NYC Gazette

A rehearsal for the Songs of Survival concert in New York City in 2023 saw music therapists from NYU collaborating with performers to create original songs. Even before the pandemic limited large gatherings, American culture was experiencing an increase in loneliness, according to the US Surgeon General. Dr. Vivek H. Murthy described it as an epidemic and issued a report urging Americans to cultivate a culture of connection to improve societal health and reduce isolation, anxiety, and depression.

Music has been identified as a potential remedy for this issue. Advocates such as opera singer Renee Fleming and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, along with institutions like the Kennedy Center and the United Nations, are focusing more on how music, art, and other creative endeavors can contribute to a healthier society. NYU Steinhardt will highlight this work on September 18 during The Art and Science of Social Connection symposium, part of the United Nations General Assembly Healing Arts Week. This event is produced by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Steinhardt Professor Kenneth Aigen will participate in an afternoon panel discussing how music can heal trauma and bridge divides. Aigen, who graduated from Steinhardt's music therapy program and has taught at NYU since 2013, oversees the Angel Band Project which provides group therapy for victims of sexual and intimate partner violence.

NYU News interviewed Aigen about music's healing power, how music therapy works, and its growing recognition among artists and medical professionals.

"The kind of music therapy we practice and teach at NYU is not music for people; it’s music with people," Aigen explained. "Whether I'm working with an adult victim of trauma or an autistic child, it doesn’t matter. The principles are the same." He emphasized that using instruments like drums, piano, cymbals, and gongs helps create a musical context around what clients do.

Music therapists need competence in guitar, piano, voice, and percussion. They must also be able to improvise and use music as a tool for connection rather than performance alone.

"You have to be a very good and sensitive musician ... but you sort of have to unlearn a little bit about what you've been taught," Aigen noted regarding being both a musician and therapist.

The Angel Band Project partnership involves providing group therapy sessions through various agencies in New York City. In 2018, individual therapy sessions were introduced where clients composed songs encapsulating their healing journeys.

Graduate students at NYU complete clinical training through city agencies across New York metro area schools, clinics, community centers including Rikers Island or Memorial Sloan Kettering or Bellevue.

"Music brings people together in unique ways that establish feelings of togetherness," said Aigen when asked about combating social isolation through music.

Recent research projects like Sound Health advocate by Renee Fleming impact public acceptance by influencing healthcare decision-makers who determine service provisions including insurance reimbursements for therapies like those involving music.

Gabby Giffords' public endorsement following her recovery from severe speech impairment due to a gunshot wound further underscores music therapy's value.