On October 29th, BrainMind hosted an intimate gathering in collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Well-Being Concert Program to explore the impact of music on the brain and mind. Renowned cellist Joshua Roman shared a captivating performance and engaged in a deep discussion around mind, music and wellness with Dr. Heather Berlin, acclaimed neuroscientist whose research spans from the neural basis of creativity to the nature of consciousness, and Sarah Johnson, Chief Education Officer and Director of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. The discussion was facilitated by Carnegie Hall’s Health and Wellness Lead, Ian Koebner.
This salon was held at artist Vivian Reiss’ one-of-a-kind private residence, a personally designed and adorned haven in Manhattan.
BrainMind Salons are invitation-only. All participants are members of the BrainMind ecosystem and are carefully selected for potential contribution, influence, and intent. Apply below if you are interested in attending gatherings like this.
DISCUSSION LEADS
Joshua Roman, Cellist & Composer
Joshua Roman is a cello soloist and composer, hailed for his “effortlessly expressive tone… and playful zest for exploration” (New York Times), as well as his “extraordinary technical and musical gifts" and “blend of precision and almost improvisatory freedom… that goes straight to the heart" (San Francisco Chronicle). His genre-bending programs and wide-ranging collaborations have grown out of an “enthusiasm for musical evolution that is as contagious as his love for the classics" (Seattle Times).
Committed to bringing Classical music to new audiences, Roman opened the acclaimed 2017 TED Conference, and his performance of the complete Bach Solo Cello Suites after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election was the most-viewed event in the history of TED’s social channels, with nearly a million live viewers. Roman has collaborated with world-class artists across genres and disciplines, including Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, DJ Spooky, Tony-winner/MacArthur Genius Bill T. Jones, Grammy Award-winning East African vocalist Somi, and Tony Award-nominated actor Anna Deavere Smith.
Heather Berlin, Mount Sinai
Heather Berlin is a neuroscientist, clinical psychologist, and associate clinical professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She explores the neural basis of impulsive and compulsive psychiatric and neurological conditions with the goal of developing novel treatments. She is also interested in the brain basis of consciousness, dynamic unconscious processes, and creativity.
Berlin is a committee member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a passionate science communicator. She hosts the Nova series “Your Brain”, and has hosted series on PBS and Discovery Channel. She makes regular appearances on StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and has appeared on the BBC, History Channel, Netflix, and National Geographic. She co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway show, Off the Top, about the neuroscience of improvisation, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Impulse Control.
Heather received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, and Master of Public Health from Harvard University, and trained in clinical neuropsychology at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Neurological Surgery. She was a visiting scholar at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and a Visiting Professor at Vassar College, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology/University of Zurich, and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Ian Koebner, Carnegie Hall
Ian Koebner, PhD, MSc is a Research Affiliate within the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University and serves as a strategic consultant for Carnegie Hall on health and wellness programs.
Previously, he was an Assistant Professor and the inaugural Director of Integrative Pain Management within the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of California, Davis (UCD). At UCD he was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NIH-NCATS) Career Development Award for his project entitled, The Analgesic Museum: The Development and Effectiveness of Museum-Based Experiences to Reduce Social Isolation and Pain Among Individuals with Chronic Pain. He has over 20 years of experience developing and evaluating innovative strategic partnerships between the cultural and health sectors to improve individual, organizational, and community wellbeing.
Sarah Johnson, Carnegie Hall
As Director of the Weill Music Institute, Sarah Johnson is responsible for developing and overseeing all Carnegie Hall education and social impact programs. The Weill Music Institute annually serves over 500,000 children, students, teachers, parents, young music professionals, and adults in the New York City metropolitan area, across the United States, and around the world. During her time at Carnegie Hall, Ms. Johnson has led the Weill Music Institute in enormous programmatic growth and has launched numerous initiatives including Musical Connections, serving people in healthcare settings and correctional facilities, including juvenile justice settings; the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, a summer training program for ages 16-19; NYO2, for ages 14-17; and most recently, NYO Jazz, for young jazz instrumentalists ages 16-19. She is the 2017 Americans for the Arts National Arts Education Leadership honoree, and was the 2013 American Express NGen Leadership Award winner, an honor given each year to one accomplished leader under the age of 40 who has demonstrated significant impact in addressing society’s critical needs.
CO-HOSTED WITH CARNEGIE HALL’S WELL-BEING CONCERT PROGRAM
Carnegie Hall's mission is to bring the transformative power of music to the widest possible audience, to provide visionary education programs, and to foster the future of music through the cultivation of new works, artists, and audiences.
Carnegie Hall’s Well-Being Concerts combine world-class musical performances with elements of self-care and mindfulness, animated by evidence that music helps people heal and thrive. Each concert creates an immersive, nurturing space in which audiences and performers share in the soul-nourishing benefits of music, create shared experiences, and explore tools for well-being that last long after the performance.
Memories
