Community Conversations

The Intersection of Music, Medicine, and Innovation

In 2019, LSO partnered with Harvard Business School (HBS) and HubWeek for Allston Open Doors on November 4th to present a free, public concert and panel discussion at Klarman Hall on the HBS campus. An ensemble of LSO musicians, conducted by Ronald Feldman, performed works by Copland, Mendelssohn and Grieg between a panel discussion and Q&A session. Harvard Business School’s Amitabh Chandra moderated the conversation between LSO musicians Lisa Wong, M.D. (violin), Leonard Zon, M.D. (trumpet), Psyche Loui Ph.D (violin) and Thomas Sheldon, M.D. (oboe/English horn). Each panelist spoke on how music and medicine have combined to set them up for success in their innovative projects and research, including music and the brain, radiation oncology, modeling human diseases in zebra fish, and music as a tool for wellness.

Music and Vision Weekend

In 2015, the LSO, the Japan Society of Boston, and the Berklee College of Music co-presented a weekend of events featuring blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, an internationally recognized artist and gold medalist of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The activities directly benefited the Boston Higashi School and the Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta. The weekend included a conference at Berklee entitled "Sound Vision" (presented by the Division of Music Therapy), followed by Tsujii's performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with the LSO.

BACH Symposium

In 2012, Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH) partnered with Lesley University, Berklee College of Music, Harvard Medical School, the New England Conservatory, and the LSO to present: Arts in the CommonHealth: Transforming Space through the Healing Arts, the 3rd annual Arts and Healthcare conference at Lesley University. The conference covered topics such as healing by design, arts in the global community, music and healing, and Arts in the CommonHealth (including thoughts about universal design for the arts). Conference participants were then invited to join the LSO for a concert of Beethoven, Zwillich, and Husa to benefit Triangle, Inc.

Neuroscience Symposium

In 2011, the LSO partnered with The Lab at Harvard University to present a day-long symposium called Crossing the Corpus Callosum, II: Neuroscience, Healing & Music. This symposium addressed questions such as: How does music shape the developing brain? How can music aid recovery from neurological disorders? Can music be the way towards recovering functions for individuals with autism? The symposium explored the intersection between music, science, and medicine through a series of talks, panel discussion, musical performances, and networking opportunities for those interested in exploring topics related to science and health of music. This event was sponsored in part by Tufts Health Plan, Hotel Marlowe, Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.