Lecture Notes: Music and Healing

Introduction

• Speaker shares personal experience and reflections.
• Video of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during speech therapy.
  • Struggles with speech due to damage in Broca’s area.
  • Finds ability to sing, illustrating music's power where words fail.

Music Therapy and Neuroscience

• Mention of Dr. Gottfried Schlaug’s work with stroke victims.
  • Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) helps aphasic patients.
  • After extensive music lessons, rewiring of the brain observed.
  • Creation of a new speech center in the right hemisphere.

Personal Journey

• Decisions between pursuing medicine or music.
• Influenced by Dr. Schlaug’s dual background in music and medicine.
• Initial career aspiration to become a surgeon.
• Passionate about music, studied at Juilliard.
  • Performed with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
  • Received inspiration from Dr. Schlaug to pursue music first.

Professional Music Career

• Auditioned for and joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
  • Mentors and colleagues became a new family.

Meeting Nathaniel Ayers

• Former Juilliard musician who became homeless.
  • Relationship developed through teaching violin.
• Music as a significant tool for communication and healing.

Advocacy and Impact

• Inspiration to address homelessness and mental illness.
• Founded Street Symphony, a group of musicians performing for marginalized communities.
  • Performances for the homeless, veterans, and incarcerated.
  • Observed significant therapeutic effects of music.

The Power of Music

• Music as a bridge between different worlds and experiences.
  • Music brings light and humanity to dehumanized conditions.
  • Promotes community, empathy, and hope.
• Reference to neuropsychiatrist Ian McGilchrist.

Conclusion

• Quote by Robert Schumann on the duty of artists to send light.
• Street Symphony’s impact and the transformation it brings.
• Closing with a quote by John Keats:
  • "Beauty is truth, truth beauty."

Key Takeaways

• Music has profound therapeutic effects.
• Can rewire the brain and aid in recovery from brain damage.
• Offers hope and humanity to marginalized individuals.
• Combining passions can lead to unique contributions and impacts.