Photos: Heart condition choir

Charlie Rodin, 8, patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, performs in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Leylani Valencia, 8, center, a patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, performs in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Patients in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence perform in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. The patients, ages 8 to 16, participated in a study about potential health benefits of music instruction for children and teenagers living with Fontan circulation, a congenital heart condition characterized by having a single functional ventricle instead of the usual two. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Charlie Rodin, 8, patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, performs a 6-minute walk test to measure oxygen saturation levels before performing in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Joshua Daly performs a test to measure lung function before performing in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Aiden Legg, 12, patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, performs a 6-minute walk test to measure oxygen saturation levels before performing in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Sean Bransfield, 13, patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, prepares to take a test to monitor his lung capacity before performing in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Northwestern professor Nancy Gustafson, right, administers a test to Mary Nomellini, 13, patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, to monitor Nomellini’s lung capacity before she performs in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Ellis Mason, 9, center, patient in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence, prepares to perform in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Stephanie Gregoire, Fontan Choir conductor and PhD candidate in music education, conducts patients in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence as they perform in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

People participate in warm-ups with patients in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence during their performance in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Dr. Andy Pelech, pediatric cardiologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital and organizer of the inaugural Fontan Choir, is recognized by the audience after patients in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence performed in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Kendra Ward, pediatric cardiologist and electrophysiologist involved in Northwestern University and Lurie Children’s feasibility study, claps after patients in Lurie Children’s Single Ventricle Center of Excellence perform in the Fontan Choir at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in Evanston on Dec. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)