secret that's defined their marriage: a goofy, naked gardening tradition they've kept up for years, dodging the neighbors' eyes and laughing every time. Recorded bedside in the hospital room, they trade permaculture trivia and Rice Krispie sound effects one minute, then land on something raw the next: her gift for finding joy through pain, his quiet resilience, bending like one of his own plants. Twenty-five years, a lot of hard chapters, and somehow they came out "way ahead." Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories.

    Naked Garden Parties

  3. 28 Jul

    We are Warriors

    This warrior can point to the exact spot where his tumor lives. He takes Melanie's finger and presses it right there, onto his skull, so she can feel it too. But what he ultimately wants her to feel isn't the cancer, it's Hawaii: the food, the beach, his daughter's chubby cheeks, and a faith he refuses to let go of. This is "We Are Warriors," a story about a man deciding, faith first, exactly how he's going to leave this world. Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories.

    We are Warriors

  4. 21 Jul

    Mr Sociability

    "Most people are fundamentally good people. It's a nice feeling." Meet Mr Sociability and his wife of 60 years. Take part in a delightful trip around the world, from concert halls in Vienna to the streets of Morocco, and hear about a lifelong obsession with trains. I left this couple's hospital room smiling at their love for each other, the world, and at their admittedly hilarious banter. I hope you'll smile too :) Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories.

    Mr Sociability

  5. 14 Jul

    Art to Me Is Beauty

    “Art to me is beauty…What you put on that canvas is what's in your mind. And I love that. No one can take away what you draw, what you paint, what you say. No one can take that ever away from you.” On this episode, meet a true artist at heart, hear a serendipitous love story featuring a dog named Angel, and transport yourself to some ocean waves crashing in the background. Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories.

    Art to Me Is Beauty

  6. 7 Jul

    Footprints in the Sand

    When I walked into this woman's hospital room, I discovered she was awake and intubated, which meant a machine was helping her to breathe and, as a result, she wasn't able to speak. Instead, she communicated with me by writing on a whiteboard. Together with her mother at her side, she shared about her devout faith, and her love for the beach. In a beautiful allusion to the poem, Footprints in the Sand, her mother described being carried by God through the most difficult stretches of life. Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories.

    Footprints in the Sand

  7. 30 Jun

    Something Sweet

    Allie never thought of herself as sweet. Her sister knows exactly why: she knows everyone's name, walks up to strangers, makes every person feel like they belong. Her whole family lives within ten minutes of each other. Her Zumba friends dedicated a class in her honor. Three songs fill the hospital room, the last one inspired by her loving character. "Something sweet," Melanie says. "For a sweet person." Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories. *this patient’s family consented to names being used in the episode.*

    Something Sweet

  8. 23 Jun

    Sunlight through the Trees

    A man meets Shelby the cello and decides he wants to go somewhere he's never been: a canyon in New Zealand, hunting red stag. As the low tones carry him into the landscape, he lifts his binoculars instead of his rifle, watching the stag rather than taking the shot. From there it's a walk through a pine forest, soft underfoot, sunlight breaking through the trees.Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks.  Hosted by cellist and resident physician Melanie Ambler (and her cello Shelby), this series began as a year-long research project while she was a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.  The people you will meet in this series are receiving palliative care, a field of medicine focused on comfort and dignity near the end of life. Their stories hold love, loss, and laughter. Their music carries the rest.  Melanie entered these rooms not as a physician but as a musician. As such, she had little to no information as to why this patient was in the hospital — and nor will you. What you will hear is what they wanted to share with you directly. During bedside sessions in palliative care at three hospitals in the Bay Area, patients share unscripted stories from their lives while Melanie improvises a cello score that moves with them. Each conversation is recorded live, in a single take, in the hospital room. Seventy-five of the first hundred patients asked for their story to be shared with the world. They wanted to reach people they would never meet. This podcast is our way of honoring that ask. Website: ⁠⁠⁠musicalrounds.org⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Melanie Ambler. Original music composed and performed by Shelby the cello. Produced by Grace Carroll and Chase Morano. Audio engineering and mixing by Michael Shofi. Cover art and animations by Janice Tjan. Made possible in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peak II Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Healing Hands Scrubs,⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stanford MedScholars⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Honeywell Arts Academy⁠⁠⁠ and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Arnold P. Gold Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠.  With deepest gratitude to the patients and families who entrusted us with their stories.

    Sunlight through the Trees
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About

Musical Rounds is a podcast where people with serious illnesses share their life stories, and we transform them into live, improvised soundtracks at the hospital bedside. Co-hosted by resident physician Melanie Ambler and her cello named Shelby, each episode is a session with a patient receiving palliative care recorded live in a single take: an unscripted story, a cello score improvised in real time. 75 of the first 100 patients asked for their stories to be shared. They wanted to reach people they may never meet. This series honors that ask. New episodes every Tuesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Melanie Ambler and Shelby the cello
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Melanie Ambler and Shelby the cello
  • Show Website
    Musical Rounds

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