Power to transform lives

One man stood in the center of a multi-purpose room at the Hope House in Crownsville, tentatively tilting a musical rain stick first one way, then another.

Beside him a girl tapped a cymbal-like bell, and two women shyly found a beat on hand-held instruments that sounded like wind chimes.

Sitting on couches and chairs pulled into a circle, other clients - all recovering from alcoholism or substance abuse - closed their eyes to listen.

"I felt peace," someone said when the music died away.

Finding peace through art was the message that local musician Rob Levit was hoping to convey through his non-profit...