Speakers

Featured in top media including The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Huffington Post, endorsed by celebrities as varied as Cher, Tony Robbins, and the Dalai Lama, included in movie soundtracks such as Walkout, Mantra, and 8 Seconds, and honored by 1.5 million album sales, 550,000 monthly Spotify listeners and 400,000 Facebook followers, chart-topping musicians Deva Premal & Miten are modern nomads on a mission to share with humanity the medicine of mantra. (Please visit:  https://devapremalmiten.com )

Deva Premal & Miten who have been following the development of music medicine by way of their long standing friendship with IAMM’s Chair of conferences, Vera Brandes, sent us their warm welcome message on the morning of the first day of IAMM’s first online conference.

Sunil Iyengar directs the Office of Research & Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. Under his leadership, the office has produced dozens of research reports, hosted periodic research events and webinars, led strategic plan development for the agency, and established research and data partnerships with the U.S Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Iyengar has founded a national data repository for the arts, and launched two awards programs for arts researchers. He chairs a federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development.

Lisa Wong is a physician and musician dedicated to lifelong learning and healing through the arts. An international speaker on arts and health, she is co-founder of the Arts and Humanities initiative at Harvard Medical School and the Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH). She has fostered conversation and collaboration between leaders passionate about arts and healing from most of Boston’s major music, health, and education institutions, and beyond. Lisa has been a member of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and served as its President for over 20 years.

Marvin McMillen is a trauma surgeon who teaches musicians the language, processes, and issues to help them be part of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) team. He is a strong advocate for the benefits of music on health, particularly as it is applied in the ICU. McMillen will address how to present music interventions as a legitimate, reimbursable patient care strategy in the medical center.

Tod Machover is Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media and director of the Media Lab's Opera of the Future group. Called a “musical visionary” by The New York Times and “America’s most wired composer” by The Los Angeles Times, Machover is an influential composer and inventor, praised for creating music that breaks traditional artistic and cultural boundaries and for developing technologies that expand music’s potential for everyone, from celebrated virtuosi to musicians of all abilities.

Vera Brandes, former record producer and founder of multiple record labels, was one of the co-founders of the Science Network Man and Music at the University Mozarteum, Salzburg and former lecturer on culture & media at the University for Applied Sciences in Salzburg, Austria. Vera is CSO of SANOSON in Vienna, Austria and developed I-MAT© (Individualized Music-focussed Audio Therapies) for the treatment of psychosomatic disorders (US patent).

The Naked Voice is a pioneering experiential vocal training programme, providing a sound awareness toolkit of conscious core practices, music, audio-books and spoken meditations that empower you to find and to embody your authentic voice. The Naked Voice Charitable Foundation was established in 2004, to disseminate a deeper awareness of the essential roleconscious communication plays in strengthening ethical awareness, social health and wellbeing in all realms of human life. Chloë’s seminal book, The Naked Voice – Transform Your Life through the Power of Sound (North Atlantic Books) was published in 2015.

David Monacchi is an Italian interdisciplinary sound artist, eco-acoustics researcher and composer, best known for his multidisciplinary project Fragments of Extinction, the EcoAcoustic Theatre, his periphonic device and award-winning music and sound-art installations. David is internationally recognized for his pioneering work with nonprofit organizations, such as Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), and Ear to the Earth, to capture and preserve the unique sonic heritage of the world’s rapidly vanishing, last remaining areas of undisturbed primary equatorial rainforest. His sound bank of these remote ecosystems has
resulted in discourse on the biodiversity crisis through his musical compositions and immersive sound installations.

Along with medicine, he studied music and today is a recognized composer, writer and pianist in Greece and Europe. In the European medical area, he is considered as a pioneering physician in the clinical application of music medicine & music therapy in the treatment of cardiac patients. He is the author of the recent (2018) book “Music as Medicine: α biological approach to music medicine interventions”. In 2019 he was honored by the Scientific Academy of Athens, Greece for his scientific work on the contribution of music medicine-music therapy to the care of cardiac patients.

Video: Music Medicine for Corona Blues

She is also member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Music Therapy and the leader of the IAMM Special Interest Group “Music therapy in the context of Dementia:  People with Dementia and their caregivers

She is co-author (along with her colleague Patricia Martí) of the book “Manual de Musicoterapiaen Geriatría y Demencias: Teoría y Práctica” [Manual of Music therapy in Gerontology and Dementias:  Theory and Practice] published by Ediciones Montsa-Prayma (2008), “Musicoterapia en Medicina: Aplicaciones Prácticas” [Music therapy in Medicine: Practical Applications](2010) and “Música, Musicoterapia y Discapacidad” [Music, Music Therapy and Disability] (2012) published by Editorial Médica JIMS.

Patravoot Vatanasapt is passionated about using music in his clinical
practice for cancer patients.  He invented the “Tracheomelodica” for
pulmonary rehabilitation of laryngectomized patients and developed a
comprehensive program for rehabilitation of laryngeal cancer patients.
Currently, he has integrated music into medical education which has been
implemented in several medical schools in Thailand, especially in the
southern most region. He is a former President of IAMM, and in the
editorial board of Music and Medicine Journal.

Dr. Saper received an Academic Career Development Grant from the NIH National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, and has researched yoga, physical therapy, and education for back pain. He also investigated the effects of massage therapy and music therapy versus usual care on health outcomes. He is the Past Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.

Dr. Fred Schwartz is an anesthesiologist in Atlanta, GA, who has used music in the operating room and throughout the hospital for forty years.
He is on the editorial board of Music and Medicine and has been treasurer and a founding member of IAMM since the beginning. His interests include NICU music therapy and the maternal-fetal connection, as well as using music for the recovery of open heart surgery patients, music for birth, and music in the operating room. He is also vice president of the International Society for Music in Medicine (ISMM), and as a music producer introduced the Transitions Womb Sound Music series.

Canadian violinist Adrian Anantawan was born without his right hand, where his disability was defined by adults of what he couldn’t do, from tying his shoelaces to playing the recorder. Indeed, some of the greatest challenges people with disabilities face stem from the preconceived attitudes and biases of those around them. In an educative and artistic setting, this can lead to passive forms of discrimination such as exclusionary practices, lowered expectations and even unwanted sympathy. Not only do these practices limit the ceiling of development for the individual with a disability, they also limit an individual’s contributions to society.

Through the support of unique individuals across multiple disciplines, he was able to play the violin, beginning a journey that would lead him to perform at the White House, for the Dalai Lama and at the Olympics.

Framing access and meaningful inclusion to the arts as a civil right, Adrian will take you on a musical journey, sharing his experiences on how we can create change in our work to improve outcomes for learners with disabilities across the globe. He will speak on how we can embrace the margins of our respective fields, transforming discomfort into the fuel that enables our growth and evolution.

Brian Jantz is an assistant professor of music therapy at Berklee College of Music who has been active as a clinician, practicum site supervisor, course instructor, presenter, and researcher for over 20 years. He has extensive experience working and supervising within pediatric medical and psychiatric/substance abuse facilities. Brian is currently involved with ongoing research and clinical work at Boston Children’s Hospital on the neurology and hematology units. Brian is active as a speaker and presenter at national and global conferences, recently focusing on music for self-care and innovative therapeutic uses of music technology. Brian is the current President-Elect for the New England Region of the American Music Therapy Association.

Mark Fuller is a board certified music therapist currently working at Boston Children’s Hospital. He works with patients from infancy through young adulthood within the hematology/oncology, bone marrow transplant, cardiovascular, and intensive care units. Mark supports patients and their families through all phases of their treatment to promote positive developmental and psychosocial outcomes that are at risk due to prolonged hospitalization. Currently, Mark is involved in various research initiatives to look at the use of music therapy in a pediatric medical setting.

Seneca Block is the Expressive Therapy Program Manager for University Hospitals of Cleveland’s Connor Integrative Health Network. His expertise is in designing and integrating expressive therapy programming within large scale health systems. In his role, he has both built from the ground up and clinically directed a team of over a dozen therapists across 10 medical centers, impacting thousands of patients, caregivers, employees and community members annually. He has been consulted for several program developments for organizations nationally and served key roles for initiatives within institutes such as the Academic Consortium for Integrative Health and Medicine and the American Music Therapy Association.

Tian Gao was graduated from Temple University, US, and gained his Master of Music Therapy Degree in 1994. He went back to China and establishing the first music therapy training program includes both undergraduate and graduate program in Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing in 1996. His has published the books as below: The introduction to Music Therapy The basic theory of Music Therapy Receptive Methods of Music Therapy Improvisational Methods of Music Therapy (Translation) Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist（Translation） Music Therapy in Dementia Car (Translation) Music Therapy Clinic Practice Research.

Hannah Foxman graduated Berklee College of Music in 2016 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Therapy and a minor in Psychology.  She has been employed and practicing at Boston Children’s Hospital since 2017. Hannah primarily works with patients residing on the oncology, bone marrow transplant, MICU, and neurology unit. Additionally, Hannah has participated in various research initiatives at BCH primarily focusing the clinical application of music.

Todd Frazier is a composer and director of Houston Methodist's Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM). CPAM is recipient of Americans for the Arts 2017 BCA 10 Award, recognizing the best businesses partnering with the arts in America and the 2019 Hamilton Award from the National Organization for Arts In Health. He is Immediate Past President of the National Organization for Arts in Health and Founder of American Festival for the Arts and Houston Arts Partners. His love for history inspires his works, including We Hold These Truths, premiered at the Kennedy Center with soprano Renee Fleming and University of Virginia Suite, premiered on the University lawn in celebration of its 200th anniversary. In 2016 he was awarded the Luminary Award from the Eastman School and on the Juilliard School’s 100th anniversary in 2006, was recognized as one of 100 distinguished alumni.

Jennifer Townsend, is the Manager for Creative Arts Therapies at Houston Methodist Hospital where she pilots programing in order to grow the footprint of music therapy throughout the hospital, participates and runs studies in research related to music therapy and music medicine and provides clinical supervision to the music therapy staff. Jennifer embraces an integrative philosophy which guides her practice and research. To this end, she has published articles relating to technology in music therapy, music therapy in epilepsy treatment, and music therapy in NICU work. Additionally, she has a chapter on Medically Fragile Children in the Guidelines for Music Therapy Practice in Pediatrics.