Sound Health: Music and the Mind—Music and Childhood Development

Dr. Nina Kraus, a leading neuroscientist, explains basic principles of music and its connection to the brain through demonstration, visuals, and participation. Joined by members of the D.C. Youth Orchestra, she will focus on rhythm skills and their relationship to pre-reading ability in toddlers, music and higher academic achievement, and music education and its relationship to enhanced memory, attentiveness, and creativity in young students.

Check out the Sound Health blog.

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More about Sound Health

The Kennedy Center, the National Institutes of Health, and renowned soprano and Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor at Large Renée Fleming have launched this new partnership designed to explore the connections between music, health, and wellness. The collaboration, spearheaded by Fleming, builds upon the performances that the National Symphony Orchestra has given at the NIH Clinical Center over the past several years, broadening the scope and bringing together the diverse artistic resources of the Kennedy Center with the scientific, clinical, and research expertise of the NIH. See related events.

Over two days on June 2 and 3, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts, Sound Health: Music and the Mind will feature performances, as well as interactive presentations and discussions with some of the leading minds working at the intersection of neuroscience and music from around the world.

Says Renée Fleming:
“A tremendous wealth of knowledge exists between the nation’s largest performing arts center and our largest health research institute. I hoped we could share and amplify the exciting work being done where science and music intersect, by bringing these two great institutions together for this initiative. There are ramifications here for a host of health topics: childhood development, autism, pain management, Alzheimer’s, PTSD—the list goes on and on, because music’s impact on the brain can be so powerful.”